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Dominic Greco
12-08-2004, 12:51 PM
Hi Everyone,

Below is a picture of a Maple Burl Bowl I finally completed last night. To be accurate, this is a burl from a Ambrosia Maple as evidenced by the coloration and the beetle/grub holes. And yes, it won't hold soup. So it must be "art". :>)

This wood was cut wet from the burl and roughed to shape. The roughed-out form was alcohol soaked and allowed to dry for a couple weeks. Now with a burl, I normally wouldn't be as concerned with the wood movement. The grain is so uni-directional, that wood movement is not as critical as bowls turned from "non-burl" (is that a word?) wood. But this blank featured a small burl section as well as a larger, normal grained area. So I figured that I'd be safe rather than sorry and soak it.

After it was dry enough, I turned it to final shape only to realize that a huge knot went right through the side of the bowl. I attempted to fill the void with Inlace. I say "attempted" because as I was final turning it, the chunk of inlace came loose, and with a hearty "CHUNK!" embedded itself in the ceiling above my lathe. I intend to leave it there as a reminder why I wear a full face shield while turning.

After I recovered from the shock of feeling/seeing a turquoise colored shiruken (Ninja throwing star) whiz past my face, I decided that the void shall remained unfilled. I've never turned a "artsy" bowl. Maybe this was sign to do so now.

Since this wood heavily spalted, it was somewhat punky. I sanded to 320 grit and then applied a coat of Zinsner's Bull's Eye Sealer to help mitigate this. The bowl was then power sanded to 600 grit. I continued sanding from 1500 to 12000 grit using Micro Mesh.

Once the inside was completed, I reversed the bowl using a vacuum chuck and parted off the tenon. To give the base a bit more detail, I burned a series of concentric circles.

After sanding, I applied several flood coats of Watco's Natural Danish Oil and allowed it to cure for several days.

Using a trick I learned from my recent pen making spree, while buffing I skipped the tripoli compound, and went straight to the White Diamond. I also skipped the carnuaba wax as well. Instead, I gave the bowl a coat of Renaissance Wax and then buffed it. I found that this wax resists finger prints to a greater degree than just carnuaba.
So,.....what do you think?

Maple Burl Bowl Specs:
Outer dia.: 10 1/4"
Height: 3"
Wall thickness: 3/16"
Base dia.: 2 1/2"
Sanding Method: Sanded to 12000 Grit.
Finish: Watco's Danish Oil
Final: Buffed with White Diamond, then Renaissance Wax

Thanks for viewing.

Mark Singer
12-08-2004, 12:52 PM
Georgeous!!!! Increadible piece....natural delicate wonderful proportions

Ted Shrader
12-08-2004, 1:03 PM
Dominic -

Great work! Thank you, also, for the detailed explaination of its creation.

Ted

Joe Melton
12-08-2004, 1:26 PM
Dominic, that is one beautiful bowl!
Can you explain how you avoid breaking off that loopy part when you sand the bowl? It seems to me if you put any pressure at all on the bowl when sanding that this part would be at risk.
Joe

Brad Schmid
12-08-2004, 1:31 PM
Great work Dominic! very cool :cool:
From the look of the void, the "throwing star" analogy seems appropriate :eek: :D
Cheers,
Brad

Dave Brandt
12-08-2004, 3:24 PM
Dominic, you are da man! Incredible!! :eek: Glad you weren't hurt.

Scott Coffelt
12-08-2004, 3:28 PM
Looks great. Some day I need to try me one of those. Push that edge or this case push that limited edge.

John Shuk
12-08-2004, 3:57 PM
Dominic,
That is one nice bowl. As for artsy.. it fits with the other beautiful work you post for our greedy eyes. I guess artsy is good.
John

Jim Becker
12-08-2004, 5:29 PM
Very nice...and I hope you bring it to the meeting on the 20th. I'd like to fondle it!! :D

Steve Jenkins
12-08-2004, 7:54 PM
Geeze Dom,
next thing you know you will be wearing a smock and changing your shop into a studio.

That is one FANTASTIC piece.
I just happen to have an empty space in my showroom right next to a bowl by Dave Smith :>)

Dominic Greco
12-08-2004, 9:00 PM
Can you explain how you avoid breaking off that loopy part when you sand the bowl? It seems to me if you put any pressure at all on the bowl when sanding that this part would be at risk.

Joe,
Thanks for the compliments!

The void did cause me a bit of heartache when I was sanding. I power sanded using a close quarters drill equipped with a Velcro backed sanding pad. You have to angle the drill so that the pad contacts the surface of the bowl at an angle and "ski jumps" over the void while sanding. You have to get the bowl spinning fast enough. IMHO trying to sand a slowly rotating bowl with a void is a recipe for frustration.

Another thing, you can't get too heavy handed while sanding. That will break out the wood around the void for sure.

I've heard of turners supporting the outside of a "voided" bowl with a couple of layers of plastic shrink wrap. This helps to stop the bowl from flying apart. I've never tried it, but it sounds like it might work.

Thanks

Dominic Greco
12-08-2004, 9:01 PM
Thanks for the kind words everbody!

Anthony Yakonick
12-08-2004, 9:07 PM
It is a nice bowl and it doesn't hold soup so it must be art :D

Jim Ketron
12-08-2004, 10:23 PM
Very nice Dominic
Im going to have to get me some burls!!!!!!!!!!!:D
Jim