Willow Bowl

[Dominic Greco]

Hi Everyone,
Below are some pictures of a Willow bowl I just finished last night. Mike Rubes gave me this hunk of Willow last year at Bill Grumbine's BBQ. I immediately rough turned it, and allowed it to air dry until last week.

At the time I rough turned the willow blank, I was thinking more along the lines of utilitarian bowls. Hence the rather uncomplicated nature of the profile, as well as the greater than average (for me at least) wall thickness. While final turning, I decided to add a rolled bead at the rim to break up the rather stark profile. But what I also didn't want to do is distract from the unique appearance of the wood. IMHO, the many bore holes give this an almost "artsy" feel.

If you've never turned willow before, you're in for a surprise. Willow is much like Silver Maple in that it will "fuzz" unless cut with a very sharp tool. I started out trying to fill the worm holes with Turquoise Inlace. But due to the small size of the holes, and my inexperience in using this substance, I ended up turning all of it away. After that failed, I decided that the holes were better left "as is".

Bowl Specs:
Outer dia.: 11 1/4"
Height: 4"
Wall wall thickness: 1/2"
Base dia.: 3 1/4"
Sanding Method: Wet Sanding to 2000 Grit.
Finish: Watco's Danish Oil
Final: Buffed with Beall System

Thanks for viewing!

[Jim Becker]

Your right on with that little bead on the rim...it makes a big difference. Nice turning and that willow looks great!

[Jason Roehl]

Yeah, I gotta go with Jim--the bead is a nice touch! I like the bowl! I didn't know you were at Bill's long enough to load anything but your own lathe!! :D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dominic,

I'm with you....I like that rolled bead and the worm holes gives that piece some character. I like the wood and the craftsmanship! :D Only trouble......it's requires a spinny thing.......don't have room for a spinny thing, yet!......besides........the world is flat......I keep telling my self.....the world is flat.....

[Rick Prevett]

Very nice, Dominic.

I'm liking the way you finished the bottom of this piece. The recessed 'bead' looks great to me. Can I ask you you reversed this piece for finishing the bottom? I can never get my bowls to center accurately enough to do what you've done, and I'd sure like to figure this out.

thanks,

rick

[Dominic Greco]

Can I ask you you reversed this piece for finishing the bottom? I can never get my bowls to center accurately enough to do what you've done, and I'd sure like to figure this out.

Rick,
Thanks for the compliments!

I could have used my Talon Chuck's Jumbo Jaws, but because of the size I used a shop built vacuum chuck to finish off the bottom of my bowls. It's actually quite easy to center the bowl, once you get the hang of it.

At first, the bowl is held by a tenon in my Talon chuck. I wet sand both the inside and 90% of the outside. The part on the outside I can't get to is being held by the chuck. After I get to the point where I need to reverser chuck the bowl, I install my vacuum bell. It's really a 4" x 2" PVC reducer with gasket foam on the outside. Without the vacuum being turned on, I use this as a jam chuck to center my bowl. Whats nice is that the center of the round tenon is easy to find using a center finder. Using a light touch with my live center, I can get in the ballpark. I then rotate by hand to see how far off I am. Most of the time. I'm not really that far off and can proceed from there.

Without the vacuum pump being turned on, I secure the tailstock and begin to shape the base. Even thought I know that the vacuum has enough power to hold the bowl from coming loose, I like to take aggressive cuts with the added support of the live center. Once I get it to a point where I can get rid of the "nub", I turn the vacuum pump on and shape the bottom. I hope that's clear enough for you.

One of these days, when I'm not up to my armpits in alligators, I'll post the article I'm writing on my shop built vacuum chucking system. I have about 90% of it completed and just need to tidy it up.

Thanks,

[Jim Becker]

I've used the method that Dominic describes to re-center a bowl on the vacuum chuck, but in most cases, these days I use an adapter on the tail stock that lets you put the turning still mounted in the chuck in reverse "exactly" on center and bring it up on the vacuum bell. Once the pump is turned on and a good reading is seen on the guage, I just loosen the chuck, pull it back and remove it from the tail stock and bring the live center back up on the bowl to hold it securely (for safety) until the last little final cuts on the foot. It used to be that you had to have a OneWay live center to use these adapters, but there is now one available (from Packard Woodworks, I believe) that has an MT #2 provided. Just match up the threading to your spindle when you order so your chuck will thread right on. (You only use these adapters with the lathe off...they are only for alignment while reversing)

[John Miliunas]

Very good looking bowl, Dominic! :D Utilitarian, yet appears very graceful at the same time. As mentioned by others, the bead is a definite "thumbs up"! I really need to work on the foot section of my bowls....Long ways to go before they look as nice as yours! BTW, what finishing method did you use on it? Looks very smooth. :cool:

[Mark Singer]

Excellent work!

[Lars Thomas]

Dominic, great looking bowl. Looks like it must have been a big ole willow tree. I look forward to your article on the vacuum chuck. Lars

[Rick Prevett]

Dominic, thanks for the overview of your technique. I was afraid you'd say you used a vacuum chuck. Dang, I need to outfit myself with one of them!

And Jim, I've seen those adapters and they sure look like they make life easy.

rick

[Todd Burch]

Dominic - That's inspiring! Maybe when I shuffle machines around this weekend, I'll have to drag out the lathe and position it so that I can get to it. I would love to turn some bowls like that. Very nice work!