Resin Rim Cherry Bowl

[John Hart]

This is a Cherry Bowl made from a 2.5" thick slab that I got from a little Amish store. I decided to do a little experiment to see if I could cast a resin rim on to a bowl and really figured that I'd end up throwing it away. But it turned out so pretty that I've decided to keep it.
Cherry....10.75" Diameter....2.25 High....Finished with 1 coat of Tung Oil, 2 Coats of Antique Oil, and finished off with Feed-N-Wax (Carnuba/Beeswax/Orange Oil)
Comments and Critiques welcome with great enthusiasm :)

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[Roger Chandler]

John,

Super pretty. Ok, so I have to ask......did you have to use a "form" to cast the rim around the bowl? If so, could you explain the "how you did it" and let the rest of us in on the technique?

Very innovative, and creative! Beautiful finish, and you ought to be very proud of this one!

[John Keeton]

John, really a neat process! And, I like the form of the bowl overall - beautiful color, too.

Would be neat to have a pic with a light source to show the translucency of the rim.

[David DeCristoforo]

I hope that Amish turner doesn't see this. They'll never sell another bowl to "them English" again!

[John Keeton]

Ok, so I have to ask......did you have to use a "form" to cast the rim around the bowl? If so, could you explain the "how you did it" and let the rest of us in on the technique?Roger, a link is not permitted, but John did a tutorial on his process on the Woodturners America site entitled Experiment in Resin. Very informative and well done! Must have been between lacquer moments!!:D:D

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, a link is not permitted, but John did a tutorial on his process on the Woodturners America site entitled Experiment in Resin. Very informative and well done! Must have been between lacquer moments!!:D:D


Thanks John!

[David Christopher]

very nice bowl John

[gary Zimmel]

Nice looking bowl John.

[James Roberts]

Very nice bowl John, glad the experiment panned out and you decided to finish it and share with us.

[Cathy Schaewe]

I had been watching the thread on the other site with interest, and was waiting to see how it turned out. Gorgeous!!!!! Any thoughts on whether the rim will stay attached with time and wood flex?

[David E Keller]

Gorgeous piece. The form and finish are spot on. Way to get 'out of the box', John.:)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Interesting idea John and it sure worked out well! Love the Cherry! Wonderful color and you managed a finish that is just amazing!

Looking forward to seeing where this experiment takes you!

[John Hart]

Thanks everyone!:) It really was a challenge, and I think I learned a lesson or two about patience and what "light cuts" really means.;)

Cathy...thank you. I have every confidence that the resin will withstand any movement in the wood. It doesn't really seem rock-hard and intolerant....more like "really hard but flexible".

I also think that it needs to be thicker...but this as a display piece, it won't be abused much.

[Curt Fuller]

That just turned out very cool John!

[Josh Bowman]

John, thanks for the post. I look forward to reading the tutorial, I'm going there now.

[Baxter Smith]

Pretty neat bowl John. It has a very nice shape and great colors.

[Kathy Marshall]

Beautiful bowl John! I love the rim treatment and the color goes great with the cherry!

[Tony De Masi]

Real pretty piece John and I really like the resin insert. What process did you use to turn the piece? I only ask because you started with a 2.5" thick slab and ended up with a 2.5" high bowl with no foot on the bottom. Just curious.

[bob svoboda]

Very nice John.

[John Hart]

Thanks again everyone!! This is going to be a permanent resident of the library shelves. Maybe I'll use it as a bookend or something. ;):D

Tony...I do most of my turnings with a faceplate and tenon...which pretty much maximizes the depth of the wood. I epoxy a block of wood to my blank and then screw the faceplate to that block.

Unlike most real woodturners, I do the inside of my bowls first. I rough the outer profile, knowing that I'm going to turn it around. Then I finish up the inside of the bowl...taking it to the finish sanding.

When I part off the bowl, I have already established the depth of the foot and part off the tenon.... actually leaving a sliver of the tenon and all the epoxy still on the bowl.

Then, using the tenon and a mouse pad as a jamming mechanism, I bring the tailstock up to the bottom of the bowl, get it aligned, then finish-turn the bottom.

In the case of this cherry slab, it's original thickness was so even and true, I really didn't lose much in the whole process (about a 1/4")

I showed this in the tutorial. It may be a little unconventional, but it works for me.:)

[Allen Neighbors]

John, to my inexperienced eye, that bowl is beautiful in every way; form and finish, and the rim is a great addition to an otherwise great bowl... Thanks for posting it for us to see!

[John Hart]

Here....I hijacked the pics from the other site. It's just too hard to 'splain. ;)

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This is a profile shot showing the tenon glued up and the bottom of the bowl roughed in

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After parting it off...I clean up the tenon a bit

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Then I hunt around on the floor for a thin piece of scrap whatever. In this case, a piece of poplar left over from my summer deck project. :)

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Grasp an old mouse pad and hold it up to the tenon thingy...while placing the bowl up against the mouse pad

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Then stick the scrap wood up against the foot...and bring in the tailstock.

Now the key here is to only exert enough pressure from the tailstock to allow you to get the piece in perfect concentricity. Once it is perfectly concentric, then crank the tailstock in....all the way through the scrap (it should snap in half) and into the bowl bottom. Now, you're ready to finish-turn.

[John Hart]

Here's a couple of shots doing the foot
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And this is what it looks like before I sand the nub off. Only takes about 20 seconds, laying in the shavings
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Oh and here's a shot in the dark, showing the translucency of the rim that John Keeton was referring to.
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[Michelle Rich]

Interesting rim. I have seen & heard about the expansion/contraction issue. I have had epoxies crack/fall out/chip..hope it holds up. Thanks for sharing your process. Keep us informed of it's longevity.