Mesquite salad bowl

[Mike Vickery]

The wife has been bothering me to make her a salad bowl so here it is. The wood is mesquite sanded to 220 with Tried and True original formula as the finish. The bowl dimensions are 12 x 4.5

Sorry about the bad pictures. I am really better set up for smaller stuff. I am hoping to set up a new photo setup in the next week or so.

70447

70448

Comments and or critiques are always appreciated.

[Brett Baldwin]

You and I must keep very similar hours Mike. That looks to be a bowl doing service for a long time. How long till the rest of the serving set is done?;)

[Ed Scolforo]

That's a hearty looking bowl, Mike. Should keep you in salad for along time.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Very nice looking bowl

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking bowl Mike. Gotta love the mesquite. Well done.

[Pete Jordan]

It turned out great, Mike!

I love the simple form.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice salad bowl Mike! Love the form - beautiful wood!

[Kevin McPeek]

Ahh, a nice sturdy utility piece. You know I can appreciate that.
Thats a nice bowl Mike, I hope Tracy likes it and gets lots of use from it. Should get many years service from it. A lot of the ones I make for utility Kim won't use because she doesn't want to mess them up.

[Nancy Laird]

I guess I'm going to have to get some large blanks and try to do one like this. I really like it--and need one, too!

Nancy (120 days)

[Jason Clark2]

Looks great Mike. I think I see a little bit of curl right up on the rim. Can you see it too?

Jason

[Mike Vickery]

Thanks everyone. I think Kevin is giving me a hard time. He knows I usually make totally useless pieces with little bases that look pretty (hopefully). I am really a form over function kind of guy with my turning. Don't worry I have a couple of totally useless ones that just need buffing that I will post soon just so Kevin does not think I am a convert.

A question for all of you how thick do you leave your salad bowls? For this one which is 12 inches 3/4 just seemed about right to me. Their is a lot if heft to this piece though. I think it looks right for the use but am kind of thinking I should have left the rim 3/4 and taken the walls down to about 1/2 past the rim. Or is the extra weigh a good thing so it sits on the counter while tossing salad?

I had done nothing but roughing for about a month now and decided to finish off a couple pieces this week before I get back into roughing mode. I was shocked how much I got rusty on my finished turning so quickly. I think I knocked most of the rust off now though so will power through a few more.

Brett, have you been spending time with my wife? You sound just like her.

Yeah Jason their is a hair of curl on the rim but that is it, no figure anywhere else. If my wife has not used it yet I will bring it to the next meeting. I think this one was from the Tempe haul we had but not sure, might have been from my tree trimmer.

[Kevin McPeek]

Sorry Mike, I couldn't resist.
Everyone always says the more useless it is the more you can charge for it. I have an idea for some absolutely useless pieces that I'm going to do. Which in my case still won't be form over function. :)

[Richard Madison]

Mike,
You did say it is a question for ALL, not just for the folks with skills, experience, artistic ability and vision, and other redeeming qualities.

So responding from the ALL group; if it's intended as an heirloom piece to be used and/but treasured by the children and grandchildren, 3/4" wall is perfect, and looks good. For a one-generation utilitarian piece, consider (for the next one) 7/16" or even 3/8" wall at the rim, and increasing slowly to a 3/4" wall where it meets the bottom. This would lighten the look and the load while still providing extra heft at the bottom.

Well, youhadda ask.

[Patrick Taylor]

Great salad bowl Mike! I love the apparent heft. That's exactly the style I like best. :)