New member looking for honest criticism

Gord Rock

Member
Messages
619
Location
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Hi everybody

I'm new here and fairly new to woodturning. I took a short course on how to start woodturning and have been doing a bit of practising and would appreciate some HONEST criticism.:thumb: I'd rather know what I'm doing wrong and how to correct my mistakes than be told I'm doing a wonderful job. That I can get from the LOML!;)

I made a small bowl from birch which showed a small knot on what was to become the top of the bowl. When I started turning the bottom I soon found that the knot went right through and was much larger than I thought. Maybe I shouldn't call it a knot as it was actually a fairly large hole. Anyway, I got to the point where I wasn't sure that the piece wouldn't fly apart so when I started turning the top of the bowl I quit with a fairly thick rim as I was afraid it would collapse on me.

The first picture is of the bottom and for you "foreigners" the coin on the bottom used for scale is a Canadian Twoonie ($2 coin). You can just make out, on the right side of the hole, the red towel I used as a background. Also, on the right side of the bowl you can see a very evident scratch. That wasn't there until I finished the bowl and then put it in a Donut Chuck I made to finish the bottom. Guess I'll have to figure out a better way to do that.


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The photo of the top of the bowl shows the knot(?) and the coins are the Twoonie again and a quarter.


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The third photo is of a couple of mallets I made for my son and son-in-law, also of birch. I'm fairly pleased with them but I'll have to learn a better way of removing them from the lathe as the ends are not as nice and smooth looking as I would like. Oh well, more practice needed, I guess.

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Thanks for looking and any comments will be greatly appreciated.

Also, I notice that I'm not inserting the photos quite properly as I'd like you to be able to click on the first photo and see the larger version. For some reason it's necessary to go to the bottom of the post and click on the photos listed as "Attached Thumnails". Can anyone tell me how to correct this? Thanks again.:wave: ( Fixed for you, Gord. Just "attached" the larger pics. Welcome to the forum! Greg)

.....Gord
 

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Welcome to the family, Gord. :wave: Nice to have another wood spinner on board. Newby turner or not, I think all three pieces look great. I appreciate your desire for honest critique...I'm the same way.

The knot (or inclusion) adds a lot to the bowl for me, although I'm more into art than utility. I think you've already identified pretty much all the nitpicking I would have done (the scratch or tool mark on the side of the bowl and the thickness, although thick bowls have appeal to a lot of folks, too). The ring details around the lip of the bowl could have a little crisper definition, but that might be a symptom of the photo, not the turning. From what I can tell in the photos, it looks like you got a nice, consistent curve on the outside of the bowl, and the foot looks nice and clean. By the way, when I use my donut chuck, I plan to do some hand-sanding afterwards, to remove any marks the donut leaves. (Mine's not padded.)

Both mallets look great, too. I could use a mallet like that. If I put on my nitpicking goggles, I can see some very light sanding scratches in them, but those kinds of marks often don't show up in person...only in photos, because of the lighting. Plus, they're mallets, meant to hit things with, so what's the problem with some nearly invisible scratches? :p

As I said, these are all great, and we'll be looking forward to seeing more. :thumb: All of us here are learning. Some of the guys have already learned more than the rest of us, but we're all still learning. Don't hesitate to ask questions.
 
Welcome Gord,
I'm not a turner yet, can't help you there, looks great to me.

DT
 
Welcome Gord, glad you found us.

While I do possess a old lathe and occasionally give it a spin, I am in no way a critique of spinny things....or flat things for that matter. There are some of the members who are much better in that regard than I.

But.....keep posting pics of those things that you do turn, we love pictures.
 
How's it going eh? :D

Nice to see another turner and another Canuck at that!! :thumb:

I like your bowl with the inclusion, I thick it is a little thick, but I also understand your fear of it flying apart, that is something only you can judge the risk of while standing in front of it, so I trust your judgment!

The mallets look good too, what is their intended use?

Might be the pics, but one seems to have the face angled a bit, this might be of use, depending on what you plan on hitting.

All in a a good job, and I'm sure you will improve with more time, as we all do!

Welcome to the family!:wave:
 
Welcome Gord.

I am in agreement with Vaughn and would only add that the coins in the photo of the bottom detracts and makes it look off center. They look good inside the bowl, though.

That said, overall it's a very nice bowl.

Keep turnin' and postin' pictures.

Bruce
 
Thank you for the kind words, guys.:)
I'm trying to decide if I want to put it back in the donut chuck and see what happens if I try to get the walls a lot thinner. I also have this leave well enough alone feeling.:eek: Inclusion; good word, have to remember that one.:) I have another small bowl I did earlier today and will try to get some photos and post them later. I have some questions regarding the quality on it. :(


Thanks again,
.....Gord
 
Welcome Gord. You have some mighty fine turnings there. I really like the bowl.

Thank you, Bernie. It looks like it's going to stay that way. I told SWMBO that I was going to put it back on the lathe and see if I could make the walls a little thinner and make it look a bit better. She pointed out that she likes it the way it is and that I was mistaken to think that I was going to change anything about it.:huh:

That's the LOML; never in doubt, seldom right.:rofl: :rofl: Oh man, I hope she doesn't see this.:eek: :doh:

.....Gord
 
Welcome aboard :wave: Great looking spinney things. I was just in the market for looking at mallets and there you go and post those really great mallets you made. Did you have any kind of guide when turning the mallets or did you just do it by sight and feel?
 
Thank you, Bernie. It looks like it's going to stay that way. I told SWMBO that I was going to put it back on the lathe and see if I could make the walls a little thinner and make it look a bit better. She pointed out that she likes it the way it is and that I was mistaken to think that I was going to change anything about it.:huh:

That's the LOML; never in doubt, seldom right.:rofl: :rofl: Oh man, I hope she doesn't see this.:eek: :doh:

.....Gord
That's the right call, :thumb: It'd be tough to get it chucked back up without risking the bottom, which looks real good now. There's no rule that says all bowls have to be thin. ;) Save this one and in six months compare it to what you're doing then. I think you'll be amazed when you see your progress. I got a kick out of looking at my first bowl last weekend. It's more of a dish, made of dunno wood about 1" high and 3" in diameter, dated July 2006.
 
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