Western Larch Bowl

[mike ash]

While I was hunting deer with my muzzleloader (40 miles south of Ken Fitzgerald) , I ran across a 12" dia piece of western larch that was dry. I had never turned larch before and I know it is deciduous. I'm thinking that technically it is a hardwood, so why not try it!!! Since it had a 3/4" wide crack all the way to the center, I split it open and turned each half and then put in a spacer (wenge) for accent. I'm not sure I like the collar, but the folks who recently ordered bowls from me like them, so I turned a lip and a small black walnut rim. The piece is 10" x 7 1/4", sanded to 600 grit and 2 coats of minwax WOP, followed by buffing and Renn wax.

I had a dickens of a time turning this piece of larch. I kept sharp tools, but all it wanted to do was CHIP!! I messed with the lathe speed, using lighter touches, honing my tools, and all the things you folks have been posting (plus saying a few curse words that only made me temporarily feel better). Even so, I had to do a tremendous amount of sanding to get a finish that looked halfway presentable.

Morale of the story, next time I find a piece of western larch while hunting.......I'll use it in the camp fire like everyone else does!!!


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[Eric Gourieux]

Mike, it turned out real nice. Looks smooth.

[Dan Forman]

Looks really good, never would have guessed it gave you so much trouble.

Dan

[John Keeton]

On the plus side, you ended up with a nice result!

[Steve Schlumpf]

I like it! Sure is some pretty wood - reminds me of old-growth Southern Yellow Pine! Any problems with pitch?

[Justin Stephen]

Looks very nice. I truthfully didn't know what "Western Larch" was until reading this thread cause me to look it up. Interesting factoid from Wikipedia:


The wood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood) is tough and durable, but also flexible in thin strips, and is particularly valued for yacht (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yacht) building; wood used for this must be free of knots, and can only be obtained from old trees that were pruned (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruning) when young to remove side branches.

[Steve Vaughan]

What an interesting find! And then you turned it into a treasure. Sure hope you don't throw that next piece into the fire! Personally, I don't like the collar on it, but this really is a great looking piece. Reminds me of some old growth pine too, beautiful wood and accent!

[Tim Rinehart]

Nice, really nice. I like the contrast of wood and the shape is something I've also been using on a couple forms recently, I like it. Having the wenge collar is fine, but something that flowed a bit more off the top of the piece would be a pleasing alternative. I think your collar approach is unique, and is something most of us just aren't used to seeing, but I suspect holding the piece makes it all look super.

[Bill Hensley]

Whatever problems you encountered are not obvious, I like the results very much. The collar, not so much.

[Roger Chandler]

Yep it does remind of old growth pine or perhaps some Douglas Fir I have seen..............makes for a nice turning ........I like the Wenge accent ring...........good job on this Mike.

[mike ash]

Thanks for the comments. I knew I'd get heckled about the collar, but I did it anyway!!!


I like it! Sure is some pretty wood - reminds me of old-growth Southern Yellow Pine! Any problems with pitch?

Pitch wasn't a problem. It had that turpentine odor and I was thinking that it might react with the WOP, but that wasn't the case.

[Allan Ferguson]

Lots of Larch in my area. Built a bathroom cabinet with it. It tends to splinter easily. It is the fire wood of choice. Splits nicely and heavier that fir. Turned out very pretty for you.

[Bernie Weishapl]

For the problems it sure did turn out to be a pretty piece. Well done.