An experiment with bowls

[Wolf Kiessling]

Some time ago, I posted some pix of thick walled bowls that I turned, the ones I call my "paperweight" series. I, personally, am not too fond of them but I made them to see if they would sell. And sell they do. It seems to me, if a bowl is heavy, at least 8" diameter, maybe 6 - 9 inches high it will easily sell for 50 - 60 bucks. That is a price I came up with because it takes about three hours to make one of these things, about a quarter of the time taken up in the finishing. Many of you on this forum seemed to like these bowls also.

Anyhow, I got the idea to carry this experiment a little further. I ran across some stain called Woodburst which comes in a really fantastic assortment of colors/hues. I decided to turn two heavy bowls from catalpa and stained one of them purple and one of them red. The purple one is 9" dia by 7.25" high and is finished with natural danish oil (Deftoil). The red one is 11" dia by 9" high but is not yet oiled. I am still waiting on the stain to finish curing. Again, I am not too fond of them but LOML really likes them a LOT. I will be attending the Cincinnati Woodcarving Show this August and these two bowls will be among my offerings. My plan is, if I get a positive response from the public, I may continue offering brightly colored bowls. I'm sure that someone, somewhere is doing this but I don't personally know of anyone that is. The staining process is really no trouble at all, it only adds about 10 minutes to the processing time so the prices of the bowls won't change.

In any event, I thought I would post this here and solicit comments, both negative and positive.

[Donnie Raines]

Not my cup of tea...but I can only imagine that plenty of individuals out "there" would love to have wild colors like this in a medium other then ceramic.

I like the bark left overs on the puple one, however.

[Chris Padilla]

The purple is glossier so it looks better but if the red were glossy (candy apple?), I think it would be quite striking.

Best of luck, Wolf!

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Wolf.

I really like the purple one. I Love the woodburst stains. I used them on some puzzles I made my niece for Christmas. How are you applying it, wipe on or spray?

Thanks

[Wolf Kiessling]

Hi Wolf.

I really like the purple one. I Love the woodburst stains. I used them on some puzzles I made my niece for Christmas. How are you applying it, wipe on or spray?

Thanks

I wipe it on, Chuck. The only thing I don't like about the Woodburst stains is that they take such a long time to cure. I haven't been able to get by with less than 48 hours. I talked to Steve, the guy that makes them, and he recommended "fixing" the stain with some clear acrylic. I tried it and it worked, however, I don't really like to do that when applying a final oil finish. So, I just put up with the long cure time.

[John Shuk]

Is that bottom one a bowl or a piece of a meteor? I like the heavy bowls. The top one I like okay the bottom one is a bit much for my taste. I'd have loved to see them in their natural colors. I like the big heavy shape.

[Ernie Kuhn]

Wolf,
I really do like the purple one. The red one has more of an "unfinished" look to me since the top is so wide and rough. The purple one is more gracefull with its finished top edges and the bark inclusion highlight in the side. I would be very interested to see what your public response is to the two different styles.
Did I say, I really like the purple one?
Ernie

[John Miliunas]

Wolf, another thumbs up for the purple beast, but really not sure about the red guy. The natural bark left on the top one really sets it off, I think. Never know, though, maybe with some nice finish, the red one may come more "alive". I still think the "Plum Crazy" one is pretty cool! :cool:

[Wolf Kiessling]

Okay, guys, I pointed out (I thought) but must not have done a good job doing so, that the red one is not yet finished. It is only stained and has not received it's oil finish. That's why it's still clamped in the chuck (I like to finish with the piece spinning on the lathe) The stain hasn't cured yet. I only posted it to show these two wild colors and to get some kind of an idea of what people might think about them (other than SWMBO) Remember, I'm not too fond of these colored things (even though LOML really likes them) and this is just an experiment.

[Dan Mages]

I actually like that In-Violet turning. I think the colouring would work better without a natural edge. hmm.... here is another interesting idea for turning... make a blank of alternating bloodwood and purpleheart boards?

Dan

[Mac McAtee]

Wolf,
That shape of the purple one gives me an idea. What if you made it smaller, left the dip in the rim like that and called it an office paper clip bowl. I bet you would sell them.

[Scott Coffelt]

I think your selling your bowls too cheap. $15 to $20 an hour for time, materials, selling costs, utilities, etc. $50/$60 might be right if it took just one hour to make. Just my opinion.

Love the bowls and I have used the stian on a few projects and really like it. I made a mirror using a mixture and then finished with clear lacquer, really shows the depth.

[Chris Padilla]

Scott, I saw that mirror and immidiately thought: Electric Guitar! Add some white stripes, a neck, and you have Eddie Van Halen's guitar body! :D

[Glenn Hodges]

I think this is neat. I also find that many of my customers like the heaver bowls....can't argue with the customers. I wonder how they respond to the stain. I like the way the stain lets the grain show. The red bowl would have been improved if you had not stained the bark, I think the natural bark would look better. How do I find these staines?

[Wolf Kiessling]

I think this is neat. I also find that many of my customers like the heaver bowls....can't argue with the customers. I wonder how they respond to the stain. I like the way the stain lets the grain show. The red bowl would have been improved if you had not stained the bark, I think the natural bark would look better. How do I find these staines?

I got mine at Woodcraft in Oklahoma City. You can also purchase/see them at

www.woodburst.com