A Large Cherry Bowl

[Baxter Smith]

Just before Christmas, I was fortunate enough to come across some exceptional cherry (at least for me). I was able to bring home 3 large bowl blanks. The first two were turned down to 20 inches so I could fit them on the lathe to core.
For the last one, I decided to waste the interior and simply make the largest bowl I could that had no sapwood in an effort to minimize any checking. It was turned to finish in January, the rim wrapped with stretch wrap, then spent the next 6 months in a double paper leaf bag.(while I tried to figure out how I was going to finish the bottom)
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A couple coats of walnut oil.
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I then let the sun do the rest.
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It ended up amazingly round. 23 1/8” x 22 3/4” x 6 ¾”
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It would hold a lot of cherries.
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C&C always welcome!

[steven carter]

Wow, that is a big beauty. It would hold a lot of most anything. I really like the foot detail.

[Deane Allinson]

A really nice piece!!

[Scott Hackler]

Thats a whopper! Nice work Baxter. I sure wish we had monster cherry trees here in doodah.

[Jim Burr]

That's gonna hold a lot of M&M's sir! It sure is pretty!!

[Marc Himes]

Great looking bowl Baxter! The Cherry is beautiful and your simple, elegant shape really shows it off.

[charlie knighton]

very nice, Baxter, keep them coming

[Roger Chandler]

What a beauty! Nice work Baxter! I might have to get you to give me a few pointers on that stretch wrap technique sometime!

[Steve Doerr]

That is one nice bowl. You did a great job on figuring out how to finish the bottom. Very simple and elegant. The sun did a great job on the staining. Keep up the good work Barxter.

[David Gilbert]

That is a really beautiful bowl! Congratulations on some fantastic work. Put very simply, I'm jealous.

[Allan Ferguson]

Everything said above and more. Simply outstanding.

[Baxter Smith]

Roger, the stretch wrap is something Reed Gray uses for his once turned bowls. Its simply stretching it tightly around the rim a couple times. It should help reduce the rapid loss of moisture at the outside/edge of the rim which could lead to splits. I often use it in conjunction with paper bags when I want to slow down the loss of moisture as much as possible. I have had a couple instances where mildew developed underneath it. By then, the most important first few weeks have passed so I just remove it.

Thanks for your thoughts. I was pretty lucky to get a piece of wood that nice.

[Kathy Marshall]

Baxter, that is a Beauty! and a big whopper too! Nice job on the rim and base details and the sun tan looks great too!

[Philip Duffy]

Well Done, Baxter!

[kevin nee]

Very nice! Glad not to much warp-age and stayed crack free.
I was waiting for the unveiling. I think I smell a VB 36.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks all!

Very nice! Glad not to much warp-age and stayed crack free.
I was waiting for the unveiling. I think I smell a VB 36.
You will have to keep right on smelling Kevin.:) I will never get to turn another cherry log like that one. I felt guilty cutting it into blanks for turning but since its destiny was firewood or mulch, I was able to overlook my guilt.;) It would have made a great table top.