Box on a stand

[fuzzyturns]

I had this idea going around in my head for quite some time, and had bits and pieces of it done over several months. This weekend I finally managed to put it all together. The body of the box is monkeypuzzle, the three-legged stand is plum (or damson), the lid is rippled ash (with a bit of spalting) the knob is leadwood. It's about 6.5" across and 6" tall.
As usual, all C&C welcome.

[Derek]

Love the box and the idea as a whole but for me personally the stand just looks a bit to chunkie for the box

[Les Symonds]

The box and the lid really work for me, but their delicacy is a little overwhelmed by the chunky stand. I appreciate that the tripod supports need to be quite chunky to avoid weak, short grain, so perhaps the design could have benefited from steam-bent slender legs!

Les

[fuzzyturns]

Thanks for the feedback. I must say, it is not entirely unexpected. As usual, the real thing looks somewhat different in the flesh compared to the design drawing. I would consider this a prototype, and the legs/supports will definitely be more delicate the next time around. BTW, there isn't really a problem with strength, as the support stand was essentially cut from an end grain bowl.

[Les Symonds]

... there isn't really a problem with strength, as the support stand was essentially cut from an end grain bowl.

Hmm....I'm not so sure. I was suggesting that strength would be a problem if the tripod legs were any thinner and your explanation that they are from a single end-grain bowl makes me even more certain of that. Sure....with the base this heavy, they'll be strong enough, but surely not if the legs were thinner.

Les

[bodrighywood]

You have the grain going right across the curves on the stand Fuzzy which  would make them very vulnerable. In a bowl it wouldn't be a problem but in a small cross section like this it wouldn't take much for them to snap. One alternative would be to glue up some pieces cross sectioned to make the stand. That way you would have the grain going in at least two different directions giving extre strength. If you did it with three woods of contrasting colour it could be a feature in its own righ?

pete

[GBF]

Looks OK to me.

Regards George

[Bryan Milham]

Fuzzy,

All I see wrong with the base is the varying thickness, it is thicker at the angle than at the centre, it the thickness changed constantly, thinning to the top supports I think it would look a little more elegant and lighter in detail.

And I'll ask, are you sure about the plum or damson, it seems very pale it lacks the colour and twisted grain I associate with plum.

[fuzzyturns]

Firstly, thanks for all the comments.
I realize that the design needs a little tuning, especially the stand. These designs are all experiments, they start out in my head, then go onto some paper, and finally I make them. In this case, I did deviate from the drawing, and it wasn't for the better.
Yes, it would probably look better if the supports were a little thinner overall (but same width) and had a linearly decreasing thickness from the centre towards the three tips. Something to remember for next time. Another variation I can see is to have 4, 5 or 6 legs, but for anything more than 4 I would probably have to use a constructed stand.
I am pretty sure about plum/damson, that's how I got it from my tree surgeon and I still have a 4ft piece of it with bark on (ends sealed with paint and plastic sheets).

[seventhdevil]

are the legs made from that wood you gave me?

[edbanger]

Hi Fuzzy

I like the concept very much the box is quite striking with a bit of modification to the base and I think the piece will really POP

All the best

Ed

[fuzzyturns]

are the legs made from that wood you gave me?

No, they are from an end-grain bowl I rough turned about 8 months ago. It's essentially a bowl with three sections cut out, and then the legs were milled to a decent finish (on my engineering lathe/miller) and then sanded in the normal way.

[wider]

i really like this and have a slight extension to it. by the use of magnets hope to show it in a short time.