NE Cherry Burl Winged Bowl

[Baxter Smith]

After some Mainiac;) told me I needed to turn a 100lb blank, I went looking through the pile. None of the burls I had looked like they were quite big enough unless I went with a winged bowl. Went and got my biggest template and put it on a possible candidate.

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Cut the ends off at the appropriate length but common sense/fear got the best of me so shortened it a bit more.:) Picked the blank up and carried it inside. I knew this one wouldn’t cut it as soon as I picked it up. Put it on the scale anyway and I was right. Only 86#.
Screwed on a faceplate using longer screws this time and mounted it outboard.

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Turned the backside to a rough shape. Then started on the top to get an idea of the layout and form a tenon for flipping to finish the bottom.

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Grabbed the tenon I had turned in the top and started on the bottom. Found the remains of a rotten limb which had to be turned away. The burl didn’t go real deep. Wanting to make sure it showed in the bottom of the finished bowl, I ended up turning away more on the bottom than I had planned. Making the bowl shorter made the wing I had already started end up nearer the middle than the top.

Grabbing it by a dovetail recess, I flipped it again to finish the top. Decided it might look better with round wings so after tracing a line, cut them with a sabersaw, then turned them smooth. I sanded with BLO through all the grits from 80-800 then usead a vac chuck to finish the bottom.
Wrapped stretch wrap around the perimeter to slow drying through the end grain. Its now in a double paper leaf bag in my basement stairwell. Need to just wait and see how many character cracks develop now that all the ants are gone.;):eek: Will finish with AO at some point in the future.
A little over 18 x 3 ½ x 5/16.
Thoughts and comments welcome.
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[Mike Cruz]

Baxter, that is just way cool. The wood is fantastic, too. I love it.

[Sid Matheny]

WOW! You did a wonderful job with a piece that BIG. Maybe some day I will get enough nerve to try something that size.


Sid

[Michael James]

Awesome piece Baxter! You need to keep your eye on them Maniacs... I think they just stir stuff up cuz the fish aint bitin or somehting!
Great job on a real challenge piece!
mj

[Mark Hubl]

Holy hernia batman, that is way cool!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really a nice piece Baxter. That had to be a challenge to do.

[Ken Hill]

Man that would scare me plum out of the shop! Looks great!

[Jonathan Spool]

That's the largest winged bowl I've seen. Surprised the prop effect didn't push your lathe across the shop!

[John Keeton]

What a man!!! No guts - no glory! Baxter, it sure looks nice from here - hope it stays intact, but I would say that "character cracks" are likely.

[Michelle Rich]

It's gorgeous..I hope it dries OK..what does one do with a bowl that big? I've always wondered. Water the horses? :-) :-0 !!! All kidding aside, you sure have guts & now glory!

[John Hart]

What a cute little bowl!!!:D

Very nice Baxter. I hate ants. :mad:

[Donny Lawson]

"Popcorn for the whole family". Let us know when it is finished and the "Creek" family could help with the consumption of the popcorn. Very nice bowl. I hope it stays to a good shape.

[Richard Kennedy UK]

nice piece is your monster bolted down, ballasted or just gutsy enough to take it? Great piece of wood!

[Jeff Nicol]

Baxter, That is a big one! As soon as I get my outboard tool rest created I will have to give that a try. I have had some #120 chunks between centers but not hanging off the end. Very nice looking bowl.

Jeff

[Ken Hill]

If you guys get to turning these huge rascals, we will need to start a "Burls of Fury" club LOL!

[Tim Rinehart]

That's a killer winged bowl Baxter. Did you fabricate your outboard rest...or did I miss that thread?
Me thinks you, Hutch and John H need to collaborate on some big turnings! Such inspiration!!

[bob svoboda]

Way cool, Baxter. Bet that beauty made some noise while it was spinning!

[Bill Bolen]

One heck of a winged bowl! Afraid I've not got that kind of nerve!! Neat outboard setup. Did you make it yourself?

