First try at a square bowl *pix*

[Joe Fisher]

I'm so used to making square things round, this was an interesting departure.

Made the blank square on my tablesaw, since I don't have a miter gauge for my bandsaw http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/raised.gif Yet another excuse for that Bridgewood I'm saving my pennies for...

It was really cool watching the profile develop. One nifty thing about this type of edge (a natural edge bowl is the same way) is how you can gauge an even wall thickness by observing how the thickness of the edge changes along the sweep of the curve. If you look closely at the first picture, you can see I'm a hair thick about 1/3 of the way in.

Wood is spalted birch. 11 1/2" corner to corner. Finish is Danish oil and Beall.

Comments welcome (except about my wrinkly posterboard background) http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowsmile.gif

-Joe

[Mark Cothren]

Very nice, Joe! I gotta try one of these... thanks for the inspiration!

[Andy Hoyt]

Splendiferous!

Perfect for jelly beans

[Keith Burns]

Nice piece Joe:) :)

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Nice!!

You still got all them fingers? :D

[Ernie Nyvall]

Very cool Joe, and nice work. Thanks for posting.

Ernie

[John Miliunas]

Very, very nice, Joe! I may have to give one of those a shot myself, though I doubt it would come close to this one!!! :) :cool:

[Joe Fisher]

Nice!!
You still got all them fingers? :D
hahahaha I do, and I had to make a conscious effort to keep them! I kept repeating, "Digits behind the toolrest are safe. Behind the toolrest is safe."

Thanks for the kind words, all :) Be sure to give it a try. You'll find it's not as hard as you think, and it's great tool control practice. The better your tool control becomes, the less sanding of the wings you have to do with the lathe off, and that's a huge incentive!

-Joe

[Joe Fisher]

Very, very nice, Joe! I may have to give one of those a shot myself, though I doubt it would come close to this one!!! :) :cool:
Thanks, John. I'm sure yours would be equally awesome in its own way, as are all of our works of art. This piece of wood just happens to make me look good :D

-Joe

[Corey Hallagan]

That is sweet Joe. Very nice indeed. The wood is beautiful and a very pleasing shape. Nice job!

Corey

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Great first try, Joe. Haven't tried one exactly like that, yet. Now I have to!

Thanks for showing off a VERY nice piece.

Bruce

[Frank Chaffee]

Joe,
Splendiferous!
No, delete that, Andy already said it.

Without researching images tho, I can say that the squared curvilinear form is one that I have encountered before, but my best recollection of it is in cast forms.

To see this form executed in wood is very exciting, and is an approach I look forward to seeing more of.

The wood grain, the foot, the themes of the rounding of the square and the squaring of the circle all contribute to this exemplary work.

Thank you Joe.

Frank

[John Hart]

Awesome piece Joe. I see that as being quite a conversation piece...jellybeans and all. The wood has a lot of character. Nice dive into a new quadrant of the black hole!:)

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

That is a beautiful piece, Joe. The selection of wood is beautifully set off by the form.

I've seen both square and equilateral triangular curviliniar forms on the AAW forum. I'd love to try it myself (eventually), however I'd be concerned with that bloody prop coming at my fingers constantly... :o

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I really like it all Joe.....form, finish and wood! Beautiful! I tried that once....and chickened out!

[Michael Stafford]

A pretty piece of work, Joe. Fine looking piece of wood and nice craftsmanship. I have tried my hand at those "whirling blocks of finger smashing death" so I know how hard it is to get one to look that nice.

[Parker Nicholson]

You did well on a VERY unforgiving form! Soemday, I'll beef up my insurance and try one of those myself.

[Wes Bischel]

Great piece Joe - and on the first try no less! Glad to hear it came out so well with all digits intact - for me that would be success on it's own.;) I look forward to seeing the next one as well!

Wes

[Joe Fisher]

Great piece Joe - and on the first try no less! Glad to hear it came out so well with all digits intact - for me that would be success on it's own.;) I look forward to seeing the next one as well! Thanks. I've done work with interrupted edges before - natural edged bowls, and one small box - but this is the first square turning on this kind of scale for me. It's really the same technique as a NE bowl. Just keep an eye on the "ghost" form, and keep control of the tool. Light cuts are your friend :)

Like I said before, it's intimidating at first, but you'll find that it's really not much harder than turning anything else. Just gotta get in there and maul some wood.

And keep those fingers BEHIND the toolrest!!! If you can remember that, you get to keep 'em all :)

Here's that box I was talking about. My wife thought it was so cute, she claimed it for her own:

38652 38654

-Joe

[Joe Fisher]

"whirling blocks of finger smashing death"
Does coffee stain computer monitors? I just laughed a mouthful all over the place :)

-Joe

[Mike Ramsey]

I tried that once....and chickened out!

Oh come on Ken! It'll be fun, I'll try one to!
Joe, very nice square bowl & the box is awesome!

[Jim Becker]

Joe, that's really an outstanding and unique piece...the combination of "square" and the spalting is really wonderful!

[Gary DeWitt]

Very nice pieces, I especially liked the box. I'll be trying one of those soon!

[Don Orr]

Joe, very nice job on a challenging project. Sure takes some guts to jab sharpened steel rods at a spinning propeller:eek: . Just have to remember NOT to feel for thickness while spinning:D . Not that I would know anything about that;) .

[Jerry Ingraham]

That's cool, Joe! I am gonna try one this weekend!