Week's worth of bowl roughing

[John Trax]

In the last storm a red alder down by the river twisted and broke off about 10' up. I salvaged what I could. Most of the bigger pieces were split badly and un-usable unfortunately. But I think there are just over 100 pieces from that tree ranging from 4" cups to about 9" diameter bowls.

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I had a lot of fun and piled the shavings up waist high. I suspect it will be a little harder to work with this once they dry but it was like cutting butter when wet.

I did not really believe it when I heard of people hanging shower curtains when turning wet wood. Half way through this I found myself hanging my new shower curtain to keep the water off the walls and my tool rack. I seriously considered getting my rain coat!

[alex carey]

Nice picture of a ton of rough outs. I too have had that problem with water spinning off the lathe. Certainly gets annoying.

[Dewey Torres]

Your weeks worth looks sure to pay off. Make sure you come back with the pics when it does!

[Jeff Nicol]

John, I love the smell and feeling of the mist hitting my arms and chest as the water sprays off the blank! Kind of connects us to our art from beginning to end. You certainly have been busy and looks like a bunch of nice shapes and sizes!

Jeff

[Chris Haas]

:eek: thats a lot of bowls!!! havent roughed out that many in all of my 2yrs turning combined. wish i had more time in the shop. good luck

[David Christopher]

WOW, thats a lot of bowls..looks you have been busy but it will pay off when they dry

[Richard Bell CA]

John:

That's a great pile of bowls! The part I like about roughing is the opportunity to start forming the shape of the final bowl, whether it is to avoid a defect, highlight a particular area of the grain direction, or simply follow a whim. By the way, I find it helpful to write the date and the species on the bottom with a permanent marker - can save some guessing later if you are rough turning from various sources. Do you plan on doing anything special for drying?

Richard

[John Trax]

My wife gave me some strange looks every time I came in from the shop with my left side soaking wet.

I did mark the date on the roughs but not the species. Red Alder is kinda obvious as it starts to dry. I used a lumber crayon which I am not happy with. The wood was too wet for a regular 'sharpie' marker, I ruined one trying. Any suggestions for what type of marker to use on wet wood?

I dried a few pieces of alder last fall by doing nothing special. Maybe beginner's luck.... But so far red alder seems to dry without much fuss. I put Anchor-seal on the logs from last fall till I got around to them but I did not do anything on this log, just roughed it out as fast as I could and then piled them up on my drying rack.

[Steve Schlumpf]

John - sure looks like you had a lot of fun! Turning green is a blast! I have actually worn a raincoat when turning wet wood and have had water running down the wall and dripping off the ceiling! Doesn't bother me to much in the summer - feels nasty during the winter!

Marking wet wood - I use an archival (India ink) pen that can be found at most craft stores. Works great even on super wet wood and doesn't run even if submersed in DNA.

Looking forward to seeing these bowls once they are finished!

[Richard Bell CA]

John:

I use a regular Sharpie. You might try letting the surface dry a little, sometimes not more than a couple of hours, sometimes more. Once the surface is dry, the Sharpie has worked fine for me. The pen tip can also be damaged if the surface is rough. I use quite a few, and they are much cheaper by the box of 12. I came across a deal at Office Depot where they had a 2 for 1, and the pens came out to 33 cents each. At that price I don't mind ruining a few.

I live south of you, and in the summer it gets very hot and dry. I have had problems with checking/cracking with other species (I have never turned alder). Since I am normally not in a rush to turn a specific bowl, I usually coat with Anchor Seal or Sealtite as a precaution. Sometimes the blanks crack anyway. However, there are many methods of drying. The "best" method is what works for you.

Richard

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a lot of bowls. I thought my 10 in 2 weekends was a bunch but mine don't hold a candle.

[Tom Wilson66]

Indelible pencils work real well on wet wood. Just be sure to mark where it will be turned off, since the pencil mark will bleed some.

[Barry Stratton]

Pictures of the shavings pile.....pictures of the shavings pile...:D

Looks like a BUNCH of fun!

[Clarence Sears]

I agree with Bernie - that is some amount of productivity! Nice work also :)