Q: What's better than turning wood?

[Greg Ketell]

A: Mentoring someone else in the turning of their first bowl! (at least to me)

A long time friend came over for dinner Saturday and, as I always do, I asked if he wanted to try turning something. This time he surprised me by saying yes. Woooott!

We went out to the garage and dug up a block of wood that I had on a shelf for a few years and mounted it up. A couple of hours later he had used a bowl gouge, carbide tool, a couple of scrapers, and sand paper.

Kingwood, 5" diameter, 1.75" tall, one wipe of Orange-Oil furniture polish.
259378

Sorry for the bad picture but I forgot to get a shot before he left. This was his cell-phone picture while it sat on his desk at work.

[robert baccus]

Bueatiful bowl and killer wood. Have you ever tried oil on rosewood before? Wondering about the oily wood. Carnuba works well on rosewoods spun on at high rpm also. Teaching is the greatest thing we do---turning, skiing, shooting, sailing especially with the young-uns.

[Tim Rinehart]

Very nice first bowl...sheesh, I wish I'd hand someone like you with me on my first.

[Dick Mahany]

Beautiful wood and great bowl! I'll bet he's still smiling. Won't be long now before he is entrapped by the vortex :)

[Jim Burr]

Pretty sporty there Greg! I'd like some of that stash, dinner, and your expertise!

[Phil Labowski]

You guys are all just great. I was fortunate enough that Pete Jordan invited me out to his place and made my first bowl with me. Having an experienced turner over your shoulder makes a world of difference. On my own it seems like every little inconvenient thing that can go wrong does, lol.

[Greg Ketell]

Beautiful wood and great bowl! I'll bet he's still smiling. Won't be long now before he is entrapped by the vortex :)

Dick, it sure seemed that way. He kept saying "I can see how you like this", "very zen", "sound of the lathe is very calming". Muahhahaha On the other hand, he is traveling so much for work that he has his home leased out and just rents a hotel when he gets back into town for a few days.


Pretty sporty there Greg! I'd like some of that stash, dinner, and your expertise!
Any time you want to stop by, Jim. But I've seen your turning and you could definitely teach me more than I could teach you. But if you want to come by and "exchange knowledge" I'd be happy to host! Same for anyone "in the vicinity"!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Nice first bowl and the great looking wood.

[bob svoboda]

Nice bowl and good job mentoring--satisfying, no?

[Greg Ketell]

Nice bowl and good job mentoring--satisfying, no?

Very! I actually like mentoring/teaching more than the doing.

[Montgomery Scott]

when you say kingwood, what wood do you mean? It certainly isn't Brazilian kingwood (dalbergia cearensis).

[Greg Ketell]

when you say kingwood, what wood do you mean? It certainly isn't Brazilian kingwood (dalbergia cearensis).

1) I could very well be mistaken, it has been a long time since I bought the blank and the label was no longer there.
2) If you do a google search on "Kingwood" you come up with many that look just like that wood, including this one:http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/kingwood.htm

Scrolling through hobbithouse, I suppose it looks a lot like Bocote too. What do you think it is?

[Montgomery Scott]

I can tell you it certainly is not Brazilian kingwood. BK has a distinct violet cast when first machined. After exposure to light it will fade to shades of tan and brown. However, the bigger clue is the size of the pores. BK is very fine grained and the pores in your piece are many times larger. It isn't Mexican bocote either as the pores are also very small and the size of the latewood rings are very narrow. It looks similar to goncalo alves, but again the pores appear to be too big. I can't say for sure what it is, only what it isn't, since I don't recognize it among the 60+ species of wood I have in my personal stock and I have't bothered to go through all the pages of my copy of The Encyclopedia of Wood.

[Jamie Donaldson]

I'm guessing an Acacia variety?

[Reed Gray]

When I first looked at it, I thought bocote. Not sure though.

I agree that the teaching/mentoring is as much fun as the actual turning. Seeing that light bulb of understanding come on really feels great.

robo hippy