First turnings in over 6 months... 2 new bowls

[Greg Ketell]

Well my lathe has been sitting lonely for too long a time. Last Thursday my uncle gave me a scroll saw so I thought it was the perfect time to get back to the lathe and turn him a "thank you" gift. I grabbed one of the Redwood Burl blanks that I cored out last year and made him this: (and I apologize for the lousy picts. I forgot to get good photos before delivering the bowls so these are iPhone picts where ever I could find light.)
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It is roughly 12" diameter and tall. Finished with many coats of gloss deft lacquer and then one coat of satin lacquer.

While I was waiting on the finish to dry I grabbed a piece of maple I got at a garage sale. This is a failed-experiment in form. I was going for something completely different until it flew off the lathe at one point. So now I call it my Maple Cereal Bowl!
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Spalted, curly Big-Leaf Maple. 6-1/2" diameter, 2" tall. 2 coats of Deft gloss lacquer. Love the wood, hate the form. I achieved the bead I was after on the rim and then realized that wasn't what I meant at all. It is actually under-cut on the inside so it is a 3/4-round bead.

All comments, critiques, and suggestions for improvement greatly appreciated!!
GK

[Baxter Smith]

Glad you got some turning time. Great looking wood Greg! I saw some Redwood burl that must have been 6 feet across last week in Muir Woods. I suppose they look like this inside!:)

[Roger Chandler]

Love the curl in those pieces...........glad you got some spinny time Greg..............If you have a good bit of that nice wood, I don't see how you can not turn once in a while! That is some pretty stuff! Very nice bowls...........I especially like the curly big leaf maple...........stunning! Super form on it!

[Jim Burr]

That has to be some of the craziest figure I've seen...cereal needs a good bowl too!

[Eric Gourieux]

Amazing pieces of wood, and you did them right. Well done

[Rick Markham]

Those are both super nice Greg! That maple is killer!

[Norm Zax]

Gotta ... stop ... drooling ... on that burl. Superb material and a good job.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Glad you got in some shop time! Your Uncle is going to love that bowl! Amazing color and grain!

The Big Leaf Maple is a thing of beauty! Normally, the first thing I see when looking at a turning is the form. On this piece - the wood just jumps right out at you! Beautiful!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

He surely is going to love it. Both are great looking bowls and glad you got some time to turn.

[charlie knighton]

i really like the redwood burl, very nice