10" White Oak Bowl

[Bruce Jones]

Well hello everybody I had picked up a few pieces of figured White Oak the last time to the mill and thought I would try for a very thin shallow bowl
with an inward curving lip here's what I came up with.
First time turning Oak,

Bruce

[Mark Greenbaum]

Beautiful flames on that piece, but how thick is it at the belly? Was it kiln dried? If it's thicker at the belly, and was not dried it's going to warp after it acclimates (maybe). I've turned great 350 year old Burr Oak, and even though it was down for 2 years, it warped beyond recognition. Nice form, though.

[daryl moses]

That's about the prettiest piece of white oak I've ever seen. Nice job!

[charlie knighton]

good one......

[Bruce Jones]

Thank you guys; YES this was kiln dried wood very hard wood too; when planing it to glue it up there's so much swirl in the grain it would tear out no matter how you put the wood threw; I ended up sanding it smooth, this was 2 one inch thick pieces.
I have a good bit more of this Oak I think I'll glue up a thicker blank next time.

Bruce

[Allan Ferguson]

You found some outstanding oak, it is an eye catcher. Allan

[Randy Red Bemont]

You did an awesome job there Bruce. I love the wood grain and shape.

Red

[Wes Ramsey]

There are so many pretty and highly-figured woods we turners enjoy working with, and oak is typically not one of them. Oak is such a staple for woodworkers and not normally as well-figured as others that I think it often gets overlooked and under-appreciated by turners. For me it feels...familiar...almost comforting. Sometimes I feel like there's a lot of pressure, mostly self-inflicted, to find the wood with the most striking grain and color and accent it as much as possible, yet when you cut into oak you expect to see...oak. That said, I love the grain pattern and form of your bowl and you really brought out the depth in the grain. But it would have been just as nice (to me) without all the fancy curl :cool:

[Bruce Jones]

Thanks Red I really like this wood too; I have some more in the shop, I think I'll go down to there and lay up some more but a bit thicker this time; these White Oak boards are only one inch thick.

Bruce

[Brian Myers]

Bruce ,
What's the finish on this bowl?

[James Tibbetts]

Bruce what mill are you getting this stuff from?

[Bruce Jones]

Brian so far that's just the first coats of Tung oil; I'll most likely add a few more let it dry then I'll sand seal & lacquer it.
James I'm not disclosing that info.

Bruce

[Bill Boehme]

That is a beautiful piece of white oak and a nice shape for two pieces glued together. In order to create a more uniform wall thickness, you might consider doing what i have seen done with some hollow forms that are glued together -- turn the interior shape before gluing and then as the final step, true up the shape at the glue joint.

i think that with such beautiful figure in the wood, it would look very nice to make a shallower piece that isn't glued up. To take full advantage of the thickness you could use a glue block so that there would be very little loss in height. I have made Many bowls that are no more than two inches high. Here is an example to show that shallow bowls can work. Please excuse the clipboards. This one went to the local food bank for their annual Empty Bowls project and I never got around to making a decent picture.

319972

[Robert Henrickson]

i think that with such beautiful figure in the wood, it would look very nice to make a shallower piece that isn't glued up. To take full advantage of the thickness you could use a glue block so that there would be very little loss in height. I have made Many bowls that are no more than two inches high.

I agree, both going shallower without gluing up and adding a glue block. I frequently turn plates or other such shallow things from 4/4 material, up to 15" in diameter, always with a low glue block. When I can find curly oak, I love it.