PDA

View Full Version : Hmmmmm....dunno?!?!



TTIT
13th November 2007, 12:25 AM
I tried to do this shape a couple of months ago and ended up with a really crappy lookin' plate after I got a bit over-zealous with the hollowing :C :B
Had another go with this chunk of Silver Oak and now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have stuck with the plate :doh: Waddayareckin? Does it work?? (be brutal if you must :U )

1st time I've worked the Silver Oak - thought it would be similar to Silky but turns out to be more like Beefwood - yuk! Form is about 190 x 80mm, couple of coats of Danish and some extreme cheating for the 'ebonizing' (flat black spray can:B ). The grain and color inside was very ordinary so it got the blackening treatment as well to give it that bottomless feel.

joe greiner
13th November 2007, 01:17 AM
I'm ambivalent about the inside blackening. But the outside "ebonizing" might work better with gloss, and extending down to the body of the bowl so it looks like a separate collar. Might need some sanding to enhance the gloss finish if needed. Otherwise, the form looks good.

Joe

Harry72
13th November 2007, 01:31 AM
Looks good to me!

OGYT
13th November 2007, 05:15 AM
I like it... both form and finish... absolutely beautiful timber! :2tsup:
Kinda like Joe on the top treatment... but it would have been quite a trick, getting the ebonizing to go down to the bowl, without staining the bowl too. I first thought it was a reflection of the bowl in the paint... then I re-read 'flat'. :D

hughie
13th November 2007, 06:08 AM
Vern,

Hmmm, probably go with Joe on this one. I probably would have had the dark lip smoother.

I have done the dark inside before and it works well, I used a matt finish to give it the endless inky depth feeling...sort of :U


Otherwise good shape and great looking peice of timber. :2tsup:

Jim Carroll
13th November 2007, 07:36 AM
I think the photos do not show the real form.

The background is too dark.

Any way to take some photos with a different background.

robyn2839
13th November 2007, 07:41 AM
looks fine to me , nice form. love the ebonising and texture to the top.thats my uneducated opinion .bob

artme
13th November 2007, 09:24 AM
I know. I like the shape! the timber is beautiful but I appreciate tour comments re Beefwood. I know that if I get a piece of it that I'll be in for a hard thyme.I would have taken the ebonizing down to the bowl top 2. Would have looked even better with a separately turned an inserted dark ring.
Still, very,very nice.:U:U:U

BernieP
13th November 2007, 10:22 AM
G'day TTit

I like the overall shape and a nice piece of wood. Agree perhaps a seperate collar, but feel you would then lose the continuation of overall shape if the black was extended. But then what would I know, still learning!

Cheers
Bernie

Cliff Rogers
13th November 2007, 10:54 AM
I reckon you should save the spectacular timber for platters, particularly if it is difficult to work.

I like the piece in general BUT... if I had done it, I would not have made to opening as high above the shoulders. The height of the lip is fine but the slope on the top surface would look better if it was a bit shallower.

Nice photography. :2tsup:

ptc
13th November 2007, 01:29 PM
very nice
has a oriental look to me.

TTIT
13th November 2007, 01:46 PM
Thanks for the comments one and all. 2 reasons I didn't carry the blackening over rim - 1st because I didn't want it to look like a collar which, in hindsight, was pretty stupid as it was the 1st thing noticed :B and 2nd :B:B because it was easier to mask that way - rubber band over a piece of paper with a hole cut in it :U

I like the piece in general BUT... if I had done it, I would not have made to opening as high above the shoulders. The height of the lip is fine but the slope on the top surface would look better if it was a bit shallower.
Reckon you're probably right there Cliff - I was too busy listening to the wood again - that slope actually follows the medullary out both sides - t'was a very dull bit of wood without that showing :shrug:

I think the photos do not show the real form.

The background is too dark.

Any way to take some photos with a different background.
First try on my ebay black velvet - will do some back on the white drop tonight.:U

I'm ambivalent about the inside blackening. But the outside "ebonizing" might work better with gloss, and extending down to the body of the bowl so it looks like a separate collar. Might need some sanding to enhance the gloss finish if needed. Otherwise, the form looks good.

JoePoints noted Joe. Sometimes let my own tastes get in the way of what others see to be appealing - just not a gloss man when it comes down to it.

Cliff Rogers
13th November 2007, 02:05 PM
I don't go for gloss either. :think:
Try putting a clear satin finish over the black to give it some dept without going glossy.

