Banksia Pod free form (WiP)

[dr4g0nfly]

I've been working on this Hollowed Out Banksia Pod (we can get them here in the UK). I'd made it but was not sure what foot I wanted on it or what it should look like. I'd made several, all fairly traditional and nothing seemed to suit it or sit well under it.

So today SWMBO wanted to visit a boot fair, and there on one of the tables was this driftwood, she spotted it before I did, but 2 bit's at 50p was bonus.

The finial is not the finished article, this is beech stained black with a glass jewellery bead inset. The final one will be Blackwood, but the bead (or another one of a different colour) will still be included.

So I've balanced them together and taken a few pics and posted these 2 here.

It is a Work in Progress, still not sure how it will finish but this may be close to the final product. I think there is enough different woods already and another bit would not balance.

However I've got my eye on doing something with that hole. Unfortunately it's not quite so open as it appears, there is a bit of wood coming over from the rear guarding it, so a bit of judicial file work may be in order. I've turned a Tauga Nut (Vegetable Ivory) to a sphere and roughly placed it. But I am looking at it, wondering if it's quite big enough!

Another thought would be if I can get a glass sphere to reflect the glass bead, a stroll through eBay might be in order.

Any offers of other ideas folks?

Comments as you will, other ideas always welcome,

(There is granite base in one of the pics - just to try something different in the photographs).

[turnerted]

No suggestions but it looks great. I'll bet banksia pods are not cheap after they've made a trip to UK.
Ted

[tea lady]

Interesting. I like the glass bead in the finial. :cool:

[dr4g0nfly]

Ted, I've no idea what you pay for them, if your unable to pick-your-own, but over here they retail between £6 a £9 depending upon the size. I some wood shops I've seen them by the crate, but I've a friend who imports your burrs (burls) and insists he's not importing empty space and makes them fill up the gaps with the things.

Anna-Maria, the Glass bead is from one of those modern collect and wear bracelet systems popular with young ladies (I'm sure you have several). I took rather a fancy to a couple with an eye to trying this. I peeled off the metal endplates (and associated glue). The finial is two parts of course, the hard part was balancing the thickness either side to make it appear right to the observer.

Thanks for the comments and the Likes folks.

[hughie]

I've been working on this Hollowed Out Banksia Pod (we can get them here in the UK). I'd made it but was not sure what foot I wanted on it or what it should look like. I'd made several, all fairly traditional and nothing seemed to suit it or sit well under it.




Actually it looks really good like it is :2tsup: But if your changing the finial later maybe add a small base of the same timber, nothing too large just a base to lift it, to draw attention to the over all shape.

[artme]

I love Banksias, every bit of them.

You have done a fine job there df and I would leave it as is.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[smiife]

hi dragonfly,
very nicely done,if you take away the driftwood you could make a round base and match
the finial in colour and style,just a idea!!! to be honest i like it the way it is..
and i think now you have had your fun you should send it back to oz...... i will take care of it for you:U:U
only joking great work,well done:cool:
cheers smiife:2tsup:

[chuck1]

I just scored a bag of green ones and got the seed out to plant and so far have two seedlings.its going to be a long wait till I harvest my own! Love your concept!

[turnerted]

Chuck1
I read somewhere that it is possible to graft Banksia grandis, I think thats the one with the big pods,onto the coastal banksia, the big one which is common in eastern Australia . If you have access to one ,you might be able to produce pods quicker than you think.
Ted

[Paul39]

dr4g0nfly (http://www.woodworkforums.com/members/38400-dr4g0nfly/),

I like it just as is on the driftwood. The granite looks too heavy.

A note about the photography. Most cameras look at a fairly large area to determine exposure. If you have a large light area with a dark object of interest, the camera looks at the field and exposes for the average. This makes the object too dark. If you have an adjustment to over expose about one stop (or EV), do that and the dark subject will look more normal.

You could also use a medium gray background which the camera will perceive as "average" and then all subjects will look "normal".

You can also use software to manipulate cropping, light - dark, color, etc. I use Picasa, a free program from Google.

Picasa - Download (http://picasa.en.softonic.com/)

I am a retired commercial photographer who has used Photoshop. I find Picasa does what I want for $600 less.

You do beautiful turnings.

[sjm]

Turning looks nice, and the finial is good too. I'm not too sure about the driftwood base though, I think it draws attention away from the main article.

[dr4g0nfly]

Actually it looks really good like it is :2tsup: But if your changing the finial later maybe add a small base of the same timber, nothing too large just a base to lift it, to draw attention to the over all shape.

Hughie, I'd said I could not make a base to suit (that I liked) which is why I used the driftwood.

Or are you suggesting a foot to lift is slightly off of the driftwood?



dr4g0nfly (http://www.woodworkforums.com/members/38400-dr4g0nfly/),

I like it just as is on the driftwood. The granite looks too heavy.

You can also use software to manipulate cropping, light - dark, color, etc. I use Picasa, a free program from Google.

Picasa - Download (http://picasa.en.softonic.com/)

You do beautiful turnings.

Paul, I'll look Picassa up - thanks for the tip.