Blue Orbiter

[Bob Bergstrom]

This is a piece of soft maple with some figure in it. The bowl is about 10" in diameter and 2" deep. The rim starts about 1 1/4" from the bottom leaving the upper area the remaining 3/4". There two very small beads on the inside of the rim and two more form the foot of the bowl. It was dyed black, sanded, and then blue. I used a Dremel to dimple the rim. The bit I used had a small dimple on the very center and added some more interest to the rim. I also slanted the Dremel to change the shape of the dimples. Lastly, I used gold Pearl-Ex to accent the embellishment. That was applied with a dry brush, sprayed lightly with rattle can lacquer and steel wooled to remove the gold on the surface of the rim around the dimples. It does somewhat resemble a UFO.


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[Eric Holmquist]

Nice effect overall. I really like the dimple effect, how did you get the Pearl-Ex to stick to the bottom of the dimples?

[Bob Bergstrom]

It was dry brush onto the rim and into the holes. A light spray of lacquer from about 2 feet away from the bowl sticks the powder. Additional coat seal it in. The steel wool is like an eraser and cleans off any that is on the rim. I seal the rim with a couple coats of lacquer before the dry brushing. That keeps the powder from getting into the pours of the wood.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice. I like the dimples. Thanks for the info Bob.

[Kathy Marshall]

That's a cool piece Bob! The dimple effect with the gold to set it off looks good.

[Richard Madden]

I agree with Kathy...that's a cool piece!

[Michelle Rich]

I have rarely liked blue wood..dunno why, but boy oh boy, the blue at the bottom is sure vibrant..

[Peter Blair]

I like it a lot Bob. Nice rim treatment and great bead work!

[Jim Burr]

That's a lot of work that really paid off Bob!! Dimpling idea is great!

[Brian Kent]

Wonderful innovation.

[Eric Holmquist]

Thanks for the explanation

[Noah Barfield]

Wow--that's a beautiful piece!

[David DeCristoforo]

It's blue... can't not like it. Actually this makes me think of the dome in a planetarium. They have one at UNR in Reno and we used to go there and lay back staring at the ceiling. It often looked a lot like this.

[Bob Bergstrom]

It's blue... can't not like it. Actually this makes me think of the dome in a planetarium. They have one at UNR in Reno and we used to go there and lay back staring at the ceiling. It often looked a lot like this.
Irish have green, the Italian's have red, my Swedish ancestry goes for blue, but have no fear, I won't paint my Powermatic blue.