Elm Bowl

[Bernie Weishapl]

Yesterday I had a request for a couple of bowls. A friend of mine I haven't seen since high school saw one of the bowls my sister has at her place in my home town. The gal wanted to know how to contact me as she wanted two bowls. So she messaged me on face book and wanted me to make her two bowls. One she wanted larger for a fruit display bowl and one smaller for a change bowl in their walk in closet. So I got to work yesterday. Turned a Elm bowl which is 11 1/2" X 4". It has one coat of tung oil on it when the picture was taken. I put the second coat on today. Tomorrow it will get the third and final coat. This is also the first bowl I did following Vince's advice on sanding and must say he really helped me. I always had trouble with like Elm and Ash but this thing turned out extremely smooth.

[charlie knighton]

very nice Bernie, good size to it, love your orientation

[Bob Wolfe]

Nice looking bowl Bernie. It's sort of a shame to cover up the figure inside by filling it with fruit, but the outside figure makes up for it. I'd love for you to fill us in about your new sanding secrets. I'm sure I'm not the only one who struggles with the sanding process. Thanks for sharing.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Made that elm look good. Great job Bernie. Did the elm smell or was it one of the deodorized species?

[Roger Chandler]

That is a good looking bowl, Bernie............really nice form and I like the grain figure!

[Brian Effinger]

Another good looking bowl. Nicely done. :)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Nice looking bowl Bernie. It's sort of a shame to cover up the figure inside by filling it with fruit, but the outside figure makes up for it. I'd love for you to fill us in about your new sanding secrets. I'm sure I'm not the only one who struggles with the sanding process. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks again. Bob the sanding advice that Vince gave me was that sanding from 80 to 220 grit with a firm pad at around 500 rpm and light pressure. The biggest thing he told me was use a soft sanding pad from 280 to 600 grit, slow the lathe down to 100 to 200 rpm, light pressure and your drill to half speed. I was amazed at the difference in sanding. Those were the biggest tips he gave me. He told me you can't sand at the same speed with 320 as you do with 80. He told me to try slowing the lathe down by 50 rpm with each grit which means at 220 you should be around 300 to 350 rpm. Then slow it down to the 100 or 150 rpm for 280 grit up.

Bob Bergstrom: Yes Elm from around here smells big time but it is such pretty wood I just overlook it.

[Greg Just]

Very nice looking bowl and thanks for the sanding tips. Did you have any problems with tearout?

[Jim Burr]

Beautiful Bernie!!! My favorite bowl type and the wood makes it better!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks again. Greg I really don't have much of a problem with tearout. My last 2 or 3 cuts are with a sharpened conventional gouge and don't have much of a problem.

Jim I do like Elm. Around here all you hear is how ugly the tree is but boy the wood is beautiful.

[Dan Forman]

Bernie --- Really nice bowl, great figure and pleasing deep form. Another thanks here for the sanding tips which I copied down, elm and locust give me fits for the dishing between rings during sanding.

Dan

[Bob Wolfe]

Hi Again Bernie, Thanks for sharing your sanding tips. Like Dan, I'm copying them down and will try them out today (hopefully). I hope that the lathe speed isn't a critical factor because mine won't go slower than 550. Any additional thoughts on this? Thank you in advance.

[Richard Jones]

Nice, Bernie. I love elm, just such great color and contrast.

R

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Nice looking wood & bowl. Is it my eyes, or are the pix a bit blurry?

[Roland Martin]

Very nicely done bowl, Bernie, and the elm is really nice also. I'm sure your customer will love it!

[Michelle Rich]

now this is a stunning bowl. She'll be thrilled.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Bernie - you sure brought that grain to life! Your friend is going to love the bowl!! Hopefully - this leads to many more sales for you!! Nice work!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Great job balancing the grain. Chalk up another satisfied Vince customer. We spend a fortune on gouges and other tooling but forget that even tiny scratches under the finish diffuse the light in a way that is destructive to the appearance of the bowl. I remember the sign on my grandfather's outhouse. "The jobs not finished till the paperwork is done".
faust

[steven carter]

Very nice Bernie, she is sure to like it!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks everyone. Faust you are right and it may be old hat to some but to me it was a eye opener. As my old granddad used to say every now and then you can teach a old dog new tricks.:D Steve I am hoping it will lead to more sales. I sent her a picture of each after the first coat to make sure that these were what she wanted. She said she loved them and has already posted them on facebook.lol

[Tony De Masi]

Ok Bernie, so I had a small cherry bowl laying around to be finish sanded so I tried what Vince explained to you. Start at 500 RPM with 80G and decrease speed as you increase grit, then moving to the soft backing pad for any grit over 220 and decrease both lathe speed, I used 150, and decrease sander speed. I gotta tell you I'm a fan. I've always maintained a constant speed and just kept increasing the grit but I will be changing my ways to this method. Thanks Bernie.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks Tony. I did the same thing and had trouble making myself not put so much pressure on while sanding. It has made a believer out of me.

[Don Alexander]

really good looking bowls Bernie

tool control is important on all tools including sandpaper :)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks Don. You are correct in tool control. I work on that all the time.

[Dan Forman]

Bernie --- Did Vince say to go full speed on the drill for the early grits? Sounds like he said half speed for the finer grits, but unclear about the lower ones.

Dan

[Ed Morgano]

Bernie,
Beautiful work as usual. Also, thanks for the sanding tips. I need all the help I can get.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Thanks Tony. I did the same thing and had trouble making myself not put so much pressure on while sanding. It has made a believer out of me.

Probably the biggest improvement in my own sanding was for that very reason. Nice bowl and tung oil is a great finish.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Bernie --- Did Vince say to go full speed on the drill for the early grits? Sounds like he said half speed for the finer grits, but unclear about the lower ones.

Dan

Dan he said the drill can be run at full speed at say 80, 100, 150 and slow it down to 2/3's at 220. Then half speed 280 and above.

Thanks Ed and Hayes. Hayes I am learning how to apply the tung oil finish I got from Lee Valley. The only thing I don't like is having to have bloxoygen around as I don't use it everyday so don't want it gel'd over.

[Dan Forman]

Thanks Bernie!

Dan