First real bowl

[David Reed]

Here are a few pics of my first real bowl. Vases, platters, hollow forms etc, but no bowls. Could never quite understand the difficulty in cutting the transition at the bottom; now I do.
BLM with a little spalting, 4.5x10 inches. The outside transition (curve) looked better in the chuck but is a little truncated. Think I would like a small foot for a little lift though. Need to tidy up the bottom and apply finish to the recess but generally satisfied. Cheesy pics I know; merely set it on a piece of abs pipe with a decent background.
C & C please.
David

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[Brian Kent]

David, I like the wood and your work. I'm still stuck on doing hollow forms and vases before bowls :eek:. Wow.

[Mike Peace]

One of the nicest first bowls I have ever seen. Great job!

[Richard Jones]

Very nice, sir. Good form, pretty wood. Hard to beat that combination. Don't forget to sign, date, and species-fy.................

Wish my first was 5% as nice as that one............great eye, something that I think can't be taught, but that's a whole 'nuther thread............

[Jamie Donaldson]

You're going about this process all backwards David! Most turners want to start turning with bowls? I encourage you to learn to use your chuck in compression mode on a tenon rather than expansion is a recess. It is a much more secure mounting method, less prone to split a bowl, especially in side grain orientation in the future, and also allows a much smaller foot on bowls and other forms..

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking bowl and the wood is beautiful.

[David Reed]

Thank you all for the comments. Jamie, I have read others have a tenon fracture off so have been reluctant to give it a go and so far, the recesses have done well. The burl I typically turn is so tough, I think it would take a lot to split it out (have worked some pieces pretty hard). In addition, I as yet have no vacuum chuck so find it simpler to leave the recess as is than turn away a tenon. But then like you said, a smaller foot would have improved the lines of this piece. I have another bowl on the lathe as I type and plan to reverse it with a tenon. See how it goes.

[Josh Bowman]

David, that looks great! Very nice wood, Shape is spot on, a little thick for my tastes, with the wood as beautiful as it is, consider not putting the beading on the rim. Save that for blah wood.

[Jamie Donaldson]

I've been turning for 25 yrs. without a vacuum chuck, but do have a variety of jam chucks to use in chuck jaws for remounting to remove a tenon. Your burl is less prone to recess splitting than face grain, but tenons are much more secure than recesses unless the tenon has defects. And a "good" turner should never leave evidence of how a work was mounted!:D

[bob svoboda]

Very nice first! Love that wood.

[David Reed]

David, that looks great! Very nice wood, Shape is spot on, a little thick for my tastes, with the wood as beautiful as it is, consider not putting the beading on the rim. Save that for blah wood.
I typically turn all my hollow forms etc thin but saw a few thick bowls and since I had such nice grain across the top, thought leaving a bit would be a little different.


I've been turning for 25 yrs. without a vacuum chuck, but do have a variety of jam chucks to use in chuck jaws for remounting to remove a tenon. Your burl is less prone to recess splitting than face grain, but tenons are much more secure than recesses unless the tenon has defects. And a "good" turner should never leave evidence of how a work was mounted!:D
Jamie: I will remove the dovetail recess, leaving the decorative recess but left it initially so I can look at it a while and if modifications are necessary, can be re-chucked readily. When I mentioned leaving it, I did mean temporarily. Having said that, I still don't classify myself as a "GOOD" turner. Decent, amateur, but certainly not good, yet...............
Re jamb chucks, only gone that way a few times. Usually bring up the tailstock with some type of support inside the piece. If turning away a tenon, I turn it small and carve the remainder.
Will see how the next bowl with a tenon goes. Not certain how to embellish the bottom of the bowl easily with a tenon. Jamb chuck with lots of tape or saran wrap?