Cherry Burl Bowl

[George Guadiane]

I owe this low bowl to the people who let me have the burls from the huge cherry tree.
11 3/4 inches in diameter
2 1/8 inches high
Oil sanded to 600 with a burnished microcrystaline wax finish.

[John Keeton]

George, a fitting gift! I am curious - what oil do you use to sand with, and how do you deal with the clogging of the sandpaper? Mesh?

[Baxter Smith]

Great looking bowl George. Love the grain and sapwood in this one as much as the burl part. For some reason, I tend to really like bowls where the grain is almost perfectly centered or completely off like this one.

[David E Keller]

That's a pretty bowl with a pleasing form. Nicely done.

[George Guadiane]

George, a fitting gift! I am curious - what oil do you use to sand with, and how do you deal with the clogging of the sandpaper? Mesh?
I use Kukui nut oil now, but have used (to the dismay of many) olive oil in the past... I have also used mineral oil, but the Kukui nut oil dries.
Clogging isn't really a problem if there is enough oil,AND, when I'm getting to the finer grits and trying to leave little to no oil, reversing the drill while power sanding seems to throw the slurry off.
When I DO get clogged up, I just add some denatured alcohol to the disc and that loosens up anything that is lodged. I then wipe it off and go back to sanding.

[Bill Bolen]

Pretty piece. Love the form and all that color...Bill...

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow - that's cool! The swirled grain gives it a feeling of motion when looking into the bowl! Will make a great gift!

[Rob Cunningham]

Nice shape and finish George. It's a good feeling to give back to the people that gave you the wood.:)

[charlie knighton]

very nice, George

[Steve Vaughan]

I love cherry, and that's a great bowl that will be a wonderful gift. I love the simple form, for me, that just adds to the value.

[Josh Bowman]

I like that bowl, the burl really looks nice.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice bowl George and a great gift.

[Tom Hamilton]

Thanks for showing that very pretty piece George. You know I am partial to cherry, but don't often think about how pretty shallow pieces can be. I've got a 5X12 piece that you sent me a couple of years ago I may cut in half!

Best regards, Tom, in Douglasville, contemplating one bowl or two

[Don Alexander]

nice bowl

i have a rookie question ................. what is the advantage of oil sanding ?

[John Keeton]

I use Kukui nut oil now, but have used (to the dismay of many) olive oil in the past... I have also used mineral oil, but the Kukui nut oil dries.Thanks, George! On certain pieces (usually Claro or black walnut) I will sand out to 400, then wipe on BLO, then sand again with 400. Produces a very nice finish and fills the grain quite well.

Your method sure did a nice job on this piece.

Don, with walnut, sanding with the BLO seems to get rid of the faint scratch lines that often show up. As noted, it also fills the grain some. Using a lubricant to sand will usually give a more consistent cut to the sandpaper producing a better finish.

[George Guadiane]

This is actually a GOOD question... You can save yourself a lot of trouble that I went through by not asking:

nice bowl

i have a rookie question ................. what is the advantage of oil sanding ?
So long as you are NOT (repeat NOT) going to use an oil based finish, oil sanding keeps down dust and helps show sanding scratches as you go through grits. It fills minor pores and really helps "pop" the grain and figure. If you are going to use an oil based finish, water will do the same job... I don't like the idea of splashing additional water onto my lathe while sanding, so I use the oil to sand and a water based poly or acrylic which dries quite nicely over the oil.
You COULD use a drying oil (like BLO - Boiled Linseed Oil) to sand I suppose, I've never tried it. If you did that, you could just add coats of that and/or any other compatible finish.
OR
You could oil sand and then apply a couple of coats of shellac, THEN apply whatever finish you like. Shellac will go over anything, including oil and anything will go over the shellac... It's a lot of extra steps, but well worth the effort for that "extra special piece."

Using oil to sand, then just using an oil based finish will almost surely lead to drying that is slower than moving glaciers... I know, the hard way.:(

[Don Alexander]

thanks for the explanation i am going to have to give that a try
anything that makes getting the scrathes out easier has to be worth it :)

not to hijack the thread but i have another rookie question

what type finish if any do you guys use over BLO?