Ceramic Comparrison

[Bryan Milham]

I have a small collection of ceramics I've found interesting to look at as inspiration.

The shapes are normally translatable to woodturning but when you turn them to wood, it rarely works out. The way they meet the table surface, or the curves that look okay in clay do not look right in wood, all sorts of strange little things don't work out.

This is one of my attempts, the shape is easy and the upstand makes it sit easier on the surface, but when you look at the original and the small handles they did not work at all, I had to make them bigger to get them to look even remotely right.

It's been ebonised with Black nightmare (rust in vinegar) and then lime waxed to tone it down and give it a less woody finish

Size is 5" x 2½”  (125mm x 62mm)

So please, as many comments as you like, I'm interested in any comments considering the differences between ceramic and turned wood.

[Les Symonds]

This one just doesn't work for me....perhaps the thickness of the bowl wall and of the two handles is just a little too heavy, but it's just not doing it for me. Nice effect with the vinegar/lime wax, though.
Les

[bodrighywood]

I know what you mean Brian. I get the same problem with goblets, looked great in glass, metal etc but in wood looks b****y awful.  Firstly the wood version needs to be a lot thinner, not necessarily all over but at the visible edge. Secondly, on this piece the handles in wood look clunky, clumsy and maybe be better in brass or bent cane?
I have learned to do pieces like this with renovation and alterations in mind and leave them so they can be put back on the chuck if needed and any additions are done using hot glue or even blue tack so  can be removed and altered. The wood, the finish, and the shape work for me,but the thickness and the handles are too heavy. Play with it as I think you have a potentially great design here.

Pete

[ChrisF]

I really like the basic shape but agree that it may benefit from some refinement.  The rim doesn't look too bad, thickness-wise, but the inside wall looks like it gets quite a bit thicker as it goes down which makes the whole thing look much heavier and more clumsy / less delicate that the ceramic piece.  The foot is great - really works for me, maybe even better than the original.

I don't like the handles at all, for me they completely spoil it......they look like curtain rail rings that have been stuck on as an afterthought.  On the original they are not circles, quite deliberately.  They are also smaller which keeps them looking lighter.  Maybe some things just can't can't be sensibly replicated on a lathe.

It seems to me that for a wooden bowl to look as light and as delicate as its ceramic equivalent it almost needs to be thinner and lighter than the original.  I certainly think this bowl would benefit from being thinner at the visible edge and with the inner slope better matching the outer.

[georg]

      An intriguing concept Bryan...... The idea you have used on the wood seems to have worked well..... Just lose
      the handles...  they don't look right on the ceramic one either.... Only our opinion though.
      Kind Regards
      Tony di
     

[Bryan Milham]

Pete it's nice to read that I'm not the only one trying to replicate other media shapes, in wood.

I'll take on-board the several comments about making it thinner than the ceramic original, although I was trying to replicate it as near as possible. However the bowl wall thickness is constant.

I also preferred the bowl shape without the handles but it was an experiment to see if it could be reproduced. It was when I got to the ring handles that things became awkward, not only are  the smaller they are not round, so to make them the same (or nearly so) size they were mostly lost behind the rim. I made several sets (good captive ring practice) before I was happy with how they looked, and yes, I don't really like them either.

Strange thing is SWMBO loves it - go figure!

[edbanger]

Like the effect on the bowl and like the bowl but like other no keen on the handles.

I think that Pete's idea of metal handles would look better something like copper but instead of just loops off each side running the cooper around the bowl and coming out with the handles.

All the best

Ed

[Bryan Milham]

Now that idea appeals to me.

I have some 4mm bronze brazing rod (I've shown things before with the 1mm rod) It's hard to put in a tight bend smoothly but yes I can see it would lift it.

Stepping away fro the wooden copy of a pottery item, but that's where experimentation take you.

Ed, thanks for that great idea - time to have another play.

[seventhdevil]

am i the only one who can see gary lineker in the second photo?

[Bryan Milham]

am i the only one who can see gary lineker in the second photo?

Steve, you're going to have to explain that one. I can see big ears if you want to think that wasy, but no face.

[seventhdevil]

i was just referring to his ears.

[edbanger]

Look forward to seeing how it works out Bryan