Cracked and Warped Holly Form

Vaughn McMillan

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This piece of holly was a gift from Steve Bellinger, via Jim Burr. (Thanks, guys.) :thumb: This stuff cut like buttah. It was green but starting to crack when I got it, so I turned it right away to finished size, filled the cracks with black epoxy, and just let it sit for a few days. After it had done its drying and warping, I did the final sanding and applied a few coats of spray lacquer. It's buffed with PL compound and waxed with Ren wax. It's a little guy...about 4 1/2" wide by 3 1/4" tall. I'm not completely happy with the transition into the foot, but I got the lower walls a bit thin when I hollowed it, so I didn't have enough wood left on the outside to get shape I wanted when I finished the bottom off. Oh well, at least I avoided funnelizing it.

Click on the pics to see a bigger view...











Comments, critiques, suggestions, and questions are all welcome.
 
Boy that Calf heat sure did a number on that thing. Glad ya could get something out of that little half log.:thumb: As far as the form you did a great job as always with what ya had to work with. I also agree about the foot, but understand the reason why.;)I have some more blanks here that i cut at the same time and don't have any cracks.:dunno:
 
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Pretty much anywhere in the US is a swamp compared to the parts of California where that log hung out. :p I really like the way this one warped, though. The little crooked mouth seems to fit the piece. The dried pieces you sent are holding up great, though. I'm saving them for something special. Don't know what it is yet, but it'll be something special. ;) Thanks again for the surprise, bud. :bow:
 
Except for the cracks, the form and the wood (and yer turning ;) ) look great. The cracks, unfortunately, are not the kind that add character to the piece. Methinks a color other than black might rescue it. Gold, red, green might do the job.
 
Thanks for the comments, all. :thumb: For what it's worth, I like the cracks. I think they fit with the warped, kinda rustic look. But I understand they're not to everyone's tastes. ;) As far as colors go, I've never really been fond of infill colors other than black unless it's something like a color band around the rim of a bowl. Just my personal taste (or lack thereof). :D
 
At first I though it was some reference to Vauhgns sense of humor, but then I actually looked at the post.

I like it. and I like the filed in cracks too. :thumb:
 
I ran into the same thing - Finished a nice very large vase and was drying and ended up cracking. I filled it with black epoxy and black powder stone. The pictures below show my patching in Pic 1 and in Pic 2 after rough sanding the filled crack. Currently, it sits on my table top in the garage - sanded to 180 and just sitting. The reason is that my wife told me it still looks like a filled crack otherwise it was a beautiful looking pc.......So, there it sits until I can think of something to change the preception of the pc.......
It really upsetting when something like that happens.
 

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Warped and cracked... we'd call that a winner out here! I think the form is allright, but I understand where you were going with that. Re the crack patch colors, I think ANYTHING would be better than trying to make it disappear with sawdust. Keem em coming , jefe!:)
 
That's a cool little pot you got there, and I like the crooked little mouth. I love turning holly, but I've never even seen a piece big enough to make a hollow form.
 
Vaughn,
That's a good looking piece... I like the shape and form. I know as turners we don't like the cracks so much as we would a perfect piece, but surprisingly, I sell more pieces like this than the more perfect pieces... my customers seem to like the imperfections.
 
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