First Bowl

[Bernie Weishapl]

Well I did it. I turned my first bowl. I got it roughed out and have it soaking in DNA now. I was so excited I took the first two pictures on the lathe and when I finished the inside roughing I put the bowl in the DNA before I thought to take the other two. Guess I was just to excited.:D I had a ton of fun and learned a lot this afternoon. I watched Bill's DVD again this morning before I started. The next one ought to go a lot faster.

One question I do have is how long would you leave the Elm bowl in the DNA before letting it dry and then wrapping it?


Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it.

[Glenn Hodges]

looks good! I let mine soak over night. Dave Smith said 2 hours when he first started posting about this method (I believe I am right), but I go overboard on about everything. Good luck with it.

[John Hart]

Looks great Bernie!! Yep...me too. I go overnight, then let it dry for a little over a week. Sure hope she don't move on you!:) :)

[Corey Hallagan]

Congrats Bernie, that is awesome. It looks like your a natural. I hope the next week goes well!

Corey

[Keith Burns]

Bernie, I can tell you are travelling quickly, and with great skill, into that dark hole:eek:

[Jeremiah Jordan]

Nice looking bowl Bernie, a lot better than I would do on my first try.

Jeremiah

[John Miliunas]

Way to go, Bernie! You got yourself a nice form going, too! Way, way better than my first attempt (or three!:rolleyes: ). Sorry I can't guide you on the DNA...Still need to try that myself! :) :cool:

[Bob Noles]

Bernie,

Slap some finish on that rascal and call it done while you are still ahead :D

Looking good my friend and I can already hear that bigger lathe calling :eek:

Great job and best of luck on having good stock to cross the finish line. I can't wait to see it in the end.

[Michael Stafford]

Bernie, it will look great when you return it after drying. You have a good shape going and it should not distort too much after the alky bath.:D

[Ernie Nyvall]

Allright Bernie, way to go!!! Lookin good.

Ernie

[Dennis Peacock]

Looks good Bernie.

I always let mine soak overnight or until I get in the shop again. I've found bowls in the alchy bath almost 4 months later!!!:eek: :o
Soaking longer does not harm to the blank.

I've found that soaking them too short of time doesn't get the alchy all the way through the bowl and the bowl tends to warp more on the finish turn. But YMMV and I'm only sharing what I've experienced and learned over the last year of doing this particular method. BUT....it has turned out to be the most successful method of bowl blank drying that I've ever tried.

[Bill Stevener]

Your on your way now Bernie, I can see DNA going for an all time high, in about two weeks.

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks. I appreciate all the kinds words and help. I plan on leaving the bowl soak all night and then wrap it in the morning. Will let it dry for a couple of weeks or so. I will then turn it to final size. As soon as I can I will post the results.

[Blake McCully]

Bernie,
Welcome to the alky club. I, like most everybody else, soak mine over night. Unlike some, I don't wrap mine. Being and old guy I can't wait months for stabilization;) . I weigh mine every day, and when I get two or three consecutive weights that are the same, I put it back on and spin it again.

I don't have a moisture meter so I use my good digital kitchen scale. I've not had any problems doing it this way. The shortest time it has taken to stabilize was 5 days, a yellow poplar bowl, the longest was 9 days, a honey locust bowl. Just depends on wood density and thickness I guess.

[Dick Parr]

Great job on the first one Bernie. That is going to be a nice looking bowl when you are done. Make sure you post some pictures of it in a few weeks when you get it finished up.

Great start to your new addiction.:eek: :D

[Mark Cothren]

Keep on truckin', Bernie! Lookin' good so far!

[Tony Sizemore]

WAY TO GO MAN!!!!!! Lets see it when it done. don't stop now keep the shavings fling!

[Sparky Paessler]

Looks great Bernie! Overnight is what I do also.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks again everyone. Got up about 5:30 this morning and got the bowl out of the DNA. Let it air dry for about 20 minutes. I then wrapped it in a brown paper sack. Cut a opening in the bowl side. Sit it upside down on the rack and will check on it later. Hopefully all will go well. Going to turn a black locust bowl tonight hopefully if I have time. If not tomorrow night. I will get pictures when I finish it.

[Ron Ainge]

Bernie

It appears that you have been busy and that you have passed the point of no return. I hope that you enjoy the hobby as much as I do. congrats on the bowl. It appears that the wood is Russian Olive, it that correct???

[Bernie Weishapl]

The wood is from what we call out here anyway a Chinese Elm. This tree is suseptiable to Dutch Elm Disease. Anyway they were clearing it out of their yard. I got two logs from them 2' long and 18" in diameter. Got 8 bowl blanks out of the two.

[Jim Becker]

Yup! That's a bowl. Nice job, Bernie.

[Dave Smith]

Hi Bernie,

The bowls looks a little on the thick side to me. I usually turn bowls about a 1/2" thick up to 8" diameter. You will get a feel for the process after a while. Thicker bowls are more likely to crack. In my original testing I was trying to find the minimum soak time. For a small bowl about 1/2" thick 2 hours resulted in consistently good results. In practice I usually soak bowls over night or all week if I forget which is more often the case as I rack up the years. The process I developed is intended to be as passive as possible.

The people here are giving you good advise. You can find more information on my alcohol soaking blog. You can find my web page URL in my profile. The link to the blog is in the upper left corner of my home page.

Good luck.

Dave Smith

Master wood pickler in Longview, WA.

[Robert Mickley]

Looks better than my first bowl, in fact looks better than probably my first 5 or 6 bowls

[Mike Ramsey]

Great job Bernie, I soak with the Alky also...I tend to leave them in the
bucket at least a week, but that's because I sometimes forget about
them..I've never used DNA just whatever I could find mostly 99%
Isopropyl, sometimes 70% they both seem to work for me.