More recent turnings (by Duncan)

[CHJ]

Can't think of anything meaningful to say about them Duncan that has not already been expressed, the most striking thing that makes them for me is the apparent lightness of the pieces achieved by hitting the optimum thickness/proportions of the wings.
=D> =D> =D> =D>

 

[duncanh]

I'm overwhelmed by the positive comments here. Thanks a lot

Paul - I tend to spend a lot more time on my finishing than the actual turning and it's the part that I hate most. I tend to be a perfectionist so probably spend more time than I actually need to. I often sand to 1200 grit (because I have have sanding pads that go that far) and sometimes hand sand to 2500.
The problem I had with these last 2 was sanding the area where the wings meet the body. Power sanding didn't really work as the edges of the pad and paper cut into the surface that I wasn't sanding.


Here are the last 2 laburnum pieces (until I turn the rest)...


23cm at it's widest, 17cm at narrowest, wall is approx 4mm
Finish is Chestnut finishing oil (3 coats) and buffed


22cm at it's widest, 18cm at narrowest, wall is approx 5mm
Finish is Chestnut finishing oil (3 coats) and buffed

 

[Anonymous]

Nice work Duncan... you realise that you've now heightened our expectations :wink:

 

[PowerTool]

All excellent work,Duncan,but the last piece comes out as personal favourite - lovely shape,and rich,warm colour

Andrew

 

[CHJ]

Maintaining the standard I see Duncan, I admire your tenacity on going that far down the grits but your experience of spending more time on the final finishing of that odd little bit of rogue grain or awkward corner fits in well with my experiences also, I spend more time hand sanding or 'fixing' 2 or 3% of the object than the rest of the forming.

 

[Paul.J]

Duncanh wrote
Paul - I tend to spend a lot more time on my finishing than the actual turning and it's the part that I hate most.
Thanks for the reply Duncan,just my thoughts too.
No matter how hard or long i try,or what abrasives i use i just can't seem to get a good finish,that looks as good,or near as what you get.Though i don't go down to as fine a grit as you do :roll:
Is it the finer grades that make that much difference :?: I will have to start giving it a go.Just get fed up with it though.Back to Percy :wink:

Another 2 gorgeous pieces by the way.Something to aim for,one day.

 

[Bodrighy]

You have pointed the finger straight at my biggest weakness. When I have turned a piece to shape I am to anxious toget it off the lathe on on with the next one. I s'pose if I am ever going to get close to your standard I am going to have grit my teeth (down to 1200 if necessary) and finish properly. Lovelly pieces that I suspect wouldn't look half as good if they hadn't been finished so well

Pete

 

[boysie39]

Duncan,Duncan,Duncan, I thought That looking at everyones show pieces was beginning to kind of depress me . Now I think that it is a matter of getting your mind set and not think of time spent doing a chore,for someone to turn out thoes pieces and admit to hate doing what makes them admired by everyone . Has given me the shot up the rear end that I needed. I love turning Ilove sanding I love finishing however bad they all be I also love cleaning up every evening so I have set out my stall, I intend to give 100% to everything I do . And if it doesent turn out like your work I will have tried. And will have enjoyed it ,Thanks all, keep showing your lovely stuff I'm sure it will Inspire others as well as me. Regards Boysie

 

[Bodrighy]

When you see the sort of thing Chas Duncan, Tam, Chas and some of the others turnout it would beeasy to get depressed. Keep hold of some of your early stuff and compare. I'm finding that my early stuff that I was so proud of is c*** and so can see that I have progressed. IME you grow in jumps not gradually, suddenly something clicks and things improve dramatically. For me it's as I said in the earlier posting, my finishing gets rushed. That and design are the two big things for me at the moment.

Pete

 

[duncanh]

Thanks for the comments again.

Pete - for design ideas and inspiration I spend a lot of time looking through old magazines and any turning book that I can get my hands on. Particular favourites are ...
Woodturning Projects by Mark Baker,
Books by John Hunnex (full of wonderful photos), Richard Raffan, David Regester
I think most of them cover design as well as containing good photos.

If there's one nearby I would recommend joining a turning club. Mine (Northumberland) has a library of over around 50 books and probably the same for videos and dvds.

Boysie - one of the main reasons I dislike sanding is that in addition to my usual dust mask and visor I also wear ear defenders as I have to stand next to a loud dust extractor and an ambient air filter. I power sand when I can but even then I often sand by hand along the grain with the lathe stopped.
One thing I do when sanding which may help get a good finish is to stop the lathe, lock the spindle and power sand along the grain with the edge of the sanding disc parallel to the grain.