TTIT
13th November 2007, 02:13 PM
I don't go for gloss either. :think:
Try putting a clear satin finish over the black to give it some dept without going glossy.It actually got a wipe of Danish for that very reason Cliff :U Great minds and all that :;

Gil Jones
13th November 2007, 02:31 PM
Vern,
No need for brutal, I think it looks quite fine, and like p.t.c, a bit oriental. If it is any help, I ran your pics thru Photoshop and re-attached them here. Of course, I have no way to know if it looks like this in real life, but still, I would like to have it in my collection. I really like the textured rim and satin inside! If you do not like the touched up pics, let me know so I can remove them.

rsser
13th November 2007, 03:10 PM
The black 'collar' certainly draws the eye in and so dominates the piece when looking down on it.

What gives it the oriental touch is the overhang on the shoulder I think. That also gives a bit of a jolt to the eye as it follows the curve.

I can picture it working better shallower and wider, but who knows.

Cliff Rogers
13th November 2007, 06:34 PM
...I can picture it working better shallower and wider, but who knows.
Yeah, I thought the same when I looked at Gils photshopped versions.

robyn2839
13th November 2007, 10:17 PM
how do you do the texturing on the top? . i would like to do that to one of my bowls. bob

TTIT
13th November 2007, 11:54 PM
how do you do the texturing on the top? . i would like to do that to one of my bowls. bobI use those little carbide burrs in the Dremel Bob - rip a lot of meat off very quickly but are easy to control. Bought them direct from the maker in Sawtell (Coffs Harbour) once but cannot remember their name :B


Any way to take some photos with a different background.Any better on white Jim??!!??

Jim Carroll
14th November 2007, 08:58 AM
Thats better now you can see the wood for the trees.

The top is hiding the bottom, there is good color and feature in the bottom part but you are unable to see it because of the lip.

You have 2 different features with this form.

The top looks good on its own and the bottom looks good on it own but both together sort of looses one to the other, {does that make sense}

My have been better as a platter to show of all the features. Or in a sandbag shape to give you the height, but show of all the color and feature.

How does it feel in the hand, is the edge too sharp.

This is a good peice to experiment with your background colors and lighting.

The top really comes up well with the black background but the base is lost, maybe different levels on the lighting would help.

The softer back ground shows of the true shape but does nothing for the real color of the peice.

TTIT
14th November 2007, 04:26 PM
All comments taken aboard Jim. Couldn't explain how it came out of the log so I did a rough cross section sketch. Hard to show the way this branch had split away at the fork resulting in the shape I've drawn. The highlighted area was all sapwood - very pale and bland and cracked a fair bit. The only way I could see to show the little bit of colour the log had was to have at least one surface (the top) following the medullary rays which worked well I thought. Anything flattish like a platter would not have shown nearly as much figure. To my eye, the grain and colour of the bottom was unattractive and better hidden from sight slightly.
:confuzzled: ?? 'sandbag' shape ??

On the photography side, any suggestions as to how to get rid of the 'fuzziness' ??? Doesn't seem to matter what background I use, I still get that softened look - or is it just my camera :shrug: - or not enough light - or......

rsser
14th November 2007, 08:23 PM
The fuzziness may be a depth of field problem. Too little.

If you can manually adjust it then go to a higher f stop. That will prob increase your exposure time requiring a tripod and/or flash.

A flash will wash out the 3D so you need a bounce flash or two flashes; or else photo lights.

Had enough? ;-}

joe greiner
15th November 2007, 12:30 AM
Like Ern said, you probably need more "depth of field" or "depth of focus." Google with the quotes to marry the keywords for more than you ever wanted to know.

With a film or digital SLR, the easiest way to maximize DOF is to pinch the aperture way down. (Largest f-number; it's a divisor, y'know.) Optimum focus point (with the lens wide open) is at 1/3 or 2/3 (I forget which) of the depth of the object. Then stop down and expose as long as needed to dump enough light to the film/sensor. Obviously best on a tripod, and the self-timer helps too, to reduce jitter.

[BTW, your eyes work the same way. Easier to focus in daytime (automatic iris opening tiny) than at night (automatic iris opening large). Also why squinting sometimes helps.]

With digitals only slightly better than the ones from cereal boxes, there's less control over the settings. If mode and zoom are available, consider these pics from an experiment I did. The first group are with no zoom, camera at about 90mm from the end of the ruler. The second group are at 2.5x zoom, camera at about 300mm. All use the automatic focus, and the mode indicators are default, landscape, and macro. ISO adjustment may also be available in manual shooting mode. Lots of variables to manipulate (camera location, zoom, mode, ISO, etc.), and digital "film" is cheap enough for experiments.

These are from a Canon PowerShot A300, with the resolution set at minimum quality for automatic file size for uploading. In addition to the variables listed above, you can also shoot at higher resolution with more background, and crop to reduce the file size.

Joe

Farnk
15th November 2007, 09:06 PM
Mate, a well done piece.
Different in form, the ebonised part sets of the rest of the form and grain well. I'd be happy to say that was one of mine!:B