Oak burl bowl

[Mike Cruz]

My brother came over yesterday to help me replace the bearings in my headstock...something I never did during the restoration of my lathe. All went well. Had a little trouble getting the bearing off that is right near the inboard side of the spindle, but eventually we got it off. Reved her up and she purred. Really happy with that...

Then he asked to see me turn something. Huh? You've never seen me turn? Nope. (Tony, Peter, and Dan...shush!...no comments from the peanut gallery.) He said he had something for me to turn and wanted to know if I'd give it a try. I said of course. He handed me a huge oak burl from his woods. It was all dry. I turned it yesterday. There were a bunch of voids. He loved the look of the wood, but didn't love the voids. I offered to fill them with epoxy and brass shavings. He loved the idea. I filled them. And went back to finish it this morning. Soaked it in Tung oil for a couple of hours, took it out and wiped her off. Signed it and handed it to him to take home. He was very appreciative. Here's what I ended up with. I've included pics both with and without the flash...just because it looked so different both ways.

[Mike Cruz]

Oh, I forgot to tell you the size... It is 2" tall x 3 1/2" wide! :D Yeah, it was a small burl...but he was happy he found it. And truthfully, it is more of a tea cup (like what you would see at a Chineese restaraunt...) than a bowl. :)

[Mike Cruz]

And of course, comments are welcome. This is no masterpiece. Heck, I didn't even get all the voids filled with brass. It was a fun little turning, though...

[Ken Hill]

I was thinking while reading the 1st post how that oak burl will work you over....now I see you may have strained a pinky LOL!

[Jamie Donaldson]

That looks like Live Oak, and your bro will enjoy the gift from his bro even more because of the experience of seeing you make it.

[Tony De Masi]

Nice job Mike. Really like the brass inlay too. Well done.

[Roger Chandler]

Mike, I like the epoxy and brass filler on this..............I am glad you held up under the pressure of turning before an audience, :eek:even though it was your brother. :rolleyes::D Glad you got new bearings installed on your PM90 ........what a classic machine........I am surprised that you did not do that on your exquisite rebuild..............I guess you needed to save something for later, huh?

[Baxter Smith]

Congrats Mike! I am sure he thought it was great. Lucky you put those risers on. Hope you didn't mess up those new bearings.:D

[Peter Elliott]

Wow, amazing what new bearings can do! :D

[John Keeton]

Mike, what you did on the voids really fits in well with the rustic character of the wood. Great job, and under pressure, too!!

[Mike Cruz]

Ken, yeah, a pinky strain...that was about it. :) It actually turned remarkably easily. Other then the voids...

Jamie, yeah, he even called me when he got home today to "discuss" it even more. He was sure the whole thing was going to fly apart at any moment...the entire time. It did go take flight once when I got a catch on an inclusion, a little piece broke off, and it came out of the chuck. He thought it was done... I glued it back in and that is when I decided to put the brass in...wasn't going to be turning it any time soon anyway...the glue had to dry.

Tony, I hope to do more with the brass in the future. I really have to make sure that I work faster with it. I used a 5 minute epoxy, and with the chatting and explanations, it hardened up faster than I expected...hence not all the inclusions got filled.

Roger, it was kinda easy turning in front of someone that knows little to nothing about turning...I'm an expert turner and an artist in his eyes. ;) And yes, I'm happy I got the new bearings in, too. I probably should have done it back then, but there was soooooo much to do on the lathe that I just didn't have it in me. Truthfully, the one near the inboard side of the headstock was just fine. But it was likely 30 years old, and they don't last forever. The one near the outboard side of the headstock was iffy. It wasn't horrible. It was certainly useable. But I can definitly tell that the lathe is quieter now.

Baxter, if I hadn't put on the risers, there's no way I could have ever done it. This thing was MASSIVE! :D I bought two sets of bearing for this replacement....juuuuuust in case we screwed one up on installation. Maybe I should keep that second set in case that huge burl messed the new ones up. :rolleyes:

Peter, yes, you'd be amazed... What they did, in the long run, is GET ME ON MY LATHE!!!!!! :D

John, thanks. I thought that would look better than just mixing glue/epoxy with saw dust and filling it in black. I sanded this down to whatever the highest grit that micro mesh goes...12,000 grit I think? That is what made the brass get shiny. Before that, it was a bit dull.

[David E Keller]

That a cool little piece of wood you spun there... I'm trying to forgive you for filling the voids!:mad: LOL

Glad to hear you got the bearings changed out... Does the DAMP crew really appreciate the extra effort you've shown to improve their turning experience?:D

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a nice looking little bowl especially with the brass.

[Joe Watson]

Looks good.


... I've included pics both with and without the flash...just because it looked so different both ways.
Whats it look like in real life (light or dark) ?

_

[Michelle Rich]

good to do stuff for family now, as the holdiays are 'acomin' ..very clever! :-) Hope you got a cast for your pinky and you can turn again soon!!!! Super little rice bowl!

[Mike Cruz]

David, somehow I was hoping you wouldn't see this thread...I knew it would make you cringe. :D I think they appreciate it. But I think they would like it more if I got a 3520b!

Thanks, Bernie. It was just about all I could get out of the burl.

Joe, funny thing... I have flourescent lights in the shop, so there are some light tricks going on. Before I put any oil on it, it looked like the lighter pics. Then, I put the oil on it and it darkened...like the darker pics. Then when I took the pics without the flash, the light came through in the pic. But when I used the flash, the dark showed back up. So, to directly answer your question, like the darker pics. But only after the oil...:D

Michelle, I wasn't trying to be clever, but sometimes one is his most clever when he's not trying... And this "bowl" is too small for even rice! It is litterally the size of a tea cup at a Chineese food restaraunt. :o