Curly Ash Bowl

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Turned this bowl from a crotch my buddy brought over a couple of months ago, and I rough turned several bowls from it, this one I finish turned just now, and I'm going to take it along in a couple of days and give it as a thank you present to him, I think he'll like it :D.
Any/all comments are appreciated :)

It is about 11½"

.

[Jon Lanier]

You did a great job with the bowl. How did you cut that log up?

[Steve Schlumpf]

beautiful bowl Leo! Love the effect that curly has - almost seems to be moving the way it reflects light! Great form and finish on this! I am sure your friend will absolutely love this bowl! Very nice work! Thanks for sharing!

[George Guadiane]

Very nice!

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for the comment Jon :D.
But I can't and don't want to try to remember how I cut it up, it is always a hard one deciding how to when there are more conversing limbs to be dealt with, you just have to imagine the grain that's in there and try to get the best cuts, there is always compromises to be made :)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks Steve :D, true to its self, Ash is so reliable for curl and figured grain it is a pleasure to get some larger crotch or limb areas of a log, always price :D
I'm quite pleased with it and I think he will be to, especially as it is from a his back yard :D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for the comment George :D

[Hal Taft]

Beautiful wood, Leo !
You could get lost in that curly grain. I really like what you did with the rim, nice detail.

Hal

[Maylon Harvey]

Just beautiful. Love the grain and the form. What is the size and how many blanks did you get out of that crotch?

[Jim Becker]

From very knarly to...not! Nice piece, Leo!

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks Hal :D, yes Ash can be very beautiful, I love the looks of it :)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for the comments Maylon :D, it's about 11 1/2", just a nice size.
How many ?? :o :o, I'm not sure, I do have a couple 3 that are bigger sitting here waiting, I know there are a few more smaller ones, but I'm just not sure on the exact ##, there was some splitting on the ends and I did saw some blocks for smaller projects, if I ever get to them :eek:

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful bowl Leo. Boy that is some pretty ash. He is going to love it.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Jim :D, thanks, and yes isn't it awesome what there can be hiding under the bark of an ugly piece of tree trunk :), but I say it's guaranteed that you find beautiful grain ad curl in an Ash tree anywhere there is a limb or crotch, just have to hack it out of there :D

[David Walser]

Leo,

When I first started woodworking, I found some nice curly ash and was able to make a desk out of it. (The desk is supporting my computer as I type this.) Ash has been one of my favorite woods ever since. Your bowl must be one of the best examples of this great wood I've seen in a long time. As good as is the wood, what you did with it is even better. You got the maximum beauty out of a very nice piece of wood.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thank You Bernie :) , well I certainly hope so :D ;)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thank you for your very king words David :D, and I'm sure you do have a very nice Desk :cool:, yes Ash has lots going for it, and not the least its looks :D

[Barry Stratton]

That is one supurb hunk of ash, and you did it justice!

All your recent bowls are great, but this one is on my all time favorites list.

[Mike Vickery]

Beautiful piece.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for your comments Barry :D, it is nice to have good friends and especially if they has nice wood to give away :rolleyes:, well even without wood it's nice to have good friends of course :o :D.
But it sure does help if one does get pieces of wood like this :D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thank you Mike :D:D

[Quinn McCarthy]

Great job Leo.

Ash is one of my favorite woods. I wish I could get white ash here. All we have in our area is black ash which makes some nice bowls. Hopefully in the next few years we don't loose ash like we did the elm trees.

Quinn

[Jim Kountz]

Wow Leo, another slam dunk! This may be my favorite one that you've posted recently, great wood, great execution and a great gift too! Im sure your friend will be thrilled!!

[Craig Powers]

Leo. Great job. I always enjoy seeing what you have made.
What process did you use to dry the bowls. I noticed that you just got the log a couple of months ago. Also, what finishing procedure did you use.

Lastly, do you have your work posted on a photo gallery somewhere. If not,
I would suggest it. I think we all would benefit. Thanks.

[Pete Jordan]

Leo,

I really like this one!

Exquisite!

[Mike Spanbauer]

That's a pretty one Leo. All the more for the relationship that your friend has to the donor tree.

mike

[mike fuson]

Top notch Leo, I really like the form but that rim detail sets it off. Very nice indeed.

[Bill Bolen]

That is some pretty wood Leo and you more than did it justice! I have no idea how I would start cutting that up but it sure would be fun to try. Superb bowl my friend...Bill..

[Don Shelton]

Beautiful work, I especially like the flow of the curl. I'm a rookie turner, I purchased my first lathe 4 months ago so I'm still practicing cuts and trying to learn as much as possible. Approximately how long did you let the piece of crotch wood dry before you cut it up? Do you wait until a certain moisture content is reached? Thanks for sharing pics of your work.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Quinn, thanks for the comment, I have turned a bit of Black Ash also, and I do actually like it better than White Ash, however it is mostly smaller and it tends to get ring shake quite often, but other than that it is very nice wood, yes we do have the Emerald Ash Borer all over south western Ontario, going right into Quebec and it will be just a matter of time before all the large Ash trees are gone I'm afraid, The Elms are still around but they don't get very big, usually no more than 12" or so in diameter and they'll die off, luckily the Elms do get seeds while still very small and not too vulnerable to the fungus that kills the bigger Elms.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Mike :), thanks :D, yes it is the small things that do make the difference, you know that :D:D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thank you Don :D, I turn my wood as soon as I can, this one my buddy brought over, and it sat a couple of weeks out in the open and it had already started to split on the ends :(.
You are always better off to rough turn your bowls as soon as you can, and make the walls about 10% of the bowls diameter, then right away place the roughout in a thick brown paper bag and place it in a spot were there is no drying wind/draft or any heat or sun shining on it, check it a few times early on to make sure you don't get any mildew on it, as you would have to wipe that off than place back into the paper bag, when the wood feels dry to the touch you can take it out of the bag andlet it dry in that same spot, no sun/heat wind/draft, a few more weeks is what it takes normally and you can return it to whatever thickness you like :D :)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for the comment Jim :D, yes they were very pleased with the bowl, It nice to have good friends, and it feels good to be able to give them something they will enjoy for a long time hopefully :D :D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks Graig :D, I have always dried my bowl in the regular manner, air dry in a heavy brown paper bag, away from heat and draft, it doesn't take all that long to dry a bowl this size.
On a bowl like this that will see use as a salad bowl or some other serving use, I don't see any use in putting a buffed finish on it, so a beeswax paste is all it got, and can be easily renewed by the owners anytime they choose to.

Did you check my profile ?? :)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for the comment Pete :D:D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

That's a pretty one Leo. All the more for the relationship that your friend has to the donor tree.

mike

Hi Mike:), thanks :D,
Yes that certainly was one of the reasons I choose this one, as I had also a nice Walnut bowl sitting (also made from some of his wood) here, it would probably not have seen the use this one will, which I prefer over a "dust collector" :rolleyes: if you know what I mean :D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thank you Bill, it is fun, yes, They are head scratchers Bill, I've cut up a few more that were similar, but it doesn't get much easier, there's always trade offs, but you know going in that there's some nice curly wood in there :D, all you have to doe is hack it out ;)