Maple stump bowl

[Robert Marshall]

Back in the fall, one of the local tree-cutters gave me a piece of maple stump, which has been sitting in my shed ever since. I sawed off a piece of it, and put it on the lathe, and ended up with this roughly six-inch bowl.

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One of the bark inclusion lines was developing into a crack, so I squirted a lot of CA glue into it, and that seems to have stabilized it. I was afraid to get the walls much thinner, with the bark and other stuff going on.

I'm in the process of finishing with glossy wipe-on poly.

Welcome your comments, criticisms, suggestions.

[John K Jordan]

Nice! One thing a buddy of mine does when turning even rather large (16" or larger) bowls with voids and bark inclusions is turn the outside, then wrap the outside with strong strapping tape and turn the inside. This keeps them from coming apart. I've seen some he did that seem to have more air than wood!

Also, super thin walls are overrated. Thin is show of woodturning skill perhaps, but many people (including me) love the substantial feel of a heavy bowl. Form rules. :-)

JKJ

[Jamie Straw]

Nice! One think a buddy of mine does when turning even rather large (16" or larger) bowls with voids and bark inclusions is turn the outside, then wrap the outside with strong strapping tape and turn the inside. This keeps them from coming apart. I've seen some he did that seem to have more air than wood!

Also, super thin walls are overrated. Thin is show of woodturning skill perhaps, but many people (including me) love the substantial feel of a heavy bowl. Form rules. :-)

JKJ
Amen to that! Some woods or wood/shape combinations lend themselves much better to a stouter overall look and feel. Question: "strapping tape", to me, means the tape that has fiber reinforcement in it (used in shipping, I guess). Will the stretch-wrap work as well?

[Brice Rogers]

Jamie,

I use both strapping tape and the stretchy plastic wrap together in many cases. But it depends on the bowl size, the cracks and inclusions and what I'm doing whether I use both. If I think that there is a higher risk of it flying apart, I'll use both.

Strapping tape - - that is the tape that is reinforced with something like fiberglass strands. It makes it almost impossible to break accidentally. I buy it at an office supply store. I typically get the 2" wide stuff but have used the 3/4" stuff as well.

Stretchy wrap - - a friend gave me a couple of rolls of 2 foot wide stretchy wrap. Nice, but nearly impossible for me to handle without another pair of arms to keep it from sticking to itself. I went to the office supply store and bought a roll of about 6" wide stretchy. It is very easy to use.

[Robert Marshall]

Strapping tape and stretch-wrap . . . what about shrink-wrap? The stuff you wrap around something, then shrink it with a heat gun or hair dryer. Has anyone used that to hold a fragile piece together, while turning?

[daryl moses]

Nice looking bowl Robert. Love the bark and everything else about it.

[John K Jordan]

Amen to that! Some woods or wood/shape combinations lend themselves much better to a stouter overall look and feel. Question: "strapping tape", to me, means the tape that has fiber reinforcement in it (used in shipping, I guess). Will the stretch-wrap work as well?

I like the security of the strapping tape with fiber reinforcements, although I'll use other tape depending on the security I need. Ain't NUTT'N gonna break the strapping tape except maybe the hulk. I have used the narrow stretch wrap for things but the problem is, it is stretchy.

(In our wilder days we used to make certain objects from glass christmas tree ornaments, fill with black powder, insert a fuse, and wrap with about 1/2" of strapping tape. Whoh, what a smack. This was just for fun and the for the sake of our insatiable science education, of course, h-land security people, nothing to worry about here.)

Another tape I use a lot for woodturning looks like the cheap green stuff at Home Depot but it's not: 3M Masking Tape for Hard-to-Stick Surfaces:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004Z4AY
This stuff is far sticker than any other masking tape I've use. I buy it in the 1" and 1.5" rolls.

This is my go-to tape for many things around the shop: depth flags on drill bits, temporary spacers and jigs, marking floors and walls for equipment and shelf placement, holding parts while glue sets, closing storage boxes, and holding bowls on Cole Jaws where I want a little more security but don't use the tailstock.

Another favorite shop tape is aluminum HVAC tape. I use it for many things, including thin shims and mixing a small amount of epoxy on a piece stuck to the lathe ways.

JKJ

[Jamie Straw]

[Snip]
Stretchy wrap - - a friend gave me a couple of rolls of 2 foot wide stretchy wrap. Nice, but nearly impossible for me to handle without another pair of arms to keep it from sticking to itself. I went to the office supply store and bought a roll of about 6" wide stretchy. It is very easy to use.

I have a roll with a handle built in, I think it's 3", perhaps 2.5", that I used today to help insure a bowl would stay in the Cole jaws. After I finished turning the foot, I opened the jaws a bit and tested the hold of the stretch-wrap. Held just fine!

[Jamie Straw]

JKJ -- thanks for the tip on the super-sticky tape! I wonder if that's the tape that our local turning-stock seller-guy uses to label things. Never seems to lose a sticker.;)

[John K Jordan]

JKJ -- thanks for the tip on the super-sticky tape! I wonder if that's the tape that our local turning-stock seller-guy uses to label things. Never seems to lose a sticker.;)

If it's green, it might be.

While on a tape kick: The tape I use in the shop for labeling boxes, tubs, and wood I can't easily write on is professional gaffers tape. It is intended to be temporary but will stay on forever; for long term use won't dry out and fall off like address labels or leave a residue like masking tape. My oldest son and I were both in video production and he would get me a roll for Christmas or birthday!

If not familiar with gaffers tape, it is used in the film and photography industry, theater, and conference centers to hold wires in place, prevent tripping, position backdrops and reflectors, quick repair, label gear, hide things from the camera, etc. Cloth based, it has a rubber-based adhesive that can be removed without leaving residue like duct tape, even after it has been on for a long time. The backing is matte-finish cotton cloth instead of the plastic used with duct tape. It's expensive, but I'd hate to be without it. I keep it on my tape rack in grey, white, and the traditional black, mostly 1" but up to 3".

Yes, maybe I need a 12-step program for tape addiction. Or maybe I'll just order 12 more rolls of tape...

JKJ