Ancient Kauri Calabash

[Patrick Doody]

Hey everybody, I haven't posted in a while but I've been turning(and chasing my 2 year old around). I turned this out over the weekend, it's not really finished yet, still needs some more oil maybe some shellac or maybe just ren wax, i haven't decided on that yet. I think maybe shellac would make it too shiny.

I attempted to turn a calabash here, that form seems to vary quite a bit from the examples I've seen online, this is my first attempt at that form, not sure if i nailed it or not... The wood I bought at woodcraft, It's supposed to be 30,000+ years old, there's a bit of curl in it. C&C welcome.

I'm sad that I missed the symposium, I was in Montana at the time attempting to do some trout fishing in the raging rivers.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6018/5972914664_c675879631_z.jpghttp://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/5972913556_78e889e556_z.jpg

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nice looking calabash or bowl.Gorgeous wood. I had the opportunity to see kauri trees in person in New Zealand. Huge ancient trees!

BTW.....I must have passed you in Montana as I was driving to Illinois on vacation about the time you were fishing those raging rivers. And yes....they are raging more this year in Montana, Wyoming,and Idaho than I can remember in the last 29 years.

[Marty Eargle]

Very beautiful piece of wood and a great classic form to fit it. I'd buff it with a bit of wax, but other than that, leave the finish alone. I think the wood and the shape are both suited for a nice natural looking finish.

Glad you had to the opportunity to turn a piece like than, thanks for sharing!

[charlie knighton]

very nice, that's pretty wood, thanks for sharing, yeah it was a good time in st paul, but fishing in montana if you live in st paul would be special too, did you catch anything?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice job on the bowl! Sure is some pretty wood! What are the dimensions?

So, how was Montana? Been a while since I've been there but remember some of the best trout fishing ever!

[bob svoboda]

Love the Calabash form and you did a great job on it. Beautiful wood too.

[Patrick Doody]

Hey Everybody, thanks for the comments, I've turned one other Kauri bowl and the grain looked nothing like this one, the other one was really straight grain but had a really great opalecent thing going on. The Dimensions are 6x3 so not huge.
Montana was a blast as always, I try to get out there once a year, but it doesn't always happen. We did pretty good considering the conditions we were Facing. Rock Creek was almost the highest it's ever been since they've been recording the levels, when we were out there. by no means did we kill them, but with all the rivers blown out as bad as they were, i think we did good. We fished the Madison river, near ennis if anyone is familiar with that area. Also fished Rock Creek, The Bitter root and Rock Creek near Misoula. We did a float trip one day on the Bitter Root which was at times more like a White water rafting trip, one of my friends managed to pull a 24" Bull Trout out on the float which was a pretty incredible fish.

[Jim Burr]

I'm not sure I'd be sad about fishing in Montana Patrick!!
Nice little bowl...and you're right about Calabash styles...little of this and a little of that. Very nice chunk of wood!

[ray hampton]

24 " bull trout, is this according to the Texas measure ?