Bud Vases...

[arcos]

My first attempt at a couple of bud vases...

Olive and Medronho... Both green so expecting some cracks.

Medronho is about 16cm and olive around 12cm

There is a single 10.5mm hole drilled (by hand to the max depth) and the top is recessed.

Medronho is finished with a spray lacquer and the Olive with BLO and sealed with bees wax.

C&C please

[Bryan Milham]

Arcos,

For one who’s been turning for such a short time you’ve come on tremendously well. We can’t see you use your tools so cannot comment on your ability with them but from the finish you show on your work we must assume you’re doing something right.

Yes the toolwork & finish is good but these fail as bud vases/weed pots I’m afraid. They are too slender and don’t have enough low-down weight. They would be too easy to topple over.

So now you need to start thinking about what’s just as important, ‘the form’ of what you are making. Don’t worry, I did not understand this properly until 2 or 3 years ago when (as I put it)  I finally learned to ‘see the curve’.

To critique them individually;

If the bulb at the base of the Olive was bigger and the stem had a shapely, not straight, neck it would have worked and looked great.

The funny little but badly formed bead on the Medronho is out of place, although the burn lines are attractive. However, you’ve found the start of ‘the curve’ in the way you’ve waisted the neck, and even sort of got it I the right place (rule of thirds).

[arcos]

Hi dr4g0nfly

Thanks for your C&C... Really appreciate this!

First and foremost I am working very hard on my tooling skills and taking on different projects is really helping that and helping me learn the use of gouges etc. I am certainly getting there but still making silly mistakes and then finding ways of making it right. Doing it "right"? Well, not so sure about that but watching videos specifically on tool use and practicing and, perhaps adapting slightly to what works for me has really helped.

I have to agree with your critique, mostly  especially relating to the olive vase. However, the bulb at the base is solid and does give a sturdy, stable base for a small bud to be placed in. The straight stem was an experiment, and has a look of a bud vase that I remember from childhood, that I quite like but do respect that shape and form is subjective.

The Medronho, standing at just over 6.5" with a 1.5" - 2" base is stable and has good weight at the base. The "funny little but badly formed bead" Isn't/wasn't meant to be a bead, at least not how I see a bead to be. It was just a way to distinguish the base from the stem. The burn marks I am pleased with and make the vase a little more interesting in its fairly white, 'green' phase.

What I have found is that making these two yesterday that they offer a great way to practice toolwork in different ways to turning bowls. I am going to be making a few more of these today in various guises, perhaps even with a bead or two 

There are quite a few varieties of bud vase design on the internet that I have looked at, some are pretty hideous, IMHO, but do give ideas to practice/modify.

[Francesco Dibari]

good job Arcos , perhaps in the first piece i would closed the curve at the base,  to give lightness to the piece, but it's just my taste 
congratulations   

[arcos]

Grazie Francesco. La base aggiunge peso al vaso, ma è soggettivo! Per il mio primo tentativo di vaso gemma non sono troppo deluso!

Thank you Francesco. The base adds weight to the vase but is subjective! For my first attempt at  bud vase I am not too disappointed!

[Les Symonds]

Hi arcos...please don't take this as a criticism, just as an observation. I totally agree with what's being said about your emerging skills and it's great to see a fellow woodturner as enthusiastic as you and I continue to look forward to seeing your posts of your efforts. In this post I particularly like the colouring in the olive, it really is striking. What concerns me is that this type of vase is not typically used (in my experience) for single small buds, especially as they don't have glass liners and therefore don't hold water. I have sold dozens of them in the past (when I was last turning; 20-odd years ago) and they've always been displayed and sold with dried grasses in them. The seed heads of the grasses look really effective and it's great to see customers showing an interest in displaying what is essentially a weed. indeed, I believe that American turners tend to refer to this type of vase as a 'weed vase'. The problem lies in the fact that longer stemmed grasses etc tend to overbalance a thinly-based vase, which is why they tend to benefit from a much wider base. If it's a one-off vase for yourself that you want to use to display a single bud, then there is no problem, but if you're planning on selling them I would certainly advise making the bases wider.
Whatever....keep on turning.
Les

[bodrighywood]

You can also make this type of vase and use test tubes for holding water for a single bud. They do need to have a wider / heavier base though.

Pete

[Francesco Dibari]

Grazie Francesco. La base aggiunge peso al vaso, ma è soggettivo! Per il mio primo tentativo di vaso gemma non sono troppo deluso!

Thank you Francesco. The base adds weight to the vase but is subjective! For my first attempt at  bud vase I am not too disappointed!

Hi arcos, please don't take this as a criticism, just as an observation
this is just my 2 cent  ,  good chips  

ciao Arcos, non è una critica è solo una osservazione dal mio punto di vista   , buoni trucioli  

[thebowlerhattedturner]

Hi arcos,
           sorry, the shapes do nothing for me,the sharp edge at the top of each one is, I think, a poor design. I like that fact that you are exploring  decoration but this needs to be crisp and leave no doubt about what it was meant to look like.
    I agree with the others about the base size.
Regards
John BHT

[arcos]

Thank you to everyone for your observations and criticism... Without it I ain't never gonna learn!!! 

Looking at other examples of small bud vases I do feel that the Medronho vase is pretty damn close to what I have seen in terms of size and dimensions. I have seen many similar with a tube insert with a single rose bud and it looked stunning.

I have Lily's just blooming in my garden and would never be able to place one into either of these but for short dried grasses or short term display of a flower then I think they do work.

I guess it's a matter of taste

Interestingly, I have been trying to get a few pieces into a holiday rental property here, as display pieces, but also for sale. On the back of these two vases they have finally contacted me today after seeing them online and I have a meeting next week with the owner! 

[Bryan Milham]

Interestingly, I have been trying to get a few pieces into a holiday rental property here, as display pieces, but also for sale. On the back of these two vases they have finally contacted me today after seeing them online and I have a meeting next week with the owner!

Another finger, another pie!

Best of luck to you.

[arcos]

Thanks... 

Running out of fingers... Need to keep some for actually turning some pieces for display in the holiday cottages for the meeting next Wednesday!!!! 

[woodndesign]

Thanks... 

Running out of fingers... Need to keep some for actually turning some pieces for display in the holiday cottages for the meeting next Wednesday!!!! 

Stay  , no rush ..  ..  take on board the elements of design and go for it ..  .. but don't run ..    ..

[arcos]

Staying 

Luckily I know them, one of the partners at least.

I suspect that things will perhaps become more 'mainstream' if I mnage to get a few pieces into their properties!! Although...

... they are Dutch and we all know how 'off the wall' they can be 

[Andy Coates]

Hello Folks,

can I just point out that AWGB member development courses are organised by Brian Hensby brianhensby@awgb.co.uk and any member interested in participating should contact him in the first instance.

thanks

Andy