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2nd segmented piece, your opinions appreciated - I have thick skin (pretty much)

Mark Hepburn

Mark Hepburn

Artist & Chef
Joined
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Location
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Hi All:

This is my second segmented piece and your thoughts would be appreciated. I know there's a segmented turning site and I'll probably do some posting there, but they have no newbie section and I like the friendly atmosphere on this forum anyway.

It's the first "large" vase for me. 15" tall, just under 9" diameter at the top and the base is about 3".

vase_01.jpg

The top and bottom light rings are birdseye maple, the center ring is bocote and the balance are Santos mahogany. I have a bunch of it still and thought it would make an interesting piece. Looking at it completely assembled, it's obvious to me that I blew it on the running bond pattern on some layers. The base is black walnut. I cut a small tenon to fit into the interior and it's about 1.75" in diameter. The vase walls flare just a bit inside to meet the plug, so hopefully I'm well within the tolerance of the wood movement issue.

The interior is sealed with a nice thick coat of Enviro-tex all the way to the top of the maple ring to waterproof. Sanded and polished after it dried. The outside is finished with 3 coats of dewaxed shellac for a sealer, then 3 coats of gloss of poly, which I sanded between coats and then finished off with one final coat.

Made it for LOML for Mother's Day this Sunday. Anyway, here it is and I apologize for the quality of the photo. John and Bill, I'm reading your tips and as soon as I get the chance I'm going to create a shooting booth in a spare closet I have.

Thanks to all for your thoughts.
 
I see a potential technical issue. I can't tell about the dark wood, but it appears that the maple rings are cut so that the glue joints are on end grain. If so, thee is a possibility of them opening up. Overall, it appears that all of the joints are very tight and clean. I think that I would have put the accent ring higher or done something to make it stand out a bit more from the surrounding wood. I'm not a seggie, so take my comments for what they are worth.
 
Bill Boehme said:
I see a potential technical issue. I can't tell about the dark wood, but it appears that the maple rings are cut so that the glue joints are on end grain. If so, thee is a possibility of them opening up. Overall, it appears that all of the joints are very tight and clean. I think that I would have put the accent ring higher or done something to make it stand out a bit more from the surrounding wood. I'm not a seggie, so take my comments for what they are worth.
Click to expand...

Hi Bill. Yes, I see that now. The maple is end joint glued, and since it is on the top there may be some separation. Hopefully the segment is secure enough to the lower ring that the wood movement will be minimal. The segments are 2.3" in length so hopefully movement won't be an issue.

As to the accent ring, you're right. I have learned with the last couple of pieces I did that the positioning is less than optimal :)

I really appreciate your comments and always look forward to your input, which I think are carefully considered and thoughtful. So thanks, or as we say down here,

tanks :)
 
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