Now for a completely different type of project...

Last Friday our club had a competition title 'Decorative bowl of dish'. I try to enter these competitions when I can and often try to make something specially for them to try to push myself with new ideas. The competitions title is very open so I want' sure what to expect - non-practical items, items with decoration, decoration applied off the lathe...
I came up with this


17cm diameter beech. Rings are friction burnt and the inner is hand pyrography. As well as my first time off centre this was my first pyrography.
The off centre turning was done in a lethal looking home made donut chuck.

I really like the effect

 

[hairytoes]

Excellent.

You have a real eye for design, all that bedtime reading has done you some good!! :wink:

 

[PowerTool]

Very nice - how did you do in the competition with it ?
Suppose the doughnut chuck gives you chance to add some counterbalance weight when the piece is offcentre - or did you just "whiteknuckle" it,and live dangerously ? :wink:

Andrew

 

[Anonymous]

I really like the effect

me too Duncan... and the strikingly simple design, so simple, so effective :!:

 

[Jenx]

Lovely piece again, Duncan .... a great example of the 'less is more' philosophy in the finished article, although I can only imagine there was a huge amount of thought in the conceptual idea and execution.
Fabulous 8)

If its not rude to ask the question... did you win ?

 

[duncanh]

I came last out of around 10 entries. I wasn't expecting to win and didn't mind at all that I didn't - the point of entering was to push myself to something new.
Because of the openness of the title there was a wide range of entries - mine was the smallest and the largest was a solid + segmented bowl on legs.
All club members gets 2 votes - 2 points for first and 1 point for second. The segmented bowl was the run-away winner but I think I was one of the few people that didn't vote for it. As with all turnings of this type, I admired the amount of time put into it but the final effect wasn't to my taste at all.

When the winner was announced it was revealed the it had been made by one of our well known older members who had died 2 weeks previously and finished off by his friend. It was a very moving moment.

Next time we have a comp. I'll try to get some photos for our still in development club website.

Andrew - I didn't add a counter weight to the chuck but may do next time. It wasn't that scary to turn - the most dangerous part is the bolts protruding from the back :shock:

Jenx - no real concept behind the piece at all other than to brighten up some plain old beech.


Whilst I'm on a run of photo taking - here's something I made last year...



Burr Yew with ebony collar
17 cm diameter,
7cm high
Finished with Chestnut finishing oil
There were quite a few surface checks in it so they were filled with copper dust flooded with CA
Unfortunately there are a couple of dents in the surface so one of these days I'll re-finish it

 

[Bodrighy]

Looking at your work I think the thing that makes it stand out for me is always the quality of finish. Definitely somehing that I need to focus on. Yo also seem to prefer somplelines with the main attraction being in the wood itself which Personally I find really appealing but it would not be anywhere near as attractive unless the finish was of the quality you produce. Definitely inspiring Thanks

Pete

 

[Paul.J]

Yet another 2 fantastic pieces Duncan.
Can't believe you came last.The standard must have been preety high :shock:
Love the Yew piece :roll:

 

[duncanh]

Pete - simple lines is what I aim for. A piece of burr yew like this doesn't come along every day and so I knew I had to do something that made the most of the wood. I'd had this piece and also the burr poplar several years but put them to one side until my skill level was worthy of them. There was no way I was going to make a simple bowl out of them and lose most of the wood to shavings. A bowl saver might have been appropriate but I wanted the full surface of the wood to be on display.

One advantage that I may have with the finishing is that because I live alone I am able to bring the work into my kitchen and apply oil finishes in the comfort of the home. This means there is less dust around and I can return to an oil finish more often. I apply a coat and then leave it for a day or 2 before the next one.

Paul - I've given up trying to judge how people will vote in the competitions. The winner involved a lot of work but there were many details that were poorly finished. The second place I actually voted for first.
One of the entries was a box but I think voters forgot the competition title! Several by one person were large (>30cm) diameter bowls with interesting decoration but very poor finishing in places.
As I said - winning wasn't important to me at all.

Now, just to show that things don't always go to plan, here's what I was working on last night and this morning...

 

[CHJ]

Now, just to show that things don't always go to plan, here's what I was working on last night and this morning...

Await the artistic joining bead solution with interest. :lol:

 

[duncanh]

No, it will be going on the shelf next to the lathe to remind me to be more careful.

Joining isn't an option anyway as the wall is too thin. I'd always see the join and know it as a failure.