Thread: Here's a turquoise segmented vessel for you.

Very nice work Bill

Young Bill, let's face it, you have a gift x 10. Some people put a piece of rough looking wood on the lathe and it comes off looking like a slightly different rough looking piece of wood.
Whereas you put something on the lathe and it comes off looking like a work of art.

Good ain't it? i find looking at your work is very nourishing for the spirit and it is just so good that someone has such talent and the thoughtfulness to share.

Thanks Bill.

Really nice work, I'm looking forward to my books arriving. Already started working on the sled.

So Billy-Boy, how do you turn the inside of such a tall, narrow vessel? I noticed one of your other works had a fairly small opening. This is really interesting stuff.

I'm going to compile all of your posts and photos into one document for reference purposes. Many thanks for your input to the forum.

Thanks very much everyone Doing the inside of this one I used a scraper from Crown Tools that has a left sided hook. It peels off wood like butter. I'll take a picture of it for you. It's a real good feeling when people admire your work so I want you all to know I greatly appreciate it. If I can help any of you any way let me know. I can mail blueprints of the making of a segmented piece if anyone is up to the challenge. Here's a pic of 3 of my projects and the initial blueprint of the turquoise piece. This turning has been very addictive for me if you haven't noticed.

Bill, I've been doing some thinking on a slightly different approach but when I asked a local seg-turner about it his only reply was "it won't work." No elaboration or explanation... just "it won't work." Now, he's been turning for more years than I've been breathing and I respect his opinion but... I can't help but wonder if he's become a bit hide-bound. "This is how I do it so it's the only way to do it"... you know?

Seeing as how you're the new kid on the block and doing such amazing pieces, I'd like your thoughts on the matter...

Basically, it's to do with hollow form pots. You know the ones: with the tiny 1" or less opening at the top. What I'm wondering is, instead of gluing up all the segments in one hit and struggling to hollow the inside, what's to stop you from gluing up just the bottom half and hollowing the inside to spec, leaving the topmost ring or so untouched.

Then dismount the piece still on the chuck (to avoid recentering problems) and glue more rings on top, remount, hollow, etc, etc. until the last rings go on and you can finish the inside, then turn your attention to finishing the outside?

It seems it should be doable to me... but perhaps you can see some pitfalls that I'm missing?

The technique of building bottom then adding top has been used by potters for thousands of years. As a [ex] potter i would think of dong it that way as completely conventional. Routinely difficult or large shapes would be thrown in two pieces, set aside to dry for a while then joined. We would often just throw the bottom half roughly and add coils and pull em up or make a big fat collar of clay and pull that up. when it all dries a bit more you can trim em up pretty nice and no-one would really know how you done it unless you knew to look for the joins inside the pot. Often you wont see it till its broke.

How you would hollow out vase shaped pieces of wood through a 1" opening is beyond me. Makes a lot more sense to choose your block, bandsaw it in half and cut the top then the bottom. I would leave a good thick rim that mated perfectly to join em. Glue them up in some kind clamp type press. Then set her up in the chck and trim to shape.

With these modern high power glues it should be easy. Hard bit would be getting the glueing planes perfectly mated and gluing up so she dont slip

awesome again bill
skew..your idea seems practical...but maybe there would be a bit of flex at the base because of the thinness. maybe if you roughed out most of it and left the fine finishing cuts till last?? or have i missed something?

cheeers

Hi bill that is some beautiful work I must say, cant wait until I get to that stage of turning and I will definitely be looking you up.

Originally Posted by ss_11000

skew..your idea seems practical...but maybe there would be a bit of flex at the base because of the thinness. maybe if you roughed out most of it and left the fine finishing cuts till last?? or have i missed something?

That's why I think I'd leave the outside alone until it was all glued together. To keep some meat on it in the early stages.

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

It seems it should be doable to me... but perhaps you can see some pitfalls that I'm missing?

Ditto. Looking forward to further comments. Another question on the same line, for non-segmented vases etc: any problems, besides the obvious that the joint line would be visible (albeit hopefully barely), with hollowing from the bottom and then closing it with a plug made by cutting beforehand a slice of the starting cylinder?

Some folks do a progressive buildup; i.e. glue some, turn, glue some more, turn some more, etc.

For hollowing in general, the decorative collar is more than just decoration. (See some of Gil Jones' recent work.) It allows larger access to the inside. (But I guess most of you already knew that.)

Joe

Question about the turquoise segments: They seem to be made of a "mortar" with crushed stone. Do you precast chunks and make segments like the wood? Or make up the surrounding rings, and fill the gaps with the "mortar?"

Joe

Hey those segmented turnings are beautiful! But they look "southwestern" and since I live in Arizona, maybe you should send them to me so they feel at home! Terrific work tho!