goblet?

My first try at a goblet months ago was end grain tree limb. Tiny pith on both ends, a great large hole where I planned a stem to be! Having learned my lesson I decided to try another goblet out of some sycamore that was hanging in a tree yesterday. Knew it was reaction wood, the limb had jumped up about a foot when smaller limbs were trimmed off of it. Maybe I hadn't learned my lesson . . .

Didn't take it long to prove it was reaction wood, soon as I stress relieved it a little bit it started moving. I was set on a simple goblet, resisted temptation to put a full bead on the rim and the stem. Left the stem massive because while the pith should be to one side a little bit, it does run through the stem. A few minor details but I turned something that looked a lot like a goblet. All that remained was to relief cut the base a little bit so it would sit nicely on a shelf and part it off the waste block.

Ha, I'm getting pretty good at this wood turning thingie! I'm turning away one-handed while patting myself on the back with the other and telling myself how wonderful I am. Thrack!! biggest catch I have had in weeks and two big chunks out of the base of the goblet. Apparently the turning gods don't like you daydreaming and patting yourself on the back until the job is done!

First impulse was to remove it from the chuck with my bowl tweaking tool. Fortunately it wasn't in reach so I had time to cogitate. That lower lump on the stem is the old base, the new base is only about a quarter inch smaller diameter than the main body of the bowl, perspective makes it look much smaller. Lucky I had a fair sized waste block under this piece. Just sanded with 100 on the lathe, gonna take some power sanding to deal with the tool mark on the inside but overall the bowl is a pretty nicely shaped roughly eighth inch thick. A little larger than four inches diameter by seven inches tall. Slapped a little sanding lacquer on it and called it a day. Still have other work to do.

edit: Jim was right, just needed to get off my duff! turned the stem down today and sanded out the piece. First coat of lacquer on it again, will complete the finish job over the next few days. Still need to make something to hold the piece to remove the tenon under the base. The bowl of the goblet came out very nice other than a little lopsided underneath due to the wood moving so much while turning. Probably leave it as is, could sand more but this was turned as reaction wood to begin with, I am not dealing with anything that was unexpected in the beginning other than the minor detail of blowing up the base!

Thanks Jim. It was the end of a long day yesterday and I was ready to walk away from an indifferent effort. The work today makes it worth putting on the shelf as my first goblet.

Hu
 

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Alright dude...here we go again. What size is it, what wood, what finish...what, what, what. IMHO...thin out the stem because that's where you hold it and a wider base would stabilize the whole thing. But!!! Since it pulled a space shuttle on you, you'll get it next time. Really nice work on the cup interior...what tool did you use?
 
Jim,

Size is a little over four inches diameter, a little over seven inches tall. Sycamore tree limb, often called cottonwood down here but I don't think it is a true cottonwood. When I cut away even a little wood the whole stem warped pretty badly. It was a horizontal limb with a lot of weight hung off of it. Might could turn it more if I was brave but I'll definitely have to sand to match the bowl then, sand a lot! The pith seems to be showing out the side of the present stem a little bit so I probably could cut it away.

I had to take care of some other things so it just has a little homebrew lacquer sanding sealer on it now so it doesn't dry too fast. I have to either do a bit more turning and some sanding or a good bit more sanding, I just knocked things down a bit with hundred grit when it was too warped to keep working inside the bowl. This green wood was a big limb threatening a neighbor's car in my brother's neighborhood yesterday, just a wee bit wet still!

Thanks Jim and Ryan for the kind words about the bowls interior. That is a tool mark showing that has to go though. I can feel ridges pretty well with my fingers but find a tool mark sneaks up on me now and then. A quick pass with sandpaper smooths the rest of the wall and shows the tool marks nicely though. Over all I was very well pleased with managing to follow that outside profile pretty nicely inside even down into the stem transition a bit.

My one and only tool other than a cut-off tool is a five-eighth diameter bowl gouge, the tool used for this. When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. When all you have is a bowl gouge . . . It is currently sporting swept back wings with a sorta Jamieson, sorta Michelsen, mostly Hu grind! Can't blame them.

Hu
 
Mostly a bump so Jim sees the edit to my first post. Thanks to him I turned a sow's ear into a decent piece if not a wonderful one. Getting better, other than where it thickens going into the stem the entire bowl is well under an eighth inch thick now with inner and outer contours matching well. took about two thirds of the diameter off of the stem too.

Hu
 
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