Ken Fitzgerald
04-06-2006, 3:00 AM
So........Last saturday I rough turned my first bowl....a lttle thing out of 4"x4"x4" wet cherry. The John Hart piece of cherry was 4x4x33 and developed some severe cracks and I thought I'd better use it. Saturday I roughed out a little bowl and it was in the DNA bath until this evening. Tonight it went to a window ledge for drying and darkening. In the meantime, Monday I found a relative local supplier of dry wood. These folks have a tremendous variety of woods in 4/4 and 8/4 and are willing to order anything. So....I bought 2' of 8/4 maple and 1' of 4/4 purpleheart thinking I'd glue up 2 - 6"x6"x6" dry bowl blanks to turn while I"m waiting on the cherry to soak and dry. Last night I roughed out the outside of a crude bowl after regrinding my bowl gouge to an Irish grind. I actually spent most of the evening learning how to grind the gouge properly. This evening I watched Bill Grumbine's video...specifically the finish turning portion (I've viewed the whole thing a number of times) and went to the shop. I finish turned the bowl I'd started last night. Things went better than I expected. Using Bill's method I was able to use my Irish ground bowl gouge to get down within 1/8 of the finished bottom. Then using my little round nose scraper (not really a beefy scraper like real bowl turners use) I finished the interior. Not what you'd call a classic form but remember this was a lesson trying new techniques on dried maple/purpleheart/maple sandwich. Folks......Bill's techniques work well even for a beginner like me. His video is invaluable!
I know now if I make another bowl with this high side form I'll want to buy the bowl buffing system from Beal..........While my interior sanding and turning went well....the interior bottom just doesn't finish as well. .........And.......the top "slice" of maple had a knot in it........a big knot in it........I thought......hey.....if it sticks with the wood....it's character.......if it leaves while turning.........it's a form of NE..........Well the biggest part of the knot launched when I was well into turning the interior.........No Problem...my version of and first NE..........but then....while I was buffing.......another piece on the opposite side of the bowl launched and a large crack developed from it........This was dried stuff.....ain't supposed to happen theoretically.........some much for theory..........I debated showing photos of this........but...a number of you are "shareholders" and while it's a meager return on your investment......you deserve a physical report...........so here it is.......my first bowl.....kiln dried maple/purpleheart/maple.........5 1/2"x4"...sides about 3/8" thick...bottom about 5/8" thick..finish is Myland's friction polish and Beal buffing system when and where possible....kind of an oversized cereal bowl (sorry Andy) form........but I suppose it could hold ice cream if you ate it quick before it melted and ran out the crack.......
Comments, critiques and suggestions for future bowl finishes welcome!
I know now if I make another bowl with this high side form I'll want to buy the bowl buffing system from Beal..........While my interior sanding and turning went well....the interior bottom just doesn't finish as well. .........And.......the top "slice" of maple had a knot in it........a big knot in it........I thought......hey.....if it sticks with the wood....it's character.......if it leaves while turning.........it's a form of NE..........Well the biggest part of the knot launched when I was well into turning the interior.........No Problem...my version of and first NE..........but then....while I was buffing.......another piece on the opposite side of the bowl launched and a large crack developed from it........This was dried stuff.....ain't supposed to happen theoretically.........some much for theory..........I debated showing photos of this........but...a number of you are "shareholders" and while it's a meager return on your investment......you deserve a physical report...........so here it is.......my first bowl.....kiln dried maple/purpleheart/maple.........5 1/2"x4"...sides about 3/8" thick...bottom about 5/8" thick..finish is Myland's friction polish and Beal buffing system when and where possible....kind of an oversized cereal bowl (sorry Andy) form........but I suppose it could hold ice cream if you ate it quick before it melted and ran out the crack.......
Comments, critiques and suggestions for future bowl finishes welcome!