Pine Bowl

[Damon McLaughlin]

After a month long break from turning I had a chance to get back into the shop. I grabbed a piece of pine from my cousin's firewood pile to practice some techniques on and didn't realize it was blue pine until I cut into it. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out though next time I'll have a more gradual slope on the sides. The bowl is 10" across. It cut quite nice with minimal tearout, where I did have a bit of a problem I soaked in sanding sealer before making a final cut. It is finished with two thin coats of sanding sealer then some wax. I've made room in the car to snag a few more pieces of this pine the next time I visit my cousin.

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[Allan Ferguson]

That turned out very nice. Great color.

[Thomas Canfield]

Nothing wrong with that pine. It resembles a piece that my DIL uses for a fresh fruit bowl in her kitchen. I finished it with Walnut oil only and pine was fresh cut yard pine that had beetle damage back when I lived in the Piney Woods of East Texas. The oil soak will make the pine almost translucent with all the pitch in it.

[Ted Prinz]

Check out the growth rings! Nice & tight. That tree didn't grow very fast. Excellent save from the firewood pile. (nice bowl, too :))

[Damon McLaughlin]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your comments. Surprisingly there was very little to no pitch in the wood that I noticed. The tight growth rings is probably what held the knots in place. The wall thickness is just under 1/4".

[John K Jordan]

Nice! The finish looks perfect. That is some pretty wood too. I like the streaks, the contrast in the rings close to the pith, and the red knots. I do agree about the sides but that is a subjective thing! Perhaps a bit of ogee?

I bought a maple bowl blank at our annual club wood auction last month and am almost finished with a bowl - my first bowl in a long time (and my first turning in almost a month too). The tearout was horrible - the wood is spalted but the tearout was so bad I told a friend that I would have thrown it away if I hadn't paid money for it! I tried minwax wood hardener, multiple coats of shellac sanding sealer, and almost two bottles of super glue. The super glue worked the best, especially a trick I learned from John Lucas - wet sanding with fine super glue. That filled remaining tearout spots with fine sawdust. This was actually easier and looks better than my old method of filling with sawdust then adding a drop of CA glue.

JKJ

[Grant Wilkinson]

If this is your end result, you should visit that fire pile frequently, David.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice! In addition to doing a great job on highlighting some really pretty wood - I think the rounded rim was a great idea and gives the bowl a soft appearance. Looking forward to seeing the next bowl from this pine!

[Richard Dooling]

I like this a lot! The form compliments the beautiful color contrasts.

What kind of pine is this?

[Randy Red Bemont]

Very nice.

Red

[Damon McLaughlin]

Nice! The finish looks perfect. That is some pretty wood too. I like the streaks, the contrast in the rings close to the pith, and the red knots. I do agree about the sides but that is a subjective thing! Perhaps a bit of ogee?

I bought a maple bowl blank at our annual club wood auction last month and am almost finished with a bowl - my first bowl in a long time (and my first turning in almost a month too). The tearout was horrible - the wood is spalted but the tearout was so bad I told a friend that I would have thrown it away if I hadn't paid money for it! I tried minwax wood hardener, multiple coats of shellac sanding sealer, and almost two bottles of super glue. The super glue worked the best, especially a trick I learned from John Lucas - wet sanding with fine super glue. That filled remaining tearout spots with fine sawdust. This was actually easier and looks better than my old method of filling with sawdust then adding a drop of CA glue.

JKJ


I did a little bit of wet sanding with sanding sealer, the first time I tried that technique and it worked well on the outside. For the inside I applied some sanding sealer, took a couple light coats and then repeated one more time. I think that I got lucky because this pine wasn't soft and prone to tear out as I had thought it would be. I just pulled another log from the trunk. I would be interested in seeing how this comes out for spindle turning.

[Damon McLaughlin]

If this is your end result, you should visit that fire pile frequently, David.

I plan on it!! I have one log left, about 12" in diameter by 20" long. My cousin has acres upon acres of pine trees so I might have to see about getting more of this. It may not be the most desirable wood to turn, but it is free :-)

[Damon McLaughlin]

I like this a lot! The form compliments the beautiful color contrasts.

What kind of pine is this?


This is ponderosa pine. Normally its just a very plain and boring wood but many of the trees here are infected with the pine beetle. Their feces causes a fungus in the tree that causes the wood to turn blue. The longer the beetle has been present in the wood the more 'blue' the wood becomes. This particular bowl makes for a great fruit bowl.