Yikes, I turned a bowl

[John K Jordan]

Not a big bowl. This is probably the first bowl I've turned on purpose in about 5 years. Not very significant otherwise.

Walnut, roughed out about 10 years ago, about 9" in diameter, undercut inside the sloped rim. Smoothed with NRS, hand scraping, then hand sanded with 220 & finer (no power sanding). Finish is about 6 coats of "danish" oil.

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I had to hurry to get photos since I made it for a gift and it's going away tomorrow (er, later today).

JKJ

[Mike Henderson]

Very nice bowl, John. I don't do much turning any more but may try one to use that undercut rim. Looks nice.

Mike

[Mel Fulks]

It’s a beautiful thing, looks like it’s made of walnut mixed with copper! And it’s got a face in it ! The recipient will cherish it and gaze into it everyday. The crispness is such a nice touch.

[John Kananis]

I was just learning about undercutting the rim. Very nice.

[John K Jordan]

I was just learning about undercutting the rim. Very nice.

Good clean fun!
John, I like to undercut for two reasons - one, it can make a nice shadow line to make the rim stand out; two, it can give the thumbs a more secure grip when picking it up. I prefer this to shapes that feel like they might slip out of the hands.

Here's another example from 18 years ago, another small bowl (about 8"+ diameter), turned from Lyptus, a Eucalyptus hybrid, different rim treatment. Oil finish, buffed. This one shows another thing I often like to do: hollow a little under the rim for the same reasons, the look and the grip. There's a story behind this bowl I'll have to tell you sometime.

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And looking back 20 years, I notice I undercut the rim on what I call my first "real" bowl, turned when I got my first chunk of wood thick enough for a bowl without gluing up layers of oak boards!

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JKJ

[Karl Loeblein]

You got back in the saddle and then make it look like you never stopped turning bowls. All of them are very nice to look at, but the walnut bowl is downright gorgeous. No doubt you’ll be making somebody very happy with this one.

[Tim Elett]

Thanks for sharing, beautiful work, gives new bees like me inspiration.