Commissioned bowls Christmas 2010

[Nathan Hawkes]

Hey Creekers! Just showing off a few more of my recent pieces. These were commissioned bowls made from trees blown over in a big storm last summer. My other work delayed them until Christmas delivery, but just in time to be presents! The bowls are black walnut, cherry burl, and another wood, definitely a hickory, likely Pecan, but all of the leaves were gone when I got access to the trunk. I would've sworn it was a white oak from the bark, but it is most definitely a hickory. 177020177021177022177023177024177025177026177027

[Nathan Hawkes]

Here are just a few more pictures. It was a good year for natural edge bowls!!

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[James Combs]

Some extra nice bowls. Someone is going to be really happy over these. My favorite would be number 4 in the top row. Reminds me of a turtle shell.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a great looking bunch of bowl. Great Christmas presents for sure. Someone was happy.

[dan carter]

Nice lookin bowls, Good job.

[Linda Persoon]

Very nicely done!
Way to go!

[bob svoboda]

Good looking bowls! Am especially fond of the nesting set-gotta try that someday.

[Roland Martin]

Great bunch of bowls! I'd have to say my favorite would be the 6th one in the 1st post, cherry burl, although the nested set is a very close tie. I'd certainly be tickled to recieve any one of these as a present for sure. The finish is great! what did you use?

[Lee Koepke]

I too started to pick my favorite, but after several viewings, I find that impossible! Impressive, nice grain selections.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

It was a good year for the recipients of those bowls. They are beauties.
faust

[Bob Bergstrom]

That's some very consistent repeatable turning. Great job of execution on some pretty fantastic wood. Don't you just love storms that knock trees down and hopefully causes no damage to anyone.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nate - that's some real nice work! Have to admit that the Hickory really catches my eye - has to tbe the contrast between heartwood and sapwood! I am sure the folks who received these as gifts were thrilled to get them!

[Cathy Schaewe]

Those are all very, very nice. What's the finish on the walnut, 5th one in the first post?

[Steve Vaughan]

Man, that's a great collection! Love the shapes and all the colors!

[Nathan Hawkes]

Thanks for the compliments folks. That 5th bowl was really almost a keeper!! It looks so much like Claro Walnut, with the contrasting colors between growth rings. The finish is Minwax Antique Oil for all of the bowls. Its easy enough, if quite labor intensive the way I do it. I really like to get a "saturation" for the first coat. I feel like the wood has to be really dry first, then I apply as much as will soak into the wood. This can be quite a lot of finish, but it really gives a superior result in the end. The trick for me is after the first soaking coat, cutting back any dust nibs that appear after 48 hours. This is important to wait because of the amount of finish in the bowl. I have found that the solvents that are off-gassing through larger pores in the wood end up leaving high spots as they soften the varnish solids surrounding the large pores that the spirits evaporate through. After this 2 day drying period, I go about applying 2-4 more coats very thinly applied, to build a sheen. Really, the bowls would be fine for utility use after the really thick first coat, due to the amount of oil in the bowl ( MAO has a lot of linseed oil I understand). I like the sheen, which is really a fine line between satin and glossy. I am just using my compact fluorescent lights for the camera setup. The photos do NOT do the bowls justice. I really am proud of my finish now; a turner I met (Peter, you know who you are, ;) ) while on vacation convinced me that I needed to buff the bowls a bit for that tactile satisfaction!