The Jet Bowl!

[John Keeton]

I have been getting some pretty rough treatment over how clean my shop is, and how clean and unused the new Jet lathe appears. But, just to prove it has been used, this is the first project off the Jet.

I stopped on the way home from work the other day when I saw a couple of guys loading up some wood in a trailer. It is only a couple of miles, and I know every tree along the way by first name!!;) Occasionally, one will be taken down and this one was a silver maple that was diseased. I could tell there was a little curl, and spalting going on. They were more than happy to let me have some, so I came back the next day with a chain saw and the truck!

Much of the tree was pretty punky, but I was able to get two sections - four half logs. This bowl is from one of those pieces. It has a couple of punky little spots, and was a bear to get a smooth finish, but it came out pretty well.

Turned wet to finish, soaked in shellac, and bagged for a couple of days until I could sand it out. Then soaked in BLO, left to dry for a few days, then one coat of satin WOP and buffed when dry. The finish is very soft and low sheen. It has warped just a little on the rim, but not nearly as much as I expected.

14" x 4.5" tall.

[Roger Chandler]

Pretty nice John..........a little ogee in it, and I like your rim, and the thickness..........sometimes thin is over rated! I am surprised a bowl was the first one off the Jet, but I understand.............I am currently mulling over a tall HF and a bowl, but do not know which will be first.............a bowl was likely the quickest to do and end all the goading..............

That is the problem with trying to placate all the goading one gets here! :eek::D

[Bill Bolen]

Lovely piece John. Good to see you getting back into the swing of things and slow down fussing around with the new Jet and her setup!:D:):D

[Jack Mincey]

A very nice bowl as I'm sure the rest will be from your new clean lathe. In my experience wood that is just shy of being too punky to turn moves less than solid green wood. Looks like your timing on this blank was just right. Great color and grain.
Jack

[gary Zimmel]

Good to see your not wasting any time using that extra swing on the new jet....
Nice looking bowl John.

[Dan Forman]

Good looking bowl, like the slanted rim. Looks like you got to that wood just in time. I dare say that you could have taken some of the clean shop pressure off by including a pic of the lathe - draped with shavings, spilling down to a pile on the floor... :D

[Lee Koepke]

that wood has a lot of character too!

love the form on this one.

[David DeCristoforo]

I like this muy bueno. Roger's right. I too get tired of "because you can" thin walled bowls. This one says "I'm a bowl.... put something in me." But let's not get too carried away with the making useful objects bit....

[Baxter Smith]

Pretty wood bowl out of pretty wood John. Interesting finishing schedule. Seems like a pretty short drying time overall. I will have to give it a try some time.

[kenneth walker]

Nice Bowl John, but where is a photo of the lathe and shop?

[Curt Fuller]

Great looking bowl John!

[Don Orr]

That'll do nicely John.

[Donny Lawson]

Nice bowl John,I will agree with everyone else,I like the rim.

[John Keeton]

Thanks, guys!! The pics may be a little deceptive on the thickness. The wall thickness is not consistent to accomodate the flared rim. In the middle third of the bowl, the wall is less than 1/4" thick and follows the contour of the bowl into the bottom, which may be just over 1/4". Still has a nice heft to it, though.

[Cathy Schaewe]

but let's not get too carried away with the making useful objects bit....

Ha! :D :D :D

[Cathy Schaewe]

Very nice - I know the bowl 'trend' won't last long, though -

[Thomas Canfield]

That is respectable bowl as first piece off the lathe, and nice shape also. Give us a report on how well the lathe handled the rough blank or did you round it up extremenly well before mounting. What did you use to remove the tenon or bottom mount?

[Keith E Byrd]

Nice John - I really like it. Sounds like good timing on getting the wood!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Great looking bowl John! Love the wood and all the color variations that come with spalting! Very nice! Really nice size for use as a center piece! Has Eileen claimed it yet?

[philip labre]

Great bowl, John. Nice wood too.

[David E Keller]

Nicely done... Glad to see that you broke her in.

[Greg Just]

nice bowl from a great piece of wood. Was the piece of wood pretty dry when turned?

[Mark Hubl]

Glad to see the Jet has taken off. Nice looking wood. Wow, green wood, the Jet may rust!

