Large Red Oak crotchwood bowl WIP

[Don Alexander]

Went to my in-laws place in upstate NY over the holidays and came back with some interesting wood ............
got several turning blanks out of a large Red Oak log with 5 good size branches coming into it in one area and over the last few days have been working on turning some of them into various things

this is going to my brother in-law and his wife (the wood came from their farm) as a thank you

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just under 11" in diameter and approx 2 1/2" deep sanded to 320 so far and Danish Oil applied as heavily as it would soak up to seal it.

comments and critiques are always welcome

thanks for looking

[David E Keller]

Looking good! I hope your luck with oak is better than mine... In fact, I shouldn't have looked directly at the photos.

[Dan Forman]

That's got some really cool stuff going on in the middle! I probably would have turned away the big inclusion on the rim in the first pic, but that's just me. I bet the recipients will love it.

Dan

[charlie knighton]

very nice, good oak

[Bill Bolen]

Beautiful piece and good luck with it as it dries out. Oak can move a bunch.

[Robert Henrickson]

I did a couple from the same tree several months ago. They seem to have stopped moving now -- their rims are now 12 1/2 x 13 and 12 x 13, and nicely oval.

[Don Alexander]

thanks for the comments guys as for cracking ............. the wood was quite green yet and so i have avoided bringing into the house yet the shop is only heated enough so my fingers don't freeze while turning another thing i have found helps alot is i put all the clear Danish Oil on it that it will absorb early and fairly often so far that has worked quite well and since i usually wet sand with Danish Oil anyway this doesn't mess up my finishing process at all it also has the side benefit of preventing staining from Ca glue should i need to reattach anything that comes loose like the burl/bark inclusion on the rim of this bowl

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looks pretty good so far! Hope it dries without problem! Looking forward to seeing it finished!

[Bernie Weishapl]

That has some interesting stuff going on. Hope it holds and you don't have any problems.

[Don Alexander]

so far so good on avoiding the cracks "fingers still crossed but caustiously optimistic" hehe

i could really use some suggestions for holding this so i can finish turn the bottom ........... first thing i've turned thats too big for my doughnut chuck (i don't have a vacuum chuck and might be awhile before i can afford one)

thanks in advance

[David E Keller]

So far, so good...

I'd mount up a piece of scrap and turn it to fit the inside profile of the bowl... Bring the tail stock up and jam the bowl between the two. Light cuts and a freshly sharpened tool are recommended for cleaning up the bottom. That method will leave you a little 'nub' to deal with... a sharp chisel and a little sandpaper will do the trick from there. BTW, the scrap piece doesn't need to fill the entire inside of the bowl... I would think a 4 or 5 inch diameter ring would be more than sufficient to use as a jam chuck.

[Don Alexander]

thanks for the reminder David
i've even actually done that before on a couple of things just didn't think about it in this case
this piece is getting finished this weekend hehe

i'll try to get better than cell phone pics when its done