A great day but also a question

[Richard Link]

Hello turning gurus. Well..it was a great weekend dropping into the vortex for real for the first time. I took a basic bowl turning class at Woodcraft on Sat and managed to turn a rather pregnant-appearing soup-like bowl out of green spalted pecan (photos censored to protect the innocent). Tons of fun but not exactly an artistic tour de force. That gem is currently drying in its paper bag home.

The real question is as follows. Today, flush from my green wood successes, I tried to turn a small bowl out of kiln dried curly maple. Ouch...the chips get hot with dry wood... Again, LOTS of fun and it came out ok. I was channelling the "cashew bowl" theme this time. To mount the bowl in the chuck, I turned a recess in the base. Not factoring the recess in my newbie depth calculations, I managed to turn the base extremely thin. So thin that you can see a little light shining through it when its placed close to a lamp. It also has a different tone when tapped. Oops.

Should I leave it as is and finish with oil/wax or should I "stabilize" the thin base by saturating it with thin CA glue? I rather like the way the base is currently and would prefer not to mess with it but I'll use the CA if you all think that it will strengthen what is likely to be a rather fragile base. What do people do when they turn something like a bowl or hollow form very thin to guard against breakage later?

Appreciate any input.

Rick

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Don't know what to tell you Richard. If it was kiln dried you could probably go ahead and finish it.

Nice first bowl! Keep it to compare what you are turning a year from now.
If it's not a funnel....it was a design challenge!:D

[Don Eddard]

It should be fine to finish as is.

So thin that you can see a little light shining through it when its placed close to a lamp. It also has a different tone when tapped. Oops.
Just keep it away from lamps and don't tap it and you'll be good to go. ;)

Nice looking bowl BTW.

[George Guadiane]

It should be fine to finish as is.

Just keep it away from lamps and don't tap it and you'll be good to go. ;)

Nice looking bowl BTW.
Ditto: The CA glue will A) change the color wherever you put it and
B) not go on evenly and need to be sanded - probably right through to the other side. Looks really good for a first "mistake!":D

[Rich Stewart]

Go ahead and turn it all the way through and glue another piece of wood on the bottom and then do it again. I have done this and you can't really see the joint. Also I have glued a contrasting piece of wood on and finished that up and it looked like I meant to do it. Just another suggestion.

[Jerry Pittman]

Richard,
Ditto what Rich said. Most, if not all, of us have been in the same situation at least once.
Jerry

[Richard Link]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the input. I particularly liked the idea of turning out the bottom and replacing with contrasting wood. Might be fun for another project. I will almost surely anger the turning gods if I try that with bowl #2, though (then I really would have a funnel).

Rick

[Jim Underwood]

One thing I've seen done is to turn the thin spot away, and turn a replacement plug for the bottom.

Sometimes it's done well, and sometimes not...


Either way, it's a learning opportunity.

[Ernie Nyvall]

I vote finish as is. I left mine in the shop as a reminder. Your's is much prettier wood and better form, so I'd probably take that one in the house. I'm not a fan of the plugs that can be seen unless it has a carving or something in it to make it not look so much like a plug.

[Neal Addy]

Nice bowl!

I'd say finish it as-is and move on. Twenty or thirty bowls from now you'll look back on it and wonder why you worried about it.

Keep it as a memento, though. Those early bowls become gems after you've got some experience under your belt. You'll always enjoy looking back at them.