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Musing about the expected weight of a turned vessel

Lots of road kill timber of various species on my street lately due to pre-hurricane clean ups, so I turned several weed pots. On some I drilled a 5/8" hole, on some I drilled a hole large enough to hold a 1

3/4 X 6 in. glass olive bottle, others were in between. On three I got carried away and hollowed them out to about 3/8 in. walls.

The pots all differed in weight relative to size and form, depending on the species, how wet and how hollow. I asked friends to predict the relative weight before picking them up and in particular note if there were any surprises re what was expected before the pot was held and caressed. Also if the surprise was pleasing or not. There was no consensus at all, not even a trend. Certainly, "too heavy" wasn't suggested any more often than "too light" or vice versa. Actually, very little was mentioned about either.

We turners somehow believe we can predict and we know we can feel any esthetic disparity or discontinuity in what we expect the weight of a turned object to be. This was a very flawed experiment and maybe many people can surmise by intuition. Do we predict the weight by having lifted hundreds of vessels and recognizing the density of a timber? Maybe because the smaller the opening usually the lighter the vessel...or do we just believe that we are clairvoyant? :)

I'm sure you have all picked up a vessel and been unpleasantly surprised at its weight, whether high or low. Could you have predicted it? I wonder how? OTOH, what has been your experience re the public's recognition of this discordance and do they care very much?

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

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Arch
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Hi Arch

I am surprised by the weight of wood frequently, not that it is too heavy or too light, but by the difference of what I expected the wood would weigh.

Then there is that one time in particular where the weight of a hollow turning was disconcerting and my reaction to it, My LOML and I were at a artist house with whom we had traded a painting for a turning and she had a very good looking hollow form turning in her collection, and of course I had to pick it up, and my flippant reaction of "Oh no it's too heavy". The hollow form had a very nice shape, and the openings edge was quite thin and the form was finished well, so I expected the form to be mostly thinner, however when I lifted it up I felt all this weight in the bottom half of the form, it just felt bad.

My experience is that most people are more often discomforted by too light than too heavy, they will be afraid of breaking something if it is very light, and seem not bothered much by a turning that could be lighter than it is.

Arch wrote:

Reply to
l.vanderloo

Hi Leo, Thanks for responding. Although your friend is an artist and not typical of the general public, I would like to know if she felt the same as you did about the disconcerting weight of the piece. Probably not or it wouldn't be in her collection...unless perhaps for the maker's name. Not a Vanderloo, but right up there. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

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Arch

Reply to
robo hippy

Hi Arch

Yes she knew, but loved it for it's looks, apparently she got it from a turner she knew and the price was right also.

Maybe it was something like, if you like a painting, do you not like it when the back of the frame does not look right ???

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Arch wrote:

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l.vanderloo

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