Some cherry bowls

[Nathan Hawkes]

I'm a very new turner, so be nice. J/K. Please give suggestions. These aren't my first bowls; I've made a couple dozen, but these are some of the first that I'd be willing to show people! Hah. A neighbor took down several cherry trees, so I hauled ass over before the arborist crew cut all the pieces up. I got close to 150 bd ft of lumber (most still in log form yet to be sawn--next month) and several very nice turning blanks. These are about 6.5 and 7.5" wide, and roughly 2 and 3" tall. Unfortunately, the pics don't show it, but there's a ton of birdseye figure in the first and last two bowls. They were turned green, allowed to dry for a few weeks, then finish turned. I sanded each to 400, then put a light coat of seal coat, then deft satin lacquer. There's an obvious crack on the birdseye figured one, but it doesn't stand out too much when you look at all the other figure and very red pitch pockets. It looks kinda rustic, IMHO. The middle three pics on the green background, a relatively large shallow bowl is also cherry, and about 14" x 3.5", and just coated with BLO. It is much duller than I would've hoped, but as its going to be a food bowl, and my lady is very particular about chemicals in her food, I thought it best to stay with a natural oil finish. There's also a large crack that I didn't find until I got down into finishing the bowl, and decided to just use CA glue and some gap filling epoxy. Its dark and really shows up, but, the big one is the very first bowl I finished. Anyway, I have a lot to learn I know. especially in finding wood that hasn't started to check yet! Finishing bowls and sanding end grain is a lot different than sanding flat work. Its more fun, though!!!!!

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=80571&stc=1&d=1201954463






http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=80568&stc=1&d=1201954338http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=80569&stc=1&d=1201954373http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=80570&stc=1&d=1201954392http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=80572&stc=1&d=1201954472

[Nathan Hawkes]

One more shot of the bottom of the two small ones: I have a lot of work to do on getting the bottoms right. They were only sanded to 150, and I didn't work the end grain tearout at all.

FWIW, to those in the market for chucks, the PSI one is alright, but the cole jaws for it are junk. Maybe I got a bum set, but they don't align perfectly with the holes, are obviously misaligned when you have them tight together, and don't come with very good holddown buttons at ALL! I'm going to be making a longworth chuck very shortly. I've already purchased some rubber furniture/cane tip protectors and some dowel rods to go inside them as well as the hardware. just need to find the time to put it together. And need to pick up another couple faceplates. It seems like you can't have too many of them.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=80573&stc=1&d=1201954984

[robert hainstock]

Very nice. Especialy like the foot treatment.:):)
Bob

[Mike A. Smith]

Nicely done there Nathan! And sounds like a great score on the cherry.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nathan - nice work! Love working with cherry! It smells great and I also love the way it darkens with age! Looking forward to seeing some more of your work!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Nathan those are some great looking bowls. That is some nice work. Gotta love cherry.

[Tom Sherman]

Nice work Nathan good looking Cherry bowls. Congrats on the wood score.

[Glenn Hodges]

Nathan you are to be congratulated on these bowls. I like cherry, and what you did with it.

[Allen Schmid]

Nathan,
Nice look on those bowls, you can't beat cherry! It's a nice wood to turn and the look is so classic, especially with some of the soft sap wood still showing.
Nice job.
Allen