I Been busy roughing some 17 and 15 inch bowls

[Leo Van Der Loo]

from Maple I had sitting behind my place, as the snow has mostly melted, it was time to get them roughed out before they would be splitting al to h*ll.

But this little one I did finish last night and can show now, the big ones will sit for a while before they get to this stage :eek:

It was the reason for not replying till now to my previous post :o

It is just a little over 6"X3" Walnut bowl.
Thanks for looking
Oh maybe I better add a picture of the roughouts ;)

[Richard Madison]

That's a cutie Leo. Looks like perfect centering of the heartwood.

[Matt Hutchinson]

Nice looking maple, Leo! I have some 32" diameter chunks of maple with similar coloring. You beat me to it! ;)

(Although, it seems your lathe has better power transfer than mine. Mine is powered with a leather flat belt, and it slips a lot. I roughed out a 22" hard maple bowl this fall, and it took about 4.5 hrs!! I am jealous! :))

Hutch

P.S. I always enjoy seeing your turnings.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks Richard :D, yes it looks good I think, too bad they took out that little tree :mad:, I planted it about 25 years ago IIRC, now it had to be removed to do some work on the creek behind my place they said :(, not much to show for, but still better than firewood or wood chips :rolleyes:

[David Christopher]

Leo , thats a great looking bowl and the roughouts are going to be nice also

[Barry Stratton]

I like that little walnut bowl.....and might have to "borrow" that shape!

Sweet looking roughouts as well.

Question....isn't it illegal for you Canucks to use anything other than a metric tape measure???:D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hé Barry you forget I'm a Dutchman ;), I'm Bi-measuring-able :eek: :D :D :D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Matt :), thanks.
Matt have you ever though about using a multi-V belt instead of the leather belt ??, I don't think you would need to cut the grooves for them, (would be better if you did) but I think you'd have a lot more power transfer with one of those.
32" you say ??, that's about all I can swing, it sure takes a lot longer with those size blanks, you cant turn at the same speed as these, I was going 550 RPM on the 17" after it was about round, you'd be lucky to go 150 with that size, have fun, but do take care :)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks David :D, I hope they will survive :eek:, never really sure about that :(, but most do :D.

[Jim Kountz]

Leo, nice looking bowl, cute form!! Fun roughing out those big daddies isnt it!!

[Matt Hutchinson]

That poly v belt idea might work. I have also thought about going to a conveyor belt manufacturer, but I haven't gotten around to it.

I can't actually turn 32" at this time. But I can go to about 23.5 ", which is still pretty darn big!

Well, I can't wait to see those rough forms completed! ;)

Hutch

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice little bowl Leo! Love the contrast in colors! Also like the slight warp and you rim treatment! Nice work!

Looking forward to seeing the large blanks finished! Love turning large green pieces! Messy but effortless and lots of shavings shooting to the ceiling!

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a great looking walnut bowl Leo. Can't wait to see the big ones finished.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

/snip/

Well, I can't wait to see those rough forms completed! ;)

Hutch

But I think you have to, just like me :rolleyes: :eek: ;) :D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thank you Steve :D.
It'll be a while before those Maples are dry :rolleyes:, besides there are a few hundred other ones that could be finished but I haven't yet :o, ......yup turning wet is more fun than dry ones :D, luckily when finished the looks of the dry turned ones usually win from the wet ones, I think/hope ;) :)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks Bernie ;-))

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Jim :D Thanks :)

Well they aren't that big, but the last one had my tool rattling pretty good, as it has quite a bit of figured wood on the one half, and taking a heavy cut at a good 550 RPM clip was enough to flex the 5/8 shaft, yup fun and showered :D

[Jeff Nicol]

Leo, I like how that little one curled up on the ends! The light and dark contrast is very nice! I am off to my cousins house today to get some of the maple and whatever is left on the landing from the loggers. The loggers are about 1/4 finished with the harvest so more to come! Maybe I can get back in the shop soon, I have been remodeling a bedroom on my second floor for a good friend that just moved back to town from Florida. He is going to be my new apprentice!! He is a computer geek so he knows very little about wood!

Great rough outs!

Jeff

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Jeff :D, thank you for commenting :D.
I see you have the same problem with all kinds of things getting in the way of your wood turning ;), but it must be nice to get a helper with hauling your wood :p

[Thomas Bennett]

Leo, how are you drying those blanks? Sealing them ? Boiling them? I love that heart wood going through the center! The bigger the better!

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Tom, the smallest ones are sitting in a large brown paper bag, and are drying in a cool place, no draft and no heating sources close by, the largest ones are wrapped in 2 layers of newspaper, as my bags aren't big enough to hold them, they are in the same spot drying :)

There's all kinds of BS bandied around of using dishwashing soap and boiling and Alcohol soaking, cowdung wipeon, and you name it gimmicks, to dry your turning fast without splitting and distorting, well I learned a long time ago there will always be snake-oil salesmen as long as there are believers.

Ever wonder why the big sawmills are still using expensive energy to dry their wood in kilns, rather than slather on some soap or dunk it in alcohol ???

I create small kilns without heat, were the moisture from the wood will slow the drying enough to prevent splitting, and the paper will absorb and release the moisture slowly, yes it takes time, but it is the end-result I'm interested in.

You think it might work ??, well see how many splits you can find in these bowls that were/are dried this way.

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