3 month's of turning

[hairytoes]

Please offer your opinions on these, I know I've only been at it for 3 months - but be honest I can take it!

All comments welcome, thanks.
ps. I hope this works.

Idea from one of you guys yesterday, in pine finished with blue shoe polish.
[/img]

just to show you why it's so big, I only had tealight holder these size.

Avacado, sort of tealight thingy, cracked when drying.
[/img]

Same as the avacado, but in Olive & different shape.

scorched pine grass vase, i think they call them. cracked the top when parting off.
[/img]

same as scorched one, but with red shoe polish & daft wee flowers. Also stupid wee mushroom.

The paint effect didn't work too well, but I like the shape, would be nice in Olive if it didn't crack, this is pine (again, cheap to practice on).[/img]

 

[Scrums]

Why are you colouring up your stuff HT ? (....personal opinion - I'm just a grumpy old git, let the wood speak for itself) Anyway, small rant over - you're coming on quite well 'Avacado, sort of tealight thingy, cracked when drying.' looked interesting and your vase forms have a very good flow to them.

Don't want to send me a container load of Olive wood do you?

Chris.

 

[Bodrighy]

Bit like Scrums, not so keen on the colouring tho' must admit it looks good on the pine. Pine is not easy to turn and get a decent finish IME but is good tio practice on. Someone told me when I started that if I couold get a decent finish on pine I was doing well. Shapes are good, just keep practicing. Also echoing Scrums....wanna swap some beech for some olive?

Keep turning

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

The colouring adds something to the pine, some good shapes but why didn't you colour the inside of those vessels?

The top edge of the scorched and shoe polish vases, for example, look very thin... even sharp; the vessel says 'touch me' the edge says 'watch out!'

 

[PowerTool]

Some nice pieces - as said,the avocado tealight thingy is a very nice shape,pity it cracked (serves you right for living somewhere warm and dry.. :wink: )
Not a great fan of colouring,but think the blue on the first piece works quite well;bit too much colouring on the last piece.

Keep turning,posting,and enjoying

Andrew

 

[hairytoes]

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated!

I totally agree on the colouring thing, if I had nice wood like Ash or spalted whatever I would never do it - but I felt that the pine was a wee bit boring & as I'm practicing I just thought what the hell.

Perhaps the edges are too sharp? Do you think it better that I round them off more? I'm certainly going to try this next time, I think I can see where your coming from, especially with the tactile direction that your coming from - thanks.

I feel my forms are more saved than actually intended, other than the last one (with the horrorendeous colouring :lol: ) none of these pieces have actually ended out as intended (with exception of daft wee mushroom, which is pretty pointless anyway).

Thanks again, thats some good honest feedback, just what I needed. I'm sure that other newbies find that their family & friends are just being nice when you ask them their opinion - also I'm the only (budding) turner I know.

 

[CHJ]

Going great there ht, with your avacado and olive wood try putting them in a heavy paper bag to dry off or in a sealed plastic bag.

If in plastic turn the bag inside out each day or as required to dump the collected moisture, wipe any surplus moisture off the wood and re-seal in bag each time.

This should even the moisture loss across the piece and help prevent cracking.

 

[Anonymous]

quote HT:
...none of these pieces have actually ended out as intended...

Cock-ups and catches promote innovative design :lol:

Unless you aspire to commissions or copy production just enjoy the creativity :wink:

 

[TEP]

Mornin' hairytoes. As a new comer to turning all you have is probably wet wood, in which case you are not going to have much joy halting the cracking of your work.

One suggestion I have is as you collect wood for your addiction, turn one half, save the other half and season as 'Chas' has already suggested above. That way you can slowly build up a stock of dry wood for the future.

This is what I did, and now I can turn seasoned wood. While I restock the seasoning pile as and when I get some wet timber.

 

[duncanh]

A nice variety of work for 3 months of turning.
I'm generally not keen on coloured work but I like the blue T-light holder. I like how the inside is left natural as it gives a nice contrast but it would perhaps be better if there was no colour at all on the inside.
I really like the scorched form - the shape flows very nicely and the foot is just the right size. I love the effect of the scorching.I don't mind the inner surface at the top being left natural but perhaps it would look better if the flatter, very top surface was also scorched. It's a shame about the damaged lip but you'll be more careful parting off, so lesson learned. This is my favourite of them all.

As others have mentioned - try to avoid having edges that are too sharp when the rest of the piece is more rounded.

