critique required, yellowheart box

[Hans]

Box: yellowheart, Danish oil
Finial: macassar ebony, sanding sealer, paste wax
Size: 87 x 63mm Ø.

The design brief was simple:
- make a box from a 65 mm (2½") square piece of yellowheart.
- make the unusual color stand out.

As far as I know it is not a copy of an existing design,
but I admit I have seen Chris Stott's spherical box.

I am neither happy nor unhappy with the result.
Maybe the simple curves (arcs in fact) will always be a weak part of this design.

Since a too enthusiastic admirer broke the lid by dropping it, I will have to make a new lid. I wonder if a different finial would be an improvement.

Looking forward to your comments,

Hans

 

[PowerTool]

Nice - I think the shape of the box makes the most of the timber,like the curved shape,the pattern of the growth rings is well-balanced,and the lid makes a nice contrast.
Yes,I think a different finial would look better - the piece reminds me very much of turned fruit(apple),so perhaps a finial more like a stalk ?

Andrew

 

[paulm]

Like the concept and the finish Hans.

Think slightly elongating the base and a longer finial would "stretch" and lighten the overall form which might be what it is missing ?

Probably need to do a few to see what looks right, I always find proportions to be tricky, it doesn't take much change to make something look right or just totally wrong when I'm doing it !

Cheers, Paul.

 

[Bodrighy]

I really like the simplicity of the shape and the overall colouring. Not a fan of stark contrasts usually but this one works for me. Suspect the finial would look better if not quite so 'geometric?'

Pete

 

[Mark Hancock]

Hans

A nice looking piece. Is the lid threaded or a push fit?

There's a pleasing curve in the yellowheart but it seems to flatten a bit as it flows into the ebony lid (this may just be the angle of the photo was taken at?).

The trick with the style of finial you've turned is to make the curve on it an extension of the curve of the box portion so that the viewer's eyes move uninterrupted down from the finial to the box or vice versa. The curve you have coming down the top of the finial if extended appears to miss the curve coming up from the ebony/yellowheart curve. I hope that makes sense :?

 

[TEP]

Hi Hans.

Like the overall concept of the combination of the colours, yet I would have made the base a little narrower. More of a egg shape, with the shoulder curving down to the foot. Then the finial a little higher.

Nice work all the same.

 

[Hans]

Thank you all for giving your opinion on this box. Your suggestions will materialize in future boxes I hope to turn.

@Andrew: I am sure I will make a two sided symmetrical finial on a box sometime. It might work very well on this box, but it is not what I had in mind for this one.

@Paul & Tam: I will certainly make boxes in other forms of this wood. And yes sometimes it takes a lot of wood before I find the curve I want.
In this box I would like to show off the iridescence of the wood, which I expect is less noticeable in elongated forms. A wide and flat form might be better, but this piece is just 65mm square.

@Pete: I think, with the box being such a simple form, a 'geometric' finial could well complement it.

@Mark: It is a simple push fit, kept rather loose to minimize the chance of breaking the finial.
Yes you are right, the curve flattens a little toward the top. The rim of the lid lies on the box. In deviating from the spherical form I hoped to keep the rim of the lid less fragile. As it happens, in vain.
Next time I will take a different approach and let the lid in from the rim.
Your remark about one curve starting at the top of the finial and (in this case) ending at the bottom of the box is crystal clear. This might well be the reason why I was not quite happy with this box. I will try to make a new lid in this way.

Once more, thank you all, this was an enjoyable and useful lesson for me.

Hans

 

[Paul.J]

Very nice Hans
Love the Yellowheart,makes me want to pick it up and bite into it,but the dark finial takes my eye away from the bottom too quickly,and wants to concentrate on the top too much,if you see what i mean.Doesn't seem to combine.
Perhaps a lighter wood,wouldn't be so bad for the finial.
Would like to see another one though
Paul.J.

 

[Hans]

@Paul: A good example of how different people see different things.
In general I am not too fond of the combination of different species of wood in turnings, but in this case I like the contrast.

Hans

 

[CHJ]

Sorry to come in late on this one Hans, occupied elsewhere for a few days.

I personally am happy with a contrasting wood for the lid, I think my preference mainly stems from the fact that I use a lot of green turned wood and using a contrast is better than a poor match.
My only preferences are in relation to the lid shape and the finial.

I would prefer not to see the 'flattened' curve on the top but a more spherical continuation of the box curve sweeping in a counter curve up the finial, I think the finial base decoration is unnecessary and maybe why Paul says it leads his eye upwards. (Edit: I see mark has already explained this better)

I also wondered if a small basal collar in the same wood as the finial may not have accentuated the curve of the box by lifting it a little.

 

[lugo35]

hi hans , like the overall finished box the contrast and finish is excellent. the only bit i dont like is the flat part of the lid, but saying that would not know what to replace it with?? all that aside as long as the item is sanded and finished well the rest is down to personal perferance

 

[Hans]

@Chas & lugo35: The flattening of the curve near the lid is hardly noticeable. Maybe the photograph exaggerates it somewhat.
The lid consists of two parts. The lower part had the grain perpendicular to the lathe axis and was too thin to continue the arc of the box.
The same applies to the finial, The max diameter was given by the available wood. I don't think I could have made much more of the (too) small piece of ebony I had.
After my holiday in Wales this month, I will make a new lid, taking into account (some of) the suggestions made in this thread.

@Chas: I will look into the idea of a basal collar, but I expect a collar, in a contrasting wood, would attract too much attention.

Hans

 

[CHJ]

@Chas: I will look into the idea of a basal collar, but I expect a collar, in a contrasting wood, would attract too much attention.
Hans

Maybe, just had a feeling that it may make the sphere float a little and provide balance to the finial.

 

[Hans]

26 August 2007 Chas wrote:

I also wondered if a small basal collar in the same wood as the finial may not have accentuated the curve of the box by lifting it a little.

At first I did not like the idea of a foot. I still feel a dark collar would be too much.
Now Adri van der Wouden, a Dutch woodturner, suggested to use three small spheres as a foot, which I must admit I see as an interesting possibility.

Hans