Ambrosia Maple Bowl

[Ben Gastfriend]

Here's a new one... ambrosia maple bowl with a weird rim that I can't decide whether I like... This stuff turns really well, the ribbons were flying off my bowl gouge:

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I got the cheap photo tent set up, just a couple pieces of poster board... I do have to find a way to get one big piece for the back wall and bottom, so you don't see that seem.

I also have the buffing wheel set up on an old motor- the finish is so much better than anything else I've done!

And... I'm almost done my new homemade mini-hollowing-tool... will post pictures in a new thread when my cutter tip arrives and the whole thing is done.

I'm really getting it together except for (WARNING: RANT) my dang toolrest that isn't made out of hardened steel and cracked in half after I got a catch... ughh... yes... a STEEL toolrest. Oh well. That's what warranties are for...

Thanks for looking, comments, critizism welcome!

[Paul Heely]

Good looking bowl Ben. I think the rim is OK. Sorry to hear about your tool rest. Must have been one heck of a catch.

If you can try a white vinyl window shade for your background. Makes for a nice continuous background with no seams.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ben the bowl is a beauty. I like the rim. Well done.

[Barry Elder]

Ambrosia maple is one of my favorites. You did a very nice job! Don't worry about the tool rest. Chances are it could happen again.

[Jim Becker]

Very nice work, Ben! And like Barry, I really love ambrosia maple for turnings. Great stuff and always interesting!

[robert hainstock]

Thats a very interesting shape on some exceptional wood. Good job! :)
Bob

[Brian Brown]

Ben,

Nice bowl. I like the wood, and the form. I vote to keep the rim like it is. I'm not normally a fan of ambrosia maple, but this one has good color and contrast.

As for your photo tent background, go to a cabinet shop that does countertops. Try to find a piece of white formica scrap (you want the matte texture, not glossy). Most cabinet shops sell the leftover plastic laminate scraps really cheap. The sizes usually run a bit less than 24" wide, and 4-8 feet in length. Plastic laminate bends easily for a nice sweep under your project, but is rigid side to side so you won't get wrinkling or sagging. It is also easy to clean, and lasts forever. The local Formica dealer here is also a cabinet shop, and they usually sell the laminate for $1.00/sq. ft. Sometimes they nearly give it to me because they have so much. I have 90-100 pieces in various patterns and textures.

Those weak tool rests! You and me can start our club for broken took rests. I have broken two this week, and they were the replacements I bought for the original that I broke two months ago. I have also been turning more this week than in the last two years combined. One was a bad weld, and the other two were from terrible catches when I was working near the end of the tool rest. When working on "Catchy" wood, try to keep the tool rest post under your tool whenever possible.

Good luck, and keep turning.

Brian

[Jon Lanier]

Ben,

Bowl looks great. As to the rim, keep it, it's not like you can't experiment more later down the road. You have thousands of bowls in you. They all need to be a little different.

Try to find some plain grayish cloth for your background. Generally gray will highlight most any object since it is very neutral.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice bowl Ben! Beautiful wood! Rim is different - but different is good! Looking forward to seeing your next one!

[Don Robert]

Nice bowl. I have some ambrosia maple but haven't turned it yet.

Another idea for the back of the photo tent is to have a white (for darker objects) or dark color (for light objects) window shade/blind cut to a width that will fit in the back of your tent (I used plastic pipe for a frame and cut a hole in one upper back corner and a slot in the other upper back corner that the blind fits in). You can roll up the blind when not in use and unroll it down the back and across the bottom to use. Works for me: inexpensive and available at the big box stores.

[Richard Madison]

Ben,
That is gor-gee-us! Also very pretty. Some would like the curvature to flow smoothly all the way to the opening, but maybe not this time. Appears that the interior follows the exterior for a uniform wall thickness, and the transitions in curvature are very smooth. Probably you should decide to LIKE IT. But not just because I do.

It would not be much fun if we all had to turn everything to exactly the same shape.

[Dan Forman]

I like that bowl a lot, the wood is striking, and the rim works for me. Hope you get your toolrest sorted out soon.

Dan

[Tom Sherman]

That's a great bowl Ben, bummer about the tool rest.

[Glenn Hodges]

I can't add to what has been said about this one. I just like it.

[Ben Gastfriend]

Thanks for all your kind words. I'm thinking of using the formica scrap for the back panel of the tent. Should probably be able to dig some out of my grandfather's garage and hose it down. Thanks for you input, and I'm glad that I'm not the only one who breaks tool rests! And it wasn't really too bad of a catch!:confused:

Happy Holidays!

[Steve Campbell]

Ben
Great bowl. I think you did good with the rim. I kind of like things that are different. Looks super. Keep it up.
Steve

[Dennis Peacock]

Beautiful bowl Ben......and from the looks of the AM bowl? You need to send my plain old maple bowl back. :p ;)

Very nice Ben....real proud of ya!!!!! :D

[Ben Gastfriend]

No way! That maple bowl is already holding mints in the living room. My mother will not give it up. Sorry. I tell you, I'll be sending a HF to ya'll when I get my hollowing rig finished. But for now, the bowl's staying up here in the north.:D:)

[Dennis Peacock]

No way! That maple bowl is already holding mints in the living room. My mother will not give it up. Sorry. I tell you, I'll be sending a HF to ya'll when I get my hollowing rig finished. But for now, the bowl's staying up here in the north.:D:)

Well....I guess that'll just hafta do. ;)

BTW, ya'll is a southern word spoken with a northern dialect. It's really "y'all". :p :D