Chakte viga bowl.....

[Michael Stafford]

I turned something besides a box.....:D

Here is a bowl about 8" in diameter and 3" tall turned from a wood called chakte viga. I can't tell you much about it except it is hard, heavy and dense and polishes up like glass. When I unwrapped this bowl after soaking in alcohol there were fine little crystals all over the inside of the roughed out bowl. I have no idea....

The picture showing a view from the top makes it appear as if the rim is way uneven but the bowl finished out at a consistent 5/16" thickness.

[Ron Ainge]

that is very nice, I don't think that I have ever heard of that type of wood before does anyone know more about it???

[Keith Burns]

Wow Big Mike, that is a totally excellent bowl:) :) . The wood is terrific. The form and finish are perfect. I like the bottom treatment as well:) . Absolutely stunning !!

[Don Baer]

Very nice Big Mike.

that is very nice, I don't think that I have ever heard of that type of wood before does anyone know more about it???

The first time I saw Chokte was up at Sam Maloofs place he's got a lot of it. course he's got a lot of other wood too.:D

[Bill Stevener]

Beautiful bowl Mike,
they don't come any nicer that one. Very nice work.

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

[Mike Ramsey]

Beautiful wood!!! Great form!! That's my kinda bowl not to thin!
Looks like it would really be nice with some butter pecan in it!
Great job Big Mike!!

[Michael Stafford]

Ron, after you asked I decided to see what I could learn about this wood.

First of all the preferred spelling is chakte viga. The blank that I turned this from had chokte viga written on it.

Chakte viga is also known as paela. Chakte viga is used primarily when referring to the lumber form and paela refers to the burl form. It grows in Mexico and Central America.

The scientific name is Caesalpinia platyloba and is in the same family as pernambuco which is Caesalpinia echinata.


I was unable to find anything describing the tree with regard to size, availability etc.

[Keith Burns]

Big Mike, sorry for commenting on this piece twice but it deserves it. I have to keep coming back to look at it. If anyone even attempted to put ice cream in that one I'd have to shot them:D

[Corey Hallagan]

Oooh a bowl from Big Mike! Very nice Mike, First bowl post I have seen from you since I started posting on this side.

Corey

[Glenn Hodges]

Mr. Mike, that is some kind of beautiful wood, and what you did with it makes for a lovely piece. Thanks for showing it to us.

[Jim Ketron]

Beautiful bowl Mike! You get some of the prettiest wood to work with!

[Andy Hoyt]

That's a fiver on the ICS!

33135

[Dick Parr]

That is a wonderful bowl Mike. You did a wonderful job on it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful bowl Mike. Great work. Don't believe I have ever heard of that wood.

[Mark Cothren]

Big Mike, my man... that is one fantastic bowl. What a great piece of wood!

Thanks for the pictures!

[Paul Douglass]

Absolutely b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! That wood is some of the prettest I have seen. Is it all the pretty or did you just get an exceptional piece?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Big Mike.........You did that wood proud! I like the form, finish and the beautiful wood!

[Travis Stinson]

Mike, that's a very nice bowl, that wood is gorgeous!

[Joe Tonich]

HOLY COW, Mike! For someone who can't turn bowls, I think your right up there with the Mr. WoW's ;) and SMC greats around here.

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!:D :D

Joe

[Michael Stafford]

Thank you all. I appreciate the positive feedback.:D

Paul, I cannot say if this is typical or not as this is the first large piece I have turned. I have another larger piece to rough out and turn. I will say that the color is typical of the pen blanks from chakte viga that I have turned before.

[John Hart]

That really is a stunning bowl Mike. The wood is awesome....But wow!...that foot is unique. I like it a lot!! Gotta start doing something different like that. Inspirational piece!:)

[Dennis Peacock]

Oooohhhhh!!!!!! That's real purdy there Big Mike!!!!! I really, REALLY like that wood a lot. Very nice bowl indeed.:D

[Barry Stratton]

Absolutely stunning bowl/piece of art!!!

I hope I'm not violating any TOS rules, but here is a great website for more info on the different wood types and species than I will ever need:

http://www.exotichardwoods-southamerica.com/chakteviga.htm

[Dick Strauss]

Mike,
I have some bad news for you. Chatke Viga has recently been used to smuggle cocaine and heroine from Mexico and Central America. The smugglers soak the wood in a liquid coke or heroine and ship it to the US. The illegal substances are later removed through various chemical processes. Unfortunately it sounds like you have received such a piece given the visible crystals. Given that I work for the wood enforcement agency, I request that you immediately ship the bowl to me for further investigation! I'll return the bowl if it doesn't contain any banned substances and it doesn't look good in my display case!

All kidding aside, that is one beautiful bowl!

[Michael Stafford]

Now, Dick, that was funny!!!! Not the part about the cocaine crystals but the part about me sending you the bowl.....Now that was funny!!!:p ;) :D

Thank you for the compliments but Mother Nature did most of the work.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Yep, I'd say that is sure nice.

The finish sure is glass like!

BTW.............

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=33113&d=1141421238

.......... I'll beat Mr. Hart to it......anyone see a face in there...? :D

Cheers!

[Andy Hoyt]

Yup. I see one. And it's reminiscent of the work by Edward Munch.

[Michael Stafford]

Travis and I were chatting and we thought we saw E.T. or at least Travis did...but he is from Mississippi....:p :D I am not seeing things...I am not seeing things...I am not seeing things.:D

[John Miliunas]

Big Mike, seems that whether it's a box or bowl, you turn it into a work of art! Very, very nice. :) Oh, and FWIW, the very first look I had at the interior pic of the bowl, I saw those two eyes looking back at me!!! :D :cool:

[Paul Douglass]

I stated earlier what I thought of the bowl, now it leads me to another question. Where to you turners buy your wood (what you don't cut yourselves)? I see lots for sell on e-bay (was looking for some as pretty as used on Michael's bowl), is that a good place to buy or is it better to go to a store where you can actully look at a piece? Does anyone buy what is available on e-bay?

[Ernie Nyvall]

Mike, that is some special bowl. The wood is stunning. Nice job.

Ernie