To help avoid splits with wet wood drying try to turn as thin as you can - I usually aim for around 5mm


Keep up the good work

Duncan

 

[loz]

Loving the redvase ! very nice

 

[anto_pappa]

very very nice pieces......the colour i prefer natural but it's personal

 

[Jenx]

Good for you HairyToes ! I'm just a couple of months ahead of you in experience... every time you touch the thing you learn something eh ? 8) 8) Keep at it... off to a flyer there ! I'm in the 'leave it natural' camp too... but Hats off to you for being innovative and not afraid to try something out ! Looking good !

You're right about the pine too... TEP / Paul / Chas / Andrew etc all advised about using it to get 'cost effective practice', and I got through quite a lot of it in the the first months, and still practice on it.

Olive is a gorgeous wood to turn eh, ..... I did my first piece with it yesterday.... smells just exactly like little green olives when its worked, and it's nice to use. I'd like some more ! ----

Keep at it, and keep posting the results.... the pointers and help from the experienced heads here is invaluable .
8)

 

[hairytoes]

Good for you HairyToes ! I'm just a couple of months ahead of you in experience... every time you touch the thing you learn something eh ? 8) 8) Keep at it... off to a flyer there ! I'm in the 'leave it natural' camp too... but Hats off to you for being innovative and not afraid to try something out ! Looking good !

You're right about the pine too... TEP / Paul / Chas / Andrew etc all advised about using it to get 'cost effective practice', and I got through quite a lot of it in the the first months, and still practice on it.

Olive is a gorgeous wood to turn eh, ..... I did my first piece with it yesterday.... smells just exactly like little green olives when its worked, and it's nice to use. I'd like some more ! ----

Keep at it, and keep posting the results.... the pointers and help from the experienced heads here is invaluable .
8)

Nice piece there jenx, was that dry when you started turning it? You've got a lovely sheen from it - I've noticed that Olive can take a very high sheen, but as my wet stuff dries out - it kinda loses that.
I'm movinf\g into trying to dry it out a bit, but to be honest I'm at the hit & miss stage.
I really like your bowl it shows the wood to great effect, I agree with you on the coulouring aspect - as you can see I've only ever experimented with the pine - just because it's a bit bland, lightweight & cheap & as you say it's all about the learning & experimenting - every time you come away with new ideas & more experience :shock: .

I used to live in Forres & worked in Nairn, hows Aberdeenshire these days? Good luck te ye pal!!

 

[Jenx]

Forres ! Come on the 'Mechanics !! I'm over at Hatton, between Ellon & Peterhead, -- not a million miles from your old stamping ground !.

Aye, the wood was seasoned - I buy 99% of my blanks from Aberdeenshire Hardwoods at Stuartfield near Mintlaw, all 'dried'.
Occasionally grab a few pieces from the dreaded Fleabay, but its a bit more of a hit and miss when buying 'unseen' I suppose !.

I do fancy trying a bit of the 'green turning' too,
and there's literally tons of wood lying within 3 mile radius of home - which I really should just 'ask' for, and would probably get.. well, either that or have the Hounds set on me ! 8)

 

[hairytoes]

Here's another offering, this time in "naranja", 1st time I've turned orange wood - it produces lovely long ribbons, but doesn't really like scraping - so I won't do this type of shape again, as I need to use my scraper quite a bit on the inside.

I made another boo-boo when parting off (again), I need a smaller parting tool & a greater nerve.
Also go a problem when remounting to turn the inside, I can never get it balanced properly, which causes me the problems when parting off on the outside.

Anyway, the wood loos alright, I'll not be colouring this one!! :wink:

[/img]

 

[Anonymous]

I like the flowing shape and the grain... hope you don't get any movement :wink:

Are you using a chuck? If so why not do outside and then inside without having to re-chuck?

I use a Chris Stott 1/16th parting tool (looks a bit like a knife) amongst others... great for using as a small skew on 'shoulders' either side of a bead.
(Chris has or was intending to move to Spain)

 

[PowerTool]

Yep,looks a nice shape with lovely grain pattern - well done

Andrew

 

[hairytoes]

Well it's been Feria season here, so too much partying & not enough turning.

I made this for my Uruguayan friend from Orange wood, finished with food safe oil.

They fill it with herbs & top up with hot water & then drink it through a special straw type thingy.

I came up with the design myself & it's quite comfortable to hold, whilst holding the straw with your other hand.

[/img]

 

[Blister]

Good to see someone just jumping in and getting it done

Why not try all sorts of different things , that way you can find out what you like and dislike

After all YOU are making the items and the end result is what YOU wanted

We all learn by our mistakes , but if you don't try you will never know

Well done and keep up the good work

Have fun

Allen