First Square Bowl

[Keith E Byrd]

I saw a picture of this style and thought I can do that! So here it is. No finish applied yet. Kiln dried Ash, 8"x2". It took about 2 hours to do this. C&C welcomed.

193691193690

[Tim Thiebaut]

Very well done Keith! How is ash to turn, is it a hard wood?

[Johnny Taylor]

Looks like you could do it too Kieth! Nice job. I like doing these square rim bowls, they are good fun. If I were to offer any criticism it would be that the back needs just a little more sanding as there are a couple of visible finishing marks but that aside you nailed it.

[John Keeton]

Keith, some nice work on this one! I have been wanting to do a couple of these, and have thought about first cutting a concave curve on the sides, and making the bowl area a little smaller to fit to see what would happen. Jamie Donaldson does some beautiful work with square bowls of curly maple with various dye techniques. I caught him in a weak moment and traded one of my pieces for one of his dyed pieces. It sits in our great room and gets lots of comments. Yours will too!!! The ash might take some dye if you are interested.

[Dick Wilson]

Keith, I like it. Very nice job. Post pic again once you put a finish on it. How do you like turning air????

[Keith E Byrd]

Very well done Keith! How is ash to turn, is it a hard wood?
Thanks Tim - Ash is a hard wood but it does turn very nice.


Looks like you could do it too Kieth! Nice job. I like doing these square rim bowls, they are good fun. If I were to offer any criticism it would be that the back needs just a little more sanding as there are a couple of visible finishing marks but that aside you nailed it.
Thanks Johnny - I have only done a quick sanding so far - will try ot finish it up tonight and then put a finish on it.


Keith, some nice work on this one! I have been wanting to do a couple of these, and have thought about first cutting a concave curve on the sides, and making the bowl area a little smaller to fit to see what would happen. Jamie Donaldson does some beautiful work with square bowls of curly maple with various dye techniques. I caught him in a weak moment and traded one of my pieces for one of his dyed pieces. It sits in our great room and gets lots of comments. Yours will too!!! The ash might take some dye if you are interested.
Thanks John - I have several pieces of 2 in ash so I am going to try different sizes etc - and will try some dye on and see how it goes.


Keith, I like it. Very nice job. Post pic again once you put a finish on it. How do you like turning air????
Thanks Dick, will post again when finished - turning air on this size wasn't as scary as I thought it would be - a couple of times though without seeing the solid wood I got a little aggressive and just about ruined the flat section!

[bob svoboda]

Nice job, Keith. Really like the form and the rim detail is great.

[Steve Vaughan]

That's one nice, clean looking bowl. I really like this. I've turned two square bowls, pretty neat to do...just gotta watch those corners cause they can tear some skin right off!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really a nice looking bowl. Will be interested in seeing it finished. Ash is a nice wood to turn.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looks pretty good to me! A little finish is really going to bring that grain to life! Looking forward to seeing the photos!

[Roger Chandler]

Nice one Keith......love the grain in the ash and your form is good......finish will just pop the grain.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice job. Never tried a square one but someday! Looking forward to the finish!

[Jamie Donaldson]

Welcome to the society of square turners Keith, and you have just touched the tip of the options available. Once you gain some confidence working around a chop saw spinning in your face, attempt some more challenging curved designs. They are highly "entertaining" to make, never a dull moment to not pay full attention to what you're doing. Having a good task light near the edges is very important, to see the ghost images of the form wings while cutting. And don't hang anything over the tool rest that you want to keep attached!

[Keith E Byrd]

Welcome to the society of square turners Keith, and you have just touched the tip of the options available. Once you gain some confidence working around a chop saw spinning in your face, attempt some more challenging curved designs. They are highly "entertaining" to make, never a dull moment to not pay full attention to what you're doing. Having a good task light near the edges is very important, to see the ghost images of the form wings while cutting. And don't hang anything over the tool rest that you want to keep attached!

Thanks Jamie - you set the bar pretty high for me! It was interesting to do so I will do some more and try some of the variations.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Some turners glue waste wood to the square edges before turning, and bandsaw off the waste after turning- THAT'S CHEATING!!! Without being able to see the actual edges, it's difficult to maintain a uniform thickness/thinness, and I know 2 turners that have been injured when the weak endgrain glue joint failed while turning.

[Dan Forman]

Good job on a not so easy form. A few of those are on my to do list.

Dan

[Keith E Byrd]

Thanks everybody - I appreciate the comments and encouragement - will start the finish tonight and repost when done.