ash hollow form.

[wider]

well this is a hollow form in ash and is 8x3" with a 5"finial. the finial is something I am not usually doing. this on is from Malibure teak from HMS Trinkamalee the oldest floating ship in the world at the moment.

[bodrighywood]

Looks good to me. Being picky try not to have the change in the curve in the middle, makes the world of difference. Getting the shape right is (IMHO) the hardest part with these.

Pete

[wider]

are you meaning  in the finial. thank you for your comments.

[bodrighywood]

The body, in the images it looks as if it is shaped more or less equally above and below the change in direction. Ideally it looks better if there is a difference between  them and the change in direction is about a third from either the top or bottom. Hope that makes sense.

Pete

[wider]

thank you it dose. I was thinking with the finial on it that that would give it the other 3rd in shape that is all.

[Les Symonds]

This piece has a fine curve running from the opening at the neck, right down to the foot, where it flows well through the foot and then back up the other side. If the foot had been a little smaller it would have given the impression of the piece floating......the smaller the foot, the greater the range of viewing points from which the form appears top float, whereas, the bigger the foot, the more it obstructs the view and anchors the form to the surface it sits on. You'll see what I mean in your final photo, because it is taken from a high angle, the form definitely floats.
Les

[GBF]

Personally I do not like these rugby ball forms I think Hollow Forms only work if they are within the thirds rule.
For anyone starting out on Hollow Form turning it is worth getting Mark Sanger's book   Turning Hollow Forms
The finish looks good.

Regards George

[Mark Sanger]

Hi Wider

I noted in my thread that you said you were just getting into hollow forms, seeing this I would say you are well on your way. This is a very well turned and finished piece and you ave picked one of if not the most difficult forms to turn, the squashed sphere.

Due to this form having its proportions divided by two we have the issue of either making the top/bottom half exactly a mirror image, if not then the slightest of difference can look out of balance. The other alternative is to make one half totally different in form the the other, also not an easy task in itself.

This aside form is very much subjective and it is most important to experiment to find out what works for you or not. The proportions that have been adopted historically to imbue balance to a form is the golden ratio, golden mean etc as well as division of three sometimes refereed to as ' The Rule of Thirds' I prefer however to call it a guide as again getting to hung up on the accepted can stop us from developing new ideas through experimenting. Yes all of this is covered in my book, and that I know is the worst plug ever  so I have included some links to this information from other sources that may help you out.

http://web.hypersurf.com/~charlie2/Design/ProportionsForHollowForms/ProportionsForHollowForms1.html

http://www.westbaywoodturners.com/tutorial/pdf_files/Woodturning_Design.pdf

All this aside, this is a very good piece, well finished and turned. Looking forward to seeing more of your forms in the future.

[wider]

thank you to all with your comments. Mark the thing I am struggling with is the hollowing out. I have several tools to do this but need more practice. I used rolly munro hollowing tool for this one. but had to take the tip protector of then I got a good cut with it. I need to have more confidence and cut further down the hollow. I will read the links that you have sent and also try and get your book from some wear. many thanks again.

[GBF]

thank you to all with your comments. Mark the thing I am struggling with is the hollowing out. I have several tools to do this but need more practice. I used rolly munro hollowing tool for this one. but had to take the tip protector of then I got a good cut with it. I need to have more confidence and cut further down the hollow. I will read the links that you have sent and also try and get your book from some wear. many thanks again.

Mark sells them and they are signed.

Regards George

[wider]

thank you George.

[wider]

book ordered and look forward to getting it.
dennis

[Mark Sanger]

thank you to all with your comments. Mark the thing I am struggling with is the hollowing out. I have several tools to do this but need more practice. I used rolly munro hollowing tool for this one. but had to take the tip protector of then I got a good cut with it. I need to have more confidence and cut further down the hollow. I will read the links that you have sent and also try and get your book from some wear. many thanks again.

This isn't an easy form to hollow to start with, but you are going to have extra difficulties hollowing out such a small form with such an undercut in seasoned cross grain wood with a ring type hollower. The Munro is an excellent hollower and excels at end grain hollowing, it indeed can be used also on seasoned cross grain but as with any ring type cutter is not the ideal cutter to use.

For season cross grain especially this small you are far better off with a small scraping tip. Several times I have had people come to me for lessons with this hollower saying they struggle with it on cross grain, that's because seasoned cross grain is more readily hollowed with a scraper due to the change in grain directions and the problems of shielded rings in these circumstances. It is in no way a negative of the hollower, just it is being used in a situation that it is not necessarily designed specifically for.

On both occasions I ground the heel off of a small tip scraping cutter that come with the Revolution so that it fits the Munro, on both occasions straight away hollowing on cross grain became simple for the students. I will put one in your order FOC and email you how to grind it to fit your tool, let me know how you get on with it.

And thank you for your order for people  that purchase from me I am also on the end of the phone to help with advice if you struggle, number on my contact page of web site.

[fuzzyturns]

I quite like the hollow form, although I do think that the widest point is at an unfortunate place. It should either be slightly higher or bang on in the center (in which case the curves above and below should match.
I am not a big fan of the finial. I think it is too spindly for this hollow form, and it has too many elements in it. Having said all of that, this is just my personal taste.

[Bryan Milham]

I can't disagree with the work and finish of the hollow-form, but I'm sorry to say I consider the finial is poorly executed.