A Couple Cedar Natural Edge Bowls

[Jeff Paxton]

This is my first time to work with Cedar. I think I had read where it has a tendency to crack easily, so I avoided it. However, while it did try to crack on me a little, I love the grain variations and colors. Wish the pics portrayed it better. Thanks for looking and as always, helpful suggestions are appreciated.

Jeff

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeff...What a distinctly beautiful piece of wood and you sure did do it justice! Very, very well done Sir!

[Richard Madison]

Beautiful bowls Jeff! Your pictures are really pretty good, except the white balance may be a bit off. If you have an in-camera white balance preset, that would fix it. I tried to brighten one picture a little (w/ very basic software) without losing the color, just to see what it would be like.

Edit: Debatable if this is an improvement.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeff,

I played with your 1st photo....here's what I got:

97378

97493

97494

97495

You got it!

[Barry Stratton]

That is a fine, fine cedar NE!!!

Those branches are definitely unique as well.:eek:

What are the dimensions and finish??

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jeff - those are some really nice bowls - seriously, really nice! Great form, color and you have to love the branches! Being cedar and being that thin - those bowls have to be extremely light to pick up! Quite the attention getters!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice Cedar NE. I have turned vases and bowls with a little cracking. Really pretty wood.

[Mark Cothren]

Those are some great Cedar bowls, Jeff - and great NEs, too. When you get ready for some more just let me know - I have a big plenty layin' around...

[Richard Madison]

Ken,
I like yours a lot better than mine. Looks like you shifted the color balance? All I did was brighten a bit, which probably lost the correct color of the wood.

[Toney Robertson]

Jeff,

Nice bowls.

I REALLY like the one with the branch on the side. You did a great job of keeping it intact.

I had heard the same thing as you about cedar but what I turned I liked it and it did not crack bad at all.

Toney

[curtis rosche]

awsome ne's thay are very neat

[Allen Neighbors]

Really nice cedar bowls. Good job, well done!
I think the worst thing about cedar cracking is getting it too hot while sanding. I've been able to keep it cool by wet sanding with DO. (that is, after I learned what was causing them to crack.) :)

[Jeff Paxton]

Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions.

Ken and Richard, thanks for working with the photos. Ken, yours does look more like the actual color. How did you do that? I have a manual setting on my Sony Cyber-Shot camera, but I don't know about setting the white balance. I need to read the instructions again, but I don't remember seeing anything about the white balance. I think someone here may have compared photography to the "turning vortex." Don't see that happening to me, but I know I need to work on better pictures.

Allen, that is exactly when I experienced the cracking, while I was sanding, particularly on the edges. If you look closely in the photo, you can see a couple of small lines. Those are the cracks. Not bad, and it doesn't stand out so I'm pleased, but will be more aware next time. Pardon my ignorance, but when you said you sanded with "DO," is that Danish Oil?

Thanks again,

Jeff

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeff,

My wife is an amateur photographer/videographer. I had a special Dell computer built for her and it has a special software program. I just copied your image and clicked on "Auto-correct". It took about 1 second maximum. If you would like, I could adjust the rest of your photos on this thread so folks could better see the real colors.

[earl timmons]

Fantastic bowls. I think the craftsmanship, the art and the wood all came together about perfect

[Allen Neighbors]

Allen, when you said you sanded with "DO," is that Danish Oil?
Thanks again, Jeff

Yes. Danish Oil. On Cedar, I start with whatever grit's necessary, on a slower speed (500?).. If your hands get too warm through the paper, you're too fast for cedar... and when I get to 180 grit, I speed it up a bit (800?) and sand with the Danish Oil. It keeps it cooler, and may darken the lighter streaks a mite, but doesn't detract from the beauty of the wood. I keep the wood pretty wet through the grits. I wipe off between grits with a dry paper towel. I sand through 600 grit with the DO, and then use dry brown paper on the slower speed to finish up with.

This is just my opinion. Others may have different opinions about it.

[Jeff Paxton]

Allen,

Thanks for the info, I will definitely keep that in mind the next time I do cedar.

Ken,

Thanks, and yes you can sure "fix" those photos if it is not too much trouble. I plan to work with my camera for the next ones.

Jeff

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeff,

I'm at work right now but shortly when I get home to our home computer, I'll adjust them. It only takes a couple of seconds.

Nice work by the way and the wood is stunning!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeff I put them with the 1st one in my previous post.