Walnut NE Bowl (maybe)

[John Hart]

I got a bunch of walnut from Robert Mickley and wanted to do an NE tonight. I was having so much fun that I sorta took it to finished thickness and this stuff is GREEEN. It's so green that it's green. Anyway, I just put it in the alcohol bath but I don't know if it'll survive, so I took some pics...just in case.

[Keith Burns]

John that is so COOL:) How thick are the walls? A member of our club claims he turns them to 1/4" green and buy the time he is done they are dry. Claims all the moisture is slung out. Also heard of using a hair dryer. I don't have a clue about either of these methods as I have I ever turned a piece of green wood, yet;)

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, you aren't kiddding! That really is green. Very cool shape. I hope it holds together for you John!

Corey

[Barry Stratton]

WOW! You really turned out an amazing NE there, Mr. Hart. I like the shape, size, form, everything. WOW!

[Mark Cothren]

Impressive work, John! Especially that the bark is holding on! Nice!

[John Hart]

Thanks fellers! Keith...It's 1/4" thick...maybe less. I'm not sure I agree with the centrifugal drying theory though. Not that I know anything about botany, but it seems like the moisture would be locked in tighter than that. But I dunno. I'll soak this overnight, then let it dry all day and see what I should do tommorrow night.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John..........I hope it works out for you! That's about as green as it could get in my opinion!

[Chris Barton]

That's a good looking bowl John. And, it has plenty of NE on it! Let's hope it stays.

[Jim Ketron]

Nice one John!
Some also use high pressure air to dry thin turnings.

Keith thats soon gona change;)

[Travis Stinson]

John, I really hope it works out, I love the shape you've got with it.:cool:

And Keith, Jim's got it pegged! I've got a nice green block with your name on it.:D

[John Timberlake]

I have not had a chance to turn any of the walnut Robert gave us. Glad to see you got to one. Looks nice, hope it stays and doesn't crack. It will probably warp too much to turn any more, so you may have to sand and finish by hand. Give us pictures when done.

[Paul Douglass]

Very pretty John. I have a confession. I've been wondering why you people call thase North Eastern bowls (NE Bowl). Looked at yours an it hit me. DUH!! Natural edge... Stupid!! I love'em anyway.

Hope it holds together.. Beautiful

[Corey Hallagan]

I keep going back to this bowl. I really hope this bowl makes it thru to the end cause it is going to be really nice finished. So is that sap wood or was that walnut tree to close to a reactor site? :)

Corey

[Jim Dunn]

Hey John let er warp. It'll be artsy f--tsy then:) Nice looking NE (northeastern) bowl

[Erin Raasch]

I have to confess that NE forms haven't always been among my favorites - but that piece is gorgeous! The grain is really attractive - I hope it survives the drying process.

So you just put that big ol' half a log on your lathe and start spinning it round and round? Just the thought of it about scares the bejeesus outta me - I guess I'll just start small and work up to that!

Erin

[Dennis Peacock]

I have to confess that NE forms haven't always been among my favorites - but that piece is gorgeous! The grain is really attractive - I hope it survives the drying process.

So you just put that big ol' half a log on your lathe and start spinning it round and round? Just the thought of it about scares the bejeesus outta me - I guess I'll just start small and work up to that!

Erin

WELCOME to SMC Erin.!!!! I may have missed your first post or two, so I wanted to jump in here and say HOWDY and Welcome to the Creek!!!!!

Now...how about posting us a turning or two. ;) :D

[Ernie Nyvall]

That looks good John. Hope it comes out okay. Interesting how the NE is almost all on the same level. Must have been a big tree.

Ernie

[Bernie Weishapl]

John that is a nice looking NE. That is about as green as green can get.

Erin wait till you see some of the 20 or 25 pounders or bigger some of these guys are putting on their lathes. I have a 14" square 6" thick piece of mahogany that weighs 16 lbs. thats going to be a main salad bowl.

[John Hart]

Thanks everyone! This morning, I took it out of the bath and it is now a wonderful brown color with green highlights. I know it won't stay that color but it shore is purdy. I'm ok with it warping a bit and handsanding. It turned nicely smooth and there is zero tearout, so...We'll see tonight.;)


So you just put that big ol' half a log on your lathe and start spinning it round and round? Just the thought of it about scares the bejeesus outta me - I guess I'll just start small and work up to that!

That part's not so bad Erin. I do trim up the corners on the bandsaw a bit so I start out with an octagon at low speed. The scary part is doing the inside of the bowl at high speed with all those teeth right in your face!


So is that sap wood or was that walnut tree to close to a reactor site?

LOL...Naw...It's pretty normal to have the green coloration in green walnut. This one was a little greener than normal though.:)

[Glenn Hodges]

Looking good John. When I do mine I put the face plate on the side without the bark. That is an interesting way to begin. Goodluck on a very nice piece.

[John Miliunas]

Way cool, John! That's a wonderful form you have going there and I hope you are able to stabilize it. That's going to be a knockout piece!!! :) :cool:

[John Hart]

Thanks J.M....After a couple hours of drying, it looks like it's going to hold up pretty well. Can't decide whether to CA it or to do the Epoxy Manhatten. I'll think it over today at work.

Glenn....yup...I use to mount the faceplate to the bottom like you suggest, but the orientation of my lathe makes it a little cramped. When I mount to the bark side, I have more freedom to do the bottom profile,plus I can rotate the headstock out a little and work on the foot and tenon a little easier. I just have to use longer screws to get through the bark.

[Robert Mickley]

Looking good John!! I'm surprised the bark hung on that well, considering that log had been laying around a while.

[David Fried]

John,

If all I did was respond to the nice turnings you post I would have over a thousand posts by now! My theory is that you have two lathes running and can turn one handed with both hands at the same time. If you ever figure out how to hold your skew with your toes we'll be in trouble!

This piece looks great! I like the low angle at the edge that left a wide slice of bark - really cool! Best of luck with the drying/finishing - post more pictures!

[Tom Jones III]

Great bowl also good series of pictures. But enough about the bowl, tell us more about this band saw that runs on AA batteries!

[Cody Colston]

John, that's a beautiful bowl and that bark rim is loooooong. :)

One good thing about NE bowls is that if they warp into an oval shape, it only enhances the look, IMHO.

Be sure and post pics of the finished bowl when you're done with it.

[Ron Ainge]

John

The amount of moisture left in a NE bowl is directly related to the thickness of the wall of the bowl when you finish turning them. You will get a lot of moisture loss from the bowl as it spins but you will also get some loss as you sand the piece and it heats up. We have a guy in our club that turns and sell a few of these and he gets the wall thickness to less than 3/16 inch. By the time he is done the walls are almost completly dry. However the base is still a bit wet. Because this is long grain he has very little distortion if any at all. I like your piece and hope the DNA works for you.