Morning Birch

[George Tokarev]

Request for a gift salad bowl from the kids, and since they were stored next to each other on the rack, I couldn't resist turning the second one. Unfinished currently. Not bad for only ten in the morning, what? Salad bowl will get two of Wipe-On Poly, steeled back to no gloss, centerpiece type as yet undetermined. Probably the same, since I'll have the can open. Have to heat the basement a bit hotter for a few hours to get the stuff to cure. Big bucket is 14.75, smaller is 13.25. The sound birch was felled second week in October, roughed within a few days to about 1.25, which is what birch requires, with the big T/R differential. Ceased dimensional change nearly a month ago, and four days stable in weight to verify readiness at 32% relative humidity. Got to get some more moisture in the basement.

Time to get the snowshoes on, load up the sled with shavings and get back to burn on the rock pile. Straighten workshop and get the drawers glued up over the rest of the week.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful work George! Nice work on both of the different forms. Really like the figure of bowl in foreground of photo on left.

You do some seriously nice work - thanks for posting!

[Ernie Nyvall]

Someone is going to be very pleased George. I like both of them.

[Corey Hallagan]

Real nice salad bowls George! Great job!

Corey

[Dick Durbin]

George,

I have been playing with some birch and am having a devil of a time with tear out on the end grain. Do you have any secrets to impart to a newbie?

By the way, since I got a decent bowl gouge, I am able to make cuts just like you showed on the video.

[John Chandler]

They're shaping up nicely - good work. I enjoy reading your posts and seeing "in progress" pictures and getting the accompanying information. Thank you for doing that and keep it up.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

George.......Very nice bowls...as we have come to expect from you!

[John Hart]

Great lookin' Bowls George! I'm kinda partial to the form on the spalted piece...but like 'em both.

Got a unrelated question though....just something that popped into my limited mind today. If you have a bowl that has moved significantly while drying...say, to the point where it can't be turned back to round.....Do you think it's possible to throw that bowl into a steambox, pull it out, and reform it into a circle? Or at least, close enough that it can be turned and trued up?

By the way, I haven't worn snowshoes since Idaho. Kinda miss that.;)

[Bernie Weishapl]

George those are some mighty fine looking bowls. I like the form. Nice job.

[George Tokarev]

Birch is famous for grain reversals. Flame figure and difficulty splitting (my aching back) are a couple of consequences, pickup and tearing are another. With changes in grain direction you can find yourself picking up rather than paring across without half trying. Worse when you're cutting heart down, but prettier! Increase the rate of poke to peel is the best way in my experience. May mean going to a gouge with more natural poke and a consequently narrower sweet spot. If you look at the video SWMBO shot that I posted earlier, you can see the original poke cuts made by a narrow-fluted bowl gouge. Now poke cuts don't do much good when you're at a low angle to the general grain direction as in the video, but they work fine, with a light penalty in getting a fair curve when you're coming across the end grain. Second method emphasizes the paradox you see in planing difficult grain in flat work. High angles like York pitch planes are one solution (shear scraping) , low angle like block planes yet another. I keep my 1/2" large-radius gouge ground to a longer bevel than my larger ones to cut across end grain smoothly. It's a little more difficult to control, because you haven't much along the bevel, only across, but a light touch and a good anchor will do it.

I have formed microwaved stuff with gloves, Spanish windlass or strap clamps, but when you start steaming you always run into problems with the uneven distribution of extractives. Water marks. Not a big deal on snowshoes, which a lot of the kids liked to make in class, but sometimes quite unattractive on a turned piece. Here's where Steve Russell's boiling might do well, since the extractives would be dissolved rather than evolved, and spread out evenly. I have an abundance of wood and a pretty good eye after all these years, so I'm seldom fooled by a piece of wood any more. I've learned that certain figures demand more wood to compensate, and rough accordingly. Look at the response to the drying question thread.

The real challenge with the spalted bowl came with that dead white area of delignified wood. Took almost a half hour to sand that puppy to avoid digging in. That was my fault, as I had nicked through the bark with the chainsaw while working other wood, and it rotted real fast unprotected.