Natural edge lidded goblet.

[Motley Dog]

A lidded goblet with finial. The goblet bowl, foot and lid are from a piece of burr alder; the stem and finial from ebony.

The real challenge of this piece was the bark inclusion that runs across the entire centre line of the bowl.  I'm always keen to enhance natural imperfections where I can but this was always going to be risky. Suffice to say there was plenty of CA glue used and several prayers uttered. I bottled out at 4mm for the thickness of the bowl itself - not as thin as I had initially hoped for but thin enough to to look relatively delicate.

Finished with four coats of Danish oil and Carnuba wax.

I'm always keen to hear feedback please - particularly on ideas for improvement.

Thanks
Richard

[Bryan Milham]

Richard,

firstly, welcome to the forum,
secondly, well, wow, what a first posting what a great shaped goblet and finial.

Already looking forward to your next posting.

Bryan

[bodrighywood]

Like this a  lot. So often goblets are badly proportioned but you got it right here. If this is a typical example of your work then let's hope it's the first of  many to come. To give a feeling of delicacy perhaps taper the thickness down so the lip is maybe 1mm but gets thicker as you go down the bowl. A trick I use a lot for  my goblets. Gives the delicate look but plenty of stability

Pete

[Walnut Les]

As stated above a great first post and a great bit of turning. I personally think that your top finial is a little too big, a slightly smaller one will make it more pleasing to the eye and take it from a great bit of turning to a fantastic bit of turning.
Welcome to the forum and I'm also looking forward to more posts from you. Les

[Motley Dog]

Many thanks Bryan, Pete and Les. If I could work out how to reply to your comments individually I would do but, in light of my technical ineptitude, please accept my collective thanks.

All suggestions gratefully received and duly noted for the next one.

Richard

[Walnut Les]

Many thanks Bryan, Pete and Les. If I could work out how to reply to your comments individually I would do but, in light of my technical ineptitude, please accept my collective thanks.

All suggestions gratefully received and duly noted for the next one.

Richard

I for one will be looking out for your next one as the more that I look at this the more that I like it and the more that I want to try to make one. ( I don't think my one would look as good as your one though) Les

[Motley Dog]

Many thanks Bryan, Pete and Les. If I could work out how to reply to your comments individually I would do but, in light of my technical ineptitude, please accept my collective thanks.

All suggestions gratefully received and duly noted for the next one.

Richard

I for one will be looking out for your next one as the more that I look at this the more that I like it and the more that I want to try to make one. ( I don't think my one would look as good as your one though) Les

Ha ha! Thanks Les.

[John Plater]

A lovely example of this genre. It is not the sort of thing I am drawn to but the qualities are unmistakable. I think that the shaping has been well done, the proportions balance well and the edges are lovely and crisp. I am not a great fan of Danish Oil as, in my opinion it detracts from the natural characteristics of the timber. I prefer to use Satin OSMO Oil on natural pieces or wax on smooth edge/surface stuff cut back with 0000 steel wool.
ATB John

[BrianH]

Hi Richard
I agree with all that has been said, each element of your piece is superbly made and finished but, to split hairs with my jaundiced eye, they don't seem to complement each other as well as they might.
May I suggest you take the picture of the whole piece and, first of all, cover the finial with a finger. Has that improved the piece at all? I believe it does.
Now cover just the top half of the finial. Has that improved the proportions at all? Again I believe it does.
If you agree, and there is no rule that says you should, then I believe a either a shorter, and perhaps a little lighter finial would bring the overall proportions closer to the famous thirds rule. An alternative route to the same destination might be to stretch the stem but now that the glue is dry that's out of the question.
To try my theory you could knock up another, tempory, lid/finial combo to the new proportions and see what happens.
Hope thats of some help
All the best
Brian
PS I'm still not totally convinced I could have done better........

[Motley Dog]

Hi Richard
I agree with all that has been said, each element of your piece is superbly made and finished but, to split hairs with my jaundiced eye, they don't seem to complement each other as well as they might.
May I suggest you take the picture of the whole piece and, first of all, cover the finial with a finger. Has that improved the piece at all? I believe it does.
Now cover just the top half of the finial. Has that improved the proportions at all? Again I believe it does.
If you agree, and there is no rule that says you should, then I believe a either a shorter, and perhaps a little lighter finial would bring the overall proportions closer to the famous thirds rule. An alternative route to the same destination might be to stretch the stem but now that the glue is dry that's out of the question.
To try my theory you could knock up another, temporary, lid/finial combo to the new proportions and see what happens.
Hope thats of some help
All the best
Brian
PS I'm still not totally convinced I could have done better........

Hi Brian

Many thanks for taking the time to feedback your thoughts. I struggled a tad with the ebony pieces... the stem is the second attempt of three (thinner than the first but not as thin as the third - which made the piece look very top heavy) so it probably backs up your points.

As for the finial, I confess I am a fan of finials and enjoy their intricacies (even if they frustrate the hell out of me from time to time!) but I know that, from the other side of the fence, they're an unnecessarily fussy addition. Too late to change this one as it's already gone but I've made a mental note to try something smaller next time.

Thanks again
Richard

[Les Symonds]

..If I could work out how to reply to your comments individually I would do ...

As far as I know, we don't have the capacity to tag a reply onto an individual comment in any thread, but you can click on multiple "quote" buttons in the same response, adding a brief reply to each of them.


....and by the way, I too think that it's great, but like some others, I'm no fan of finials! 

Les

[Motley Dog]

..If I could work out how to reply to your comments individually I would do ...

As far as I know, we don't have the capacity to tag a reply onto an individual comment in any thread, but you can click on multiple "quote" buttons in the same response, adding a brief reply to each of them.


....and by the way, I too think that it's great, but like some others, I'm no fan of finials! 

Les

😂 thanks for the tip Les. I'll be safe with the next piece... No finial in sight! 😂😂🤣

[bodrighywood]

Just to  be awkwarsd I like finials LOL. Have a look at Cindy Drozdas work.

Pete

[Motley Dog]

Just to  be awkwarsd I like finials LOL. Have a look at Cindy Drozdas work.

Pete

Just to  be awkwarsd I like finials LOL. Have a look at Cindy Drozdas work.

Pete

Lol... me too. Love Cindy Drozda's stuff... although I don't quite get the whole boulder throwing bit!😂

[Walnut Les]

You keep making them with finials Richard, if you keep turning things like this then i can see you being one of the top turners on here.


Well said Brian. you said what i was trying to say a lot better than me. Les