Natural Edge bowl question

[Rob Holcomb]

Hello all, I've turned some bowls after watching Bill Grumbine's video and have now watched the "Beyond the Basic bowl" I want to try a natural edge bowl and then on to the others that he demonstrates in the video but I'm unsure of the drying procedure. I've had great success with the DNA method of drying regular bowls but can I use this method for a natural edge bowl too? Will the bark stay on after soaking in DNA? After drying, will the bowl be able to be final turned since I'm assuming it will warp like a regular bowl does? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Mark Cothren]

Rob, I've roughed many NE bowls from green wood, soaked 'em in DNA and then wrapped/dried as I do my other bowls. They do warp a little as they dry (some worse than others, depending on the flavor of wood), but it isn't any bigger deal to remount and finish turn them as it is other bowls. I usually give the bark a good inspection to see if it looks like it is separating any and if it is I'll either remove it or try and save it with glue. Some woods are more cooperative than others when it comes to the bark hanging tight, but on the whole I have pretty good luck.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Mark and do the same thing. I have had good luck with using DNA on NE bowls. On thing I have found is the bark will have a tendency to stay on better depending on when the wood was cut. I have had really good luck with it staying on if cut thru the winter than say during the summer. Careful cuts around the rim are in order though with sharp tools.

[Ken Glass]

Rob,
X2 & 3 on Both Mark and Bernie's comments.

[David Woodruff]

Ron, This is the method I use for bark retention. After shaping and hollowing to about .75" +. I will use super thin CA at the bark-wood interface, inside and out and particularly soaking the bark with as much CA as it will absorb. I don't worry about discoloration as the second turn will take care of it as I will easily remove 1/8" inside & out. Whether the DNA or boiling process will have an undesirable effect, I have no idea. I don't think DNA will affect fully cured CA. Use an accelerator after 30 minutes soak to fully cure the CA. Let me know how it turns out. Good Luck Btw, I make a decision early on as to NE bark, bark inclusions, etc I want to retain in the finished piece consequently I routinely use CA for retention of natural artifacts with good success.

[David E Keller]

I've never turned a natural edge in two stages, so I've typically just gone thin the first time around and hoped for no cracks.

I'd do what Mark Cothren does... He is the king of the natural edge IMO.

[Tom Sherman]

I'd do what Mark Cothren does... He is the king of the natural edge IMO.[/QUOTE]

I'ld agree with that Mark has done so many NE's he can do them in his sleep. He's the man to ask.

[Tony De Masi]

I've done both the DNA soak and turned to finish thickness at the first turning. All of my DNA soaking came before I took some classes from Bill G. I've only done a few since then and all of them I've finished turned right away. The recent ones were maple, cherry, and walnut. Cherry and walnut warped ever so slightly and the maple, if it moved, I couldn't tell. So, now that I've confused you, which method are you going to use?:D

[Mark Cothren]

I turn a lot of NE bowls. My way/ways are definitely not the only way to do 'em, and very likely not even the best way to do 'em. It's just what works for me. I've turned NEs from wood cut all different times of the year. I'm sure it depends on your geography, but here in central Arkansas I don't notice much, if any, difference in the tightness of the bark at different times of the year. Different species of woods are definitely more accommodating for NE turning (walnut, ash, cherry, etc). Some are definitely non-NE turning woods (hackberry, silver poplar, etc). I'd love to turn 'em all to finished while they are green, but most of the time I end up needing to do a little sanding on mine, so I wait for them to dry.

[Rob Holcomb]

Well I had a little set back. I had some Cherry among other species that I got from a tree cutter early this Spring. They have been in my workshop in log form since. I had sealed the ends and they are still in good shape. I cut one of the Cherry logs and then on to the band saw. The blade tension wasn't right and I couldn't cut the wood good enough without making adjustments to the band saw. I mounted the piece onto my lathe and it was thumping like crazy at 250rpm. I figured it was either too heavy of a piece for my Delta 46-460 or too out of balance. I took it off and decided to wait until I could adjust the band saw and I would try again then. My better half had a few things for me to do this afternoon so all I had time for was a little bell out of a small Ash piece I had laying around. This evening I went back in the shop and made the adjustments to the band saw and it made a world of difference. I was able to get the piece fairly round and then mounted it onto the lathe. Before I turned the lathe on, I noticed the bark on one edge was seperated from the wood. I inspected it closely and tugged on it ever so lightly to see how bad it was. The entire bark fell right off the wood in one piece. I stood there just looking at it. Dumbfounded. I took the piece off the lathe and walked over to my campfire pit and threw it in. I could have still turned the wood into something nice but I thought that any piece of wood that gave me so much trouble right from the start deserved to become ashes. Tomorrow is another day and I will try again. If there's anything I've learned about woodworking, whether it's lathe work or flat work, is when things don't go right over an over, it's better to walk away than to stay and become frustrated to the point that something bad can happen! I like my fingers, face, eyes and the rest of my body. I told this story because we all hear about how wonderful things turn out but we all have days like I had today and sometimes people starting out in woodworking need to hear that it's not a bed of roses every time we enter our shops!