Birdseye Bowl

[Patrick Doody]

I think this will end up as a utility bowl or maybe not. I'm not sure if i like the burned foot or not. I wish i had more blanks from this tree. Anyone know where i can get some more Birdseye? Any comments? Do you like the burned foot?

:)

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[Dan Forman]

I have seen very few turned pieces of birdseye maple. This is a fine looking bowl, and shows of the eyes nicely. Not sure about the foot either, at least it's on the bottom - if you make up your mind you don't like it, you won't have to look at it all the time. :)

Dan

[Donny Lawson]

I think the overall look is fine. I did notice that you forgot to sign it though. The burning on the bottom is fine. I finished up one yesterday with a burning on the bottom but I also added a burnt ring close to the top too. Working on the finish now. I will post pics when done.

[John Keeton]

Patrick, I love the bowl - the foot, not so much. I prefer a well defined foot, even if it is not a raised foot. But, a burned groove doesn't do much for me in the foot, nor would it standing alone on the bowl, itself. I think you would need some other embellishment to support a burned groove on the bowl proper.

That aside - nice form, great wood, and a very nice job of turning!

[Doug W Swanson]

The form is great and the wood is beautiful. The burned groove doesn't bother me but you could have added a couple smaller rings in the bottom.

Where in St Paul do you live? I live in just north of St Paul in Vadnais Heights....

[Patrick Doody]

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it overall. The feet are clearly my weakness, I don't currently have a way to reverse them for full access to the foot. My current method is to reverse it on a jam chuck and part it off with a spoon gouge. This bowl afforded me little tool access to the bottom. As for signing the bowl, I don't have a great method for that either. I bought a pen with Archival ink, but if I apply that b4 buffing it comes off And if I do it after, it won't stick because of the wax. Looking into a pyro system, maybe. I also happen to be the worlds sloppiest writer. So there's that on top of it all.

I got this blank at rockler, I think it was fairly cheap. I would have bought more if they had any more. Too bad, at least I didn't screw it up too much. ;)

Yesterday I go to finish this up and caught my first fish on a fly that I tied. It was a good day, winter is on its way out the door, and I'm not too sad to see this one off.

[Baxter Smith]

Beautiful bowl and wood!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very pretty bowl Patrick! Sure is some tight birdseye! I use an archival pen and sign the piece on bare wood - before starting any of the finishing process. Haven't had a problem with any of the oil type finishes I use but believe the key is to sign the actual wood!

Congrats on your fish!

[Quinn McCarthy]

You can get more BE blanks from bell forest products in DA UP of michigan. The UP has the highest concentration of BE maple in the world.

Quinn

[Dan Forman]

Patrick---now you have gotten my curiosity up...where do you go fly fishing is March in Minnesota, what did you catch, and on what pattern? I'm a native Minnesotan.

Dan

[David E Keller]

It's a good looking bowl, Patrick. I think the current foot might play better if the groove was really, really black... A little India ink should do the trick. Nice job.

[Patrick Doody]

Patrick---now you have gotten my curiosity up...where do you go fly fishing is March in Minnesota, what did you catch, and on what pattern? I'm a native Minnesotan.

Dan
There's a few rivers I fish in western wi for trout(mainly). Yesterday I was on the Rush River near el paso, wi. Yesterday was all about copper johns and pheasant tail nymphs. I can't wait to get back out there, hopefully next weekend if the floods haven't hit by then. Do you fish at all in Washington?

Thanks for all the great comments on the bowl. Steve, next time I'll try signing before applying oil. Good tip!

[Roland Martin]

Very nice bowl, Patrick. Nicely centered grain, a keeper!