[Quinn McCarthy]

Nice job Baxter.

I have been wantingt o try one. I have a piece in the wood pile I am saving for that.

Quinn

[David DeCristoforo]

Really nice, Baxter. I think the decision to round the ends was a good one.That really "makes it happen"!

[Rob Cunningham]

Beautiful looking bowl Baxter. It had to be a little intimidating standing near that blank in the beginning :eek:
"Fortune favors the bold"

[Dan Forman]

My immediate reaction to reading your first line (maniac) was a memory of several conversations from my youth, which went something like this:
Dad: "Why did you do that?"
Me: "Mark (older brother) told me to."
Dad: "If Mark told you to hit yourself on the head with a hammer, would you do it?" :D

That said, this is a very cool bowl! I think cutting the limbs off roundish was a good idea, given the size of the piece.

Nice tool rest!!! Did you make that yourself?

Did you have ants or ant parts flying all over the shop as you worked?

Dan

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for commenting. Hope the pictures were somewhat entertaining. I know I love seeing what everyone else is turning and how they got there.


That's the largest winged bowl I've seen. Surprised the prop effect didn't push your lathe across the shop!
Jonathan, I tried to turn the wings with no pitch.;) That may change as it dries.


What a man!!! No guts - no glory! Baxter, it sure looks nice from here - hope it stays intact, but I would say that "character cracks" are likely.
Thanks John. I am hoping the "character cracks" are little ones. It got a lot of BLO soaked into it as I sanded so perhaps that will help. Between all the oil, double bagging and being stored where it is, its not going to dry very fast. After doing a bunch of roughouts, I just get the urge to try something thin.


It's gorgeous..I hope it dries OK..what does one do with a bowl that big? I've always wondered. Water the horses? :-) :-0 !!! All kidding aside, you sure have guts & now glory!
I have no idea about most things Michele. Just like to try different shapes occasionally and I sometimes think its neat if you can somehow preserve a little bit of where the piece came from.

What a cute little bowl!!!:D

Very nice Baxter. I hate ants. :mad:
Thanks John. These were just little ants. Turned a piece of old apple that had some big ones that would come crawling out whenever I stopped the lathe. Those got whacked. Made me wonder what was causing the itching feeling on the back of my neck for the rest of the day.
nice piece is your monster bolted down, ballasted or just gutsy enough to take it? Great piece of wood!
Not bolted, just a ballast box. I put a wood floor over the concrete for comfort purposes. If the lathe was sitting on concrete it would probably be better. Just hate to cut holes in the floor or bolt it in place. I built a ballast box which added a little over 300 lbs. The sand has settled some so should need to put more in.


My immediate reaction to reading your first line (maniac) was a memory of several conversations from my youth, which went something like this:
Dad: "Why did you do that?"
Me: "Mark (older brother) told me to."
Dad: "If Mark told you to hit yourself on the head with a hammer, would you do it?" :D

That said, this is a very cool bowl! I think cutting the limbs off roundish was a good idea, given the size of the piece.

Nice tool rest!!! Did you make that yourself?

Did you have ants or ant parts flying all over the shop as you worked?

Dan
Thanks Dan. The tool rest is homemade. Looks it doesn't it! Works well enough for the amount of time I use it. Like you and David both said, rounding off the ends may have helped the look. Sometimes I am hesitant to do something like that because in some ways it seems to take away a little bit of the history of the piece.

Didn't notice ant parts but it was kind of amusing a couple times. Once when I was making a long slow cut, one came walking along the tool rest, crawled up onto the gouge and went out to the tip. I was half waiting to see if he would try to get back onto his spinning home.

Thanks again, your thoughts are always appreciated and considered in helping me to improve!:)

[charlie knighton]

very nice... thanks for sharing

[Kathy Marshall]

Wow! That's a big'un! Looks great now and I imagine it will be even better after it dries and gets the final finish! Very nice!