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Spalted Pecan Hollow Form with Ebony Finial

Vaughn McMillan

Vaughn McMillan

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This is a piece of spalted pecan from Mark Cothren, capped with ebony...my first finial. It's about 6 1/2" tall to the top of the finial and 7 1/2" wide. I'm pretty happy with the finial, but I have lots of ideas for future improvement.

This wood looks different from every angle, so I'm showing a lot of pics of it. Although pecan has a reputation for being hard, this was actually easier to work than I thought it might be. The finish is the standard Antique Oil and three-wheel buff.

HF051 - 01 800.jpg HF051 - 02 800.jpg HF051 - 03 800.jpg HF051 - 04 800.jpg HF051 - 05 800.jpg HF051 - 06 800.jpg HF051 - 07 800.jpg

Bigtime thanks to Mark for the great piece of wood, and for taunting me into turning a finial for it. :thumb:

Let know what you think, both good and bad -
 
Beautiful piece. The figure in the wood is wonderful and the finial has an architectural sense to it.

And nice pics. So 2 lights on a seamless background? (Indirect overhead and one spot/flood?)
 
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Dan Gonzales said:
...And nice pics. So 2 lights on a seamless background? (Indirect overhead and one spot/flood?)
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Thanks for the compliments. Here's a picture of my photo setup...nothing real fancy:

Photo Tent - 07 600.jpg

For this one, I had the overhead light pointed more at the tent, and the left side light was closer to the side.
 
Vaughn, that looks fantastic, I really like it, from all angles!

I think you final is very good, way better than any I've made :eek:

Keep them coming :thumb:
 
Great work, Vaughn. I admit that I'm not much of a finial person. Your finial I would normally say needs to be thinned out toward the top. However, this is great. All your elements are in exact proportion and order. The whole composition is wonderful. You've really done a great job on both the hollowform and the finial. Great piece and one to be proud of for sure.
 
Very nice Vaughn! Did you use mini-tools for the finial? I recently made my first one as well, and had a hard time getting that kind of detail using standard tools. What kind of wood is the finial?
 
That can't be beat for your fist one, or any other after that. I was a bit traumatized by seeing Larry's portrait on the wall...did he send you that for Christmas?:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:
 
Jeff Bower said:
Was this really your first finial, or just the first one you'd show us? :dunno::wave::)
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It's the first one I've done to actually go on a piece. A couple of weekends ago I played with a piece of walnut just to try cutting a few different profiles, but it was strictly a practice piece that I had no intention of using anywhere.

larry merlau said:
hey vaughn just aquick question,, where did you get that portrait of chuck on your wall???:rofl:
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It was decided on another forum that the pic is indeed a Chuck...Chuck Beland. So Chuck Thoits is off the hook this time. Although Jim does bring up an interesting observation. I wonder if Larry and Chuck Beland are related? There is an uncanny resemblance. :p

Barry Richardson said:
Very nice Vaughn! Did you use mini-tools for the finial? I recently made my first one as well, and had a hard time getting that kind of detail using standard tools. What kind of wood is the finial?
Click to expand...

After rounding the blank with a Ci1, I just used a 1/2" bowl gouge and 3/8" shallow detail gouge (both were very sharp Thompsons). It's ebony wood, and it cut like a charm. I was able to start sanding at 320 grit.
 
I forgot to say thanks for the kind comments, gang. I figured I'd add one more picture of the finial, since it's hard to see the details in the previous pics...

HF051 - Finial Detail 600.jpg
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
one more picture of the finial, since it's hard to see the details in the previous pics...

View attachment 30998
Click to expand...

Finials normally do not do much for me, well not until now. Amazing detail on that Vaughn :thumb: Not being a turner I still can appreciate the skill that goes into them. How they stay together as fine as some are made :eek: Wow
Hey the turning under the finial ain't to bad either :D Nice stuff Vaughn.
 
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