1st Bowl off new used lathe

[Chris Burgess]

Well here goes. I picked up a 1960 Toolkraft Lathe yesterday and spent a good bit of time cleaning the rust off of it. Today got the better of me and I had to make SOMETHING. Now all of my turning to date has been on a Shopsmith. It was ok but there was a good bit of slop and it affected the finished product. Now that I have turned a piece on the newest member of my shop I can attest to the Shopsmith also conjuring up a good bit of vibration too. The Toolkraft is much heavier than the SS and did a better job all the way around. I have only been turning for a few months and to date this is the largest finished bowl. I was able to leave some sapwood and even a bit of bark on there (bark had some med thick CA dripped into it to hold it on). I did get a little thin on the bottom and around the smallest detail ring you can see light coming in......oops

Material - Elm
Finish - 3-4 coats BLO, will add a couple more then coat w/ a lacquer for strength
Dems - 7"w x 1.5"t

Let me know your thoughts. Be honest that is the only way I will learn.


Chris

PS. I know the pics are bad (almost did not post because I know some of you like your pics as much as you liked turning the piece). I had to use my camcorder because my wife keeps the camera in her purse......

199017199016199014199015

[James Combs]

For a first or the 109th of any kind it would be a nice looking bowl. Thanks for posting and keep em coming.

[Mike Peace]

That is a great first bowl. Hang on to it so a year from now you can look back and see where you started.

[Donny Lawson]

Chris, that is a nice looking bowl and it has some character too.

[bob svoboda]

Nice work, Chris. Will look forward to more turnings off the new lathe.

[Russell Eaton]

Looks a lot better than my first bowl. Just keep em coming.

[Jamie Donaldson]

That's a good use of the bark, including it in the design gives a better identity than just another plain ol' bowl. I would like to see a photo of your "new to you" lathe- I don't recall ever having heard of a Toolkraft?

[John Hart]

Very cool about the lathe acquisition, Chris! I'd like to see a picture as well. Steal her purse!! :)

On the bowl...I like it! Critiques? Well, what I see is that you would like to do something cool with the foot. Which is pretty smart by the way, since people always turn the piece over and look.;)
But, if you want to improve on that....stay with the embellishments that you've done, and maybe put a slight concave surface to that entire area, with the exception of a small rim that actually contacts the table. Then you can really play around....texturing, pyro, paint...etc. Just for fun stuff. :)

[David E Keller]

Nicely done, Chris! I love the bark, and it's a good looking form.