feedback & criticism please

[ivory vortex]

Guitar stand build

Couple things; I would really appreciate some feedback or ideas on edge treatment. I think I made a mistake with the texture of the walnut, where I feel the piece is in limbo between underwhelming and too busy. My thought is have the bottom of the maple maybe more rounded over and transitioning into square to soften up the bottom.

Secondly the top side is super boring and unappealing so my solution to that is maybe a recessed “well” to hold small items like guitar pic or what have you

The holesaw will get a bit of a chamfer

[muted glen]

How’s it look holding a guitar?

The bottom of it doesn’t flow with the rest of the piece though, I agree. Rounder would, I think, tie it together more

I think the dovetail with the walnut into the maple looks stellar

[torpid pine]

How does it look with some water or mineral spirits wiped on? The grain is a bit muted in this state, and the visual noise (for lack of a better term) created by the carving is making it even more distorted. I feel like once you put a finish on it and the grain contrast comes into play, it’s going to look a lot more vibrant.

[ivory vortex]

I like how the carved meets the figured maple that I’m happy with …. It’s just missing something and I’m scared to overdo it I guess lol

[ivory vortex]

I’m not sure I don’t own one

[muted glen]

Oh, is it a gift?

[ivory vortex]

Yeah for the law brother

[elder dawn]

If I were to change something about it, I'd taper the part that mounts to the wall towards the bottom. It gives sort of fancy/ornate torch holder vibes currently, I think it'd look less visually heavy if it thinned out a bit as it descended

[ivory vortex]

Like knock off these corners from “x” to 0 ?

[delicate badger]

Personally I’m thinking there’s a mismatch between the soft curve of the walnut and the hard angles of the maple

Maybe a progressively deeper round over as it tapers down? That might thin it out visually and tie in the curve

[elder dawn]

id probably continue the taper across the face

[ivory vortex]

I might take both your ideas, I’ll taper, and if the hard lines still aren’t visually appealing I’ll knock them down with hand sanding and soften the look.

Start with wall piece and then make decisions about top

Thanks for feedback everyone 🙂

[sweet shore]

My only addition: make yourself a piece of pine or poplar or something to the same dimensions as your components you intend to profile, doesn't need the accurate joinery, but test your modifications on a prototype before you start subtracting material from your nicely joined curly maple

You can figure out a shape your eye likes, and then duplicate it

[ivory vortex]

That seems way too smart and less risky for my style 🤣

Yeah ill be doing that

[elder dawn]

first thought best thought, time to bust out the angle grinder (/s)

[ivory vortex]

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t try to remove bulk waste with this approach, I only had 80 grit flap disk meant for metal tho. So that lasted about 3 seconds before I switched to gouge

[elder dawn]

Angle grinder carving can be really cool, There's a woodknight video on it with the arbortech disks

[ivory vortex]

@elder dawn pay no attention to quality I also made that bottom angle wayyy too wide. But this kinda what you were getting at ?

[elder dawn]

Yea, I think you're headed in the right direction!

[ivory vortex]

I’ll try doing a round over on the other side and compare but not sure how to approach it

[elder dawn]

sure, I might try to bring the chamfer in even further in a curve to call back to the curve on the vertical piece

[ivory vortex]

So almost keeping the “flat” reduced to only where joinery sits

[elder dawn]

not necessarily all the way yo the joinery, just closer

[ivory vortex]

Yeah I agree that would flow nicer and look more intentional than a simple round over

Just not sure I have those capabilities

[elder dawn]

yet

[ivory vortex]

I mean other than a hand plane and mastercraft round over bits for router I’ve got no other way to create a curve

[elder dawn]

Hmm, if it were me here I'd probably use something like a spokeshave and or a rasp

could even make a template and do it with a chisel

trace the line onto both sides

[ivory vortex]

And there lies my dilemma, it’s a Christmas gift I’m making, and both those items I’ve asked for myself for Christmas hahah

[elder dawn]

ah yea that'll be a roadblock lol

[ivory vortex]

I’ll give it a go with a handplane see what happens and worse case I don’t hate the chamfer

[elder dawn]

solid plan

[sweet shore]

I think even if this winds up being as far as you take it, you've done a good job reducing the visual weight and adding interest to the lines. So always feel at liberty to push the prototype further, find the point of failure, then backtrack. A lot of good design comes from going too far with a prototype to find the sweet spot, a lot of bad design comes from ideas only taken half way because of fear of failure.

This is why the pine prototype is worth its weight in gold.

[ivory vortex]

I really appreciate you reminding me of that tip. It’s one I’ve been well aware exists but never put into practice till now.

I think pushing the design envelope is my favorite part of woodworking. and with a few more basic tools and a hell of a lot more hands on. I believe I can create some actually beautiful pieces that will also last:)

[sweet shore]

I think so too! You do good work!

[ivory vortex]

Dammit, I think @delicate badger was right, the curve is more complimentary I think

[elder dawn]

while you've got it whipped up

in pine

maybe play with tapering the width of the back piece toward the bottom

keeping the curve you put on

[ivory vortex]

Increasing the taper angle to make whole piece narrower at bottom ? But keep the look of the round over

[elder dawn]

yea exactly

could also round the bottom like I drew in, but less sure how I feel about that

I think the main design thing I'd want from it is just for it to feel "lighter"

[ivory vortex]

No harm in trying