White Oak Burl N/E Pedistal Bowl

[George Guadiane]

This bowl was turned from one of the smallish cutoffs of the BIG labs I chopped up for salad/fruit bowls. The grain is just crazy... I don't think that the pictures do the wood justice.

I tried the footed bowl because - yeah, . . . BECAUSE (I really don't know why, I just did). I don't often do them, I don't feel like I get the proportions right. I actually like this one.

Freshly turned "to finish" (sanded to 280 with oil). I took out as much as I could on the bottom, but there is still a pretty substantial mass in the column, so I COULD have problems as the piece dries. I went with the natural edge because the surface was the only area with spalting, which I think shows the burl grain better than anything.
The bowl is 11 3/4 inches in diameter by 6 1/2 inches high.

As always, Critiques, Comments and Questions Appreciated.

[David E Keller]

I love it. I'm not usually a fan of bowl with feet, but this one is really nice... It doesn't hurt that you used a beautiful chunk of wood for this one. I love the natural edge, and the proportions are nice.

[Baxter Smith]

Very different - but different is good and makes it interesting. Really like the natural edge and grain.

[Steve Schlumpf]

George - I like it! Beautiful wood and form! I consider that this has more of a pedestal than a foot - at least it sounds classier!

Hope it dries well! Looking forward to seeing what else you turn from that huge burl!

Very nice work!

[Richard Madison]

Nice work George. Going to be a very cool piece if ---. Sure hope it dries ok for you.

[Mike Willeson]

I think the foot is perfect on that bowl. Very nice George!

[John Keeton]

Very upright form, with substance! I like it, George, and the wood is just striking. You really got a very nice finishing recess on the underside of the foot - what method did you use for access?

[Jeff Nicol]

George, What I love about oak is the swirly grain and different tones in the wood. With the little spalting on the NE it really adds some extra zing to it! I have made a few footed/pedestal bowls but none with the NE so you have inspired me in that direction.

Jeff

[George Guadiane]

Very upright form, with substance! I like it, George, and the wood is just striking. You really got a very nice finishing recess on the underside of the foot - what method did you use for access?

Thanks John,
I have a "donut" chuck that has a fairly thick base of cut up and rounded floor foam layers, glued together with contact cement. It takes a lot of pressure and doesn't damage the wood... HOWEVER,
in this case, because of the bark edge, I built that up a bit more, in a way that put the support on the bowl bottom, not the rim.
Then I used stretch/pallet wrap to hold it in place (since there was no bark, I didn't have to worry about knocking it off). I kept the tailstock in place as long as I could, shaping the bottom of the foot as much as possible. When I moved the nub away, the piece was still REALLY secure, so I went deeper and made it "pretty."


George, What I love about oak is the swirly grain and different tones in the wood. With the little spalting on the NE it really adds some extra zing to it! I have made a few footed/pedestal bowls but none with the NE so you have inspired me in that direction.

Jeff

Jeff,
My favorite pen was turned by Stan Engle (a good friend who lives near me - I don't make pens - long story). He used a piece of spalted white oak that I found at a place I was collecting wood from. I didn't even know what it was at the time, but it looked like I should investigate further... ANYWAY,
Spalted white oak burl is one of my favorite local woods.
About natural edges; I keep telling people that I'm never going to get old, that I'm going to keep getting OLDER then die. Last night, after fighting with this particularly hard and brittle wood and worrying about ripping off a body part, I came away feeling OLD. This one kicked my butt.
I like natural edge stuff and will be doing more of it, but I'm sorry I started off with such a high degree of stress/difficulty.

OH, and on this one, the reason I went with a foot (I remembered after the original posts) is because of the odd shape of the block I started with... It would either have been one of those tornado looking forms or this. I picked this.

[Bernie Weishapl]

George that is a fine looking piece. I like the form and foot.

[charlie knighton]

very nice,
I tried the footed bowl because - yeah, . . . BECAUSE i uh....we understand :D

[Roland Martin]

Very nice NE bowl. The oak is awesome. Very good job.

[Sean Hughto]

I really like it. Nice work.

[Mike A. Smith]

Very, very nice work George. My wife has been after me for a footed bowl, but I'm not going to show her this one. Don't want to raise the expectations.