Ailanthus bowl

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I've not posted for a while, too darn busy with cleaning up after the sudden snow storm we had and than the regular fall leaf cleanup etc.
Rough-turned a few bowls from the downed Carpathian Walnut in my backyard and also some others.
Then this past tuesday I came across a large Ailanthus log and cut a number of blanks from it, gifted some to a few turners that came to a WW gathering and turned this bowl this evening, it's about 10½" X 4" and fairly thin, I wet sanded it with some Tung oil and it is drying now, still has the tenon on so I will be able to do some more sanding when it is dry.
All comments welcome ;-))

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'll bet that bowl is as light as it looks! I like the form and the grain in the wood. Nicely done Leo!

[Jim Becker]

"Fairly thin", eh? LOL Yea, that's thin!! Nice work, Leo.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Leo - glad you were able to find some time to turn! Really like the form! Thin seems to be an understatement! Very nice work!

[Bob Hallowell]

Leo once again you made an awesome bowl, very thin and beautiful.

Bob

[Bernie Weishapl]

Leo the bowl is a beauty. Thin, form and finish look great. Well done.

[Allen Neighbors]

What they all said!! Plus gutsy! Nice turning, Leo.

[Hal Taft]

Beautiful bowl, Leo
Could you post a picture of the bottom with tennon? I'm working through a learning curve about newer turning methods, considering chucks, etc. and would like to see how you prep your turnings, if you wouldn't mind. By the way, thanks for your positive comments.

Hal

[mike fuson]

Gotta love the thin look, well done sir.

[Jeff Nicol]

Leo, I have never heard of that type of wood, but I like th look of it! The grain and color are what I like. Your shape and the wall thickness are grand! I like the back lit picture!

Jeff

[Jake Helmboldt]

Leo, I have never heard of that type of wood, but I like th look of it! The grain and color are what I like. Your shape and the wall thickness are grand! I like the back lit picture!

Jeff

Jeff, you're bound to have seen it, Ailanthus is an Asian invasive commonly referred to as ghetto palm because it is often a weed tree growing in vacant lots. It is also called tree of heaven and the leaves stink when you crush them; they smell kind of musky.

Leo, the tree may be regarded as a junk tree, but that is one nice bowl. I don't think I've ever seen anything made from ailanthus before.

[Jeff Nicol]

Jake, I will have to do some research and find out what it looks like. I am curious now! Thanks for the info!

Jeff


Jeff, you're bound to have seen it, Ailanthus is an Asian invasive commonly referred to as ghetto palm because it is often a weed tree growing in vacant lots. It is also called tree of heaven and the leaves stink when you crush them; they smell kind of musky.

Leo, the tree may be regarded as a junk tree, but that is one nice bowl. I don't think I've ever seen anything made from ailanthus before.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Jeff, thanks for the comments, as for the wood, it has a couple of other common names, tree of heaven is one, and Chinese Sumac is the other, the leaves look a lot like very large Sumac leaves, and yes the leaves stink I would say, the wet wood smell about the same ;-(, but it turns great and when finished looks very nice and doesn't smell at all.
I've turned a good number of bowls from it a couple of years ago and more recently also.
If you have a female tree and a male you'll have a humongous amount of seeds, and they will sprout quite easily, so you know the outcome of that, I'll ad a picture of a couple of bowls I turned a while ago.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks all for the kind words, I appreciate it, and now I better get back to the shop, I had a call and request for a 13 to 15" salad bowl and I'm pretty near out of larger bowls in that size, so I better pull a couple of dry roughouts and get them finished in the next couple of days ;-)).

[Jeff Nicol]

Leo, I did some research and I should be able to find some around here someplace! By the color it looks like butternut but the grain is not quit the same. We have tons of staghorn sumac that is a wonderful green color when cut and it stays that way. Thanks again for the info and I will keep my I out for some.

Jeff

[Curt Fuller]

Beautiful bowl Leo!

[Nathan Talley]

Great bowl!

I'm torn by the ailanthus, my job is to kill this awful tree but it does turn nicely (other than the smell).

[Eugene Malone]

Nathan, are'nt you the lucky one
REgards Eugene Malone

[Steve Mawson]

Fantastic, looks like a great Santa gift to me.