First Natural Edge Bowl Walnut

[Blair Swing]

Got this log of walnut a while back and have been trying to figure out what to do with and decided to try a natural edge bowl for the first, (well second but I tried a green magnolia end grain once that flew apart). This log came from an estate sale of a friends dad in Marlin Tx. (Also picked up two 1946 craftsman tilting table saws and a 1950's craftsman planer). Anyway I turned this out on my 1970's craftsman lathe. To all that don't like craftsman tools, and a lot have earned that bad rap over the years, I would simply say that the most important tool is the operator a and a good operator with a so so tool is hundreds of times better than a great tool in the hands of a bad operator! I digress though. No telling exactly how old the log was but it is extremely dry.

Comments on the bowl form and or bantering about craftsman tools vs the world are appreciated!267179267180267181

[Dennis Ford]

The walnut is very pretty. I agree that the operator is the most important part.

[Grant Wilkinson]

It's a fine looking piece of walnut. I'm not partial to that shape, but that's merely a personal, non-expert in any way, opinion.

As to Craftsman, I will only say that I have had a Craftsman 1hp 8" grinder for about 30 years, and it just keeps on grindin'. It weighs a ton, is as smooth as a baby's butt when it's running, and takes forever to spin down when I turn it off.

[Dan Jechura]

I had a craftsman 1970"s wood lathe that I started using in the early 80's. One of my home made turning tools broke on me ( back in 82) and scared me so bad I never touch it until 2 years ago. I also did not have time. Back then I did not know about turning "found wood". 2 years ago I got back into turning after watching a TV show. I used the old for awhile until I figured it out I could only turn small stuff, under 10 inch. So I bought a new lathe. The old lathe is still there, maybe I need to try using it again. It really was not a bad lathe, maybe I was a bad operator back then.


Dan J.