[Tim Thiebaut]

That is very nice John, I like the rim on this one a lot, and that wood has a lot going on in it, great looking grain pattern.

[Brian Effinger]

Pretty bowl, with some nice curves.

So, now that you've done a "big" bowl, is it out of your system? Back to finials now, I suppose. :D

[Lupe Duncan]

Wow, that's a large bowl. Whats the largest you made on the Delta?

Very Nice John. Great figure and great wood find.....

[Rick Markham]

I'm glad to see you "mixing" it up with some bowls, hopefully giving you a change of pace and rekindling some earlier aspects of your turning. I agree, I think turners get carried away sometimes with the ultra thin walls, it's almost turning for "ego's sake" when sometimes a certain mass of the piece is part of proper proportions. I took several artists, told them to close their eyes, and handed them two small bowls (same wood, same form, and same size) with different wall thicknesses, one ultra thin, and one with thicker walls (my perceived proportionate mass for the piece) and asked them which one "felt right"... every single one of them chose the thicker walled bowl. Don't get me wrong, thin is elegant, and many designs demand it... sometimes it's easy to loose sight of the fact that most of the people we turn for aren't wood turners... their expectations are different. Killer job John... I can't wait to see what's next!

[Ken Hill]

I expected a huge HF....very disappointed:D

[Michelle Rich]

Golly that is gorgeous found wood. What??? JK makes bowls too???:eek: If this is any indication, we all are in for a treat. Enjoy your new lathe, and keep sharing with us.

[John Hart]

Nice lookin' bowl, John. Couldn't have possibly been done in a sterile environment. ;) Gorgeous piece of wood. :)

[John Keeton]

Thanks, guys and gals!! I turned this bowl right after getting the Jet set up. In fact, it was on the lathe in one of the pics I posted in an earlier thread.

...In my experience wood that is just shy of being too punky to turn moves less than solid green wood...
Jack, I think you are right. Seems the decay relieves some of the internal stress of the wood. The only warpage I got was near the pith area that was removed. Had I removed another 1/2" or so, I doubt I would have had any movement.

That is respectable bowl as first piece off the lathe, and nice shape also. Give us a report on how well the lathe handled the rough blank or did you round it up extremenly well before mounting. What did you use to remove the tenon or bottom mount?Thomas, I band sawed this blank, but it was much wetter on one side than the other (more decay on one side, I think) and way out of balance. I had not yet done the ballast box, and was confined to low speeds. The Jet easily handled the task, but did want to walk on me. I have not turned yet with the added weight, and I am sure there will be a huge difference.

nice bowl from a great piece of wood. Was the piece of wood pretty dry when turned?
Greg, it was very wet, though the tree was diseased and not the same degree of moisture one finds in healthy wood.

Wow, that's a large bowl. Whats the largest you made on the Delta?.....Lupe, about 11.5" was the largest I did on the Delta, but it was from some dry wood.

[Roland Martin]

There's some very nice color and spalting in this maple, great piece of wood to baptise the Jet with. I like the nice soft ogee shape and a lovely rim treatment. Thanks for sharing your first "Jet Bowl"

[Thomas Canfield]

John - a couple more questions. What speed do you call low? What chuck were you using and how did you start the blank? I am curious how your experience with the smaller lathe transferred to the larger more powerful lathe.

[John Keeton]

Thomas, I don't recall actually looking at the readout, but I suspect I started at around 250, but I do recall not getting much past 550 with the blank, and that was almost until the bowl was completely hollowed. I used a Nova SN2 with 50mm jaws and tailstock support as far as possible.

As far as transferring of methods, I had become very familiar with the Delta, and comfortable with it. I am sure that will happen with the Jet, as well, in time. I have not turned on the Jet since the ballast was added, and that will make a huge difference.

Most all of the turnings I did on the Delta were dry wood and relatively small. The couple that were wet were also small. Don't take all of this wrong. I think the Jet will be a major improvement for me in equipment. But, on the other hand, the Delta is a super lathe, and so easy to use. There is a part of me that misses that, but as I get to know the Jet, I am sure that will fade quickly.

[Jon Lanier]

Is there much of a learning curve going to a new lathe? Is your height the same...etc?