First Hickory Bowl

[Christopher K. Hartley]

This has been a difficult two months. I lost my Mom and Step-Dad two months to the day, apart. That, with my work schedule, has left precious little time in the shop and even less to respond to posts. I have seen some beautiful work by a number of you, but quite honestly, have just not had the time to respond as I would have liked to. Please forgive me. I did get into the shop last evening very late. I was determined to get the Hickory bowl turned for the wonderful lady that gave me the wood. I was going to wait to post it but then the finish become stubborn about drying so I decided to take some pictures and ask for some feedback and a question now. If I wait, it may be another two weeks before I could do it.
The bowl is twice turned and I had no issues with hardness. It is finished with one coat of BLO,one coat of Deft Sanding Sealer and a single coat of Minwax Satin Polly. I used very fine steel wool between coats. I intend to apply two more coats of Polly and buff. The bowl is 9" X 4". The form is not what I had originally envisioned; however, a soft spot forced me to re-configure the shape. I'm just not sure I like it, but I couldn't take it any farther as it was getting thin.
Here is a question. It appears that there is some burling around the red areas but I don't know enough about it to be sure. Any thoughts? I would welcome honest critique as this is my first Hickory and I have more I'd like to improve on. Thanks for looking.:)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Chris - first off, sorry to hear about your Mom and Step-Dad. My prayers will be with you and your family. I am glad to see you posting again!

Very different wood! Haven't turned hickory yet but sure is pretty. I like your rim treatment. Looks fairly glossy to me already - do you need another two coats of poly?

No idea if the red area is burl - real nice looking though!

[Pete Jordan]

I am very sorry for your loss. I will pray for your family and wish you the best.

Cool looking wood.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Chris - first off, sorry to hear about your Mom and Step-Dad. My prayers will be with you and your family. I am glad to see you posting again!

Very different wood! Haven't turned hickory yet but sure is pretty. I like your rim treatment. Looks fairly glossy to me already - do you need another two coats of poly?

No idea if the red area is burl - real nice looking though! Steve, Thank you for the concern, appreciate the comments, The lady wants a deep finish like another bowl I had shown her. I will also be light sanding and steel wooling this pretty good before another application of poly. I wanted to try and follow Bruce's suggestions but I thought I'd better follow the old way on this bowl for her.:)

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I am very sorry for your loss. I will pray for your family and wish you the best.

Cool looking wood.Pete, thank you, it means alot.:)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My sincere condolences Chris! Nice bowl......I really like the wood.

[Scott Donley]

Chris, just wanted to say I am thinking of you and family, wish you all the best, and at some time the understanding, and for those that still have folks around, love them, and let them know that that you do. Next week might be to late.

[Mark Pruitt]

Chris, I'm sorry to hear about your Mom and Step-Dad. I imagine "a difficult two months" only begins to describe it. You have my sympathies.

[Corey Hallagan]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your family. Take care and beautiful work as usual.

Corey

[John Chandler]

Sorry to hear about your loss - you are in our prayers.

I like the look of the wood and I think the bowl looks nice - of course I don't have any idea what shape you were going for but I like the way it is now.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Chris sorry to hear about your loss. Our prayers are with you my friend. Tha is a beautiful bowl. Glad to see ya back. You did a nice job on it.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Our prayers are with you and your family Chris. So sorry to hear this.

The bowl does look to have some curl in there. Nice looking wood. It's a nice shape to the bowl. I don't particularly care for the straight up rim and for it to be that tall... if I'm looking at it right. If it was cut down to look sort of like a bead or if the rim had been undercut to curl back some. I also like a shorter foot.Course, that's just me. I still like the bowl.

[Barry Stratton]

Nice chunk of wood Christopher! That will be appreciated when you are done.

I've noticed your infrequent postings lately and had thought you were vacationing/working. I'm really sorry to hear of your loss.

[Mike Ramsey]

Chris, I'm very sorry to hear about your family members passing.
That is a fine looking bowl.

[John Hart]

Yes sir...I noticed that you'd been absent for a while as well Chris. My sympathies for your loss. It's nice to see you back.

That's either burl, or you used the smear tool in Photoshop. I'm bettin' it's burl. We bought a Hickory Dining Table and Chairs on saturday. I know that has nothing to do with your bowl...but it sorta put me in mind of it.

Ok....shutting up now.:o

[Rich Souchek]

Christopher,
I'm sorry to hear about your father-in-law passing after your mother. It can be a hard, emotional time and we will include you in our prayers.
I'm also glad you took some time out for yourself, and did something creative that you enjoy.
The bowl is unique and pretty in its own way. The foot and rim details are unusual, but would really have to pick the piece up to feel it to judge it. Usually it boils down to do I like my own work. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
The hickory grain you asked about looks like crotch grain, the area in between two main branches. Look like there are two sets of wood grain/growth rings meeting in the red swirling area.
Rich S.

[Paul Engle]

Christopher, nice to see you back at it :) .
The bowl looks really nice, and turning is a good way to rehab oneself after extreme trying times. God Bless you and yours.

[Tom Sherman]

A loss at that time of year is always hard to deal with, my condolences to you Chris. A very nice bowl you have there that Hickory looks superb.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I want to thank everyone for the kind words. It was a comfort to me when I returned home this evening. You guys are wonderful.

Rich, I appreciate the explanation of what is happening in that wood. I still have so much to learn.

Ernie, thank you for the critique. I think I may now know what about the form was bothering me. It isn't too late to fix those things. These are the types of things that will stretch me and hopefully, make me a better turner.:)

[Jim Becker]

I'm saddened to hear of your losses, Christopher.

The bowl looks very good...hickory has a nice way about it.

[Ed Scolforo]

Christopher, I'm sorry to read about your losses. Some folks seem to get more than their share. Having turned a fair amount of hickory lately, I must say yours looks alot different from what I have up here. I'm happy it wasn't rock hard. Nice work.
Ed

[Gary Herrmann]

Sorry for your loss, Chris. Hopefully, if you get some shop time, it will help you heal.