Good morning all
Here is one fresh off the lathe, and it has my favorite finish on it - nothing. This is a piece of cherry that was given to me by John Renzetti way back in October of 2000. Dave Smith was here (or more accurately, there at Renzetti's) and helped load the tree into my truck for me. All I did was cut it up. It was a sight to see, me being in my church clothes and wielding this big Stihl chainsaw. Dave had made the pilgrimage out for lessons, and was visiting others while he was in the area. We all met at Renzetti's for dinner Sunday afternoon, and John said, "Bring your chainsaw". What made this even better was that it just happened to be my birthday, and I got a cherry tree. ;-)
Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, this is one of the prettiest cherry trees I have ever turned. It was so regular about the center that it looked like it had been extruded artificially. I roughed out some large blanks and set them aside to wait for commissions. I find that works well for larger bowls. People can see the general shape, but I don't have to worry about the finished piece becoming shop worn or outdated if it doesn't sell right away. The downside is the stress of getting it finished without losing it if I run into problems.
So, this piece was sitting on a bench, when a fellow turner came into the shop along with his wife. They looked over all my work, and then pulled this one out and aked me to finish it for them, and to leave the wood bare. Here is the (un)finished product.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/unfinishedcherrybowl01.jpg">
This is a very large bowl. It is 14" in diameter and 5 1/5" deep. Now, I know that there are some that might say, "That ain't that big", but my response would be, has any of you tried to fill one of these with salad? Our personal salad bowl is just a hair smaller, and we can feed gathering of 13 - 15 serious salad eaters and still have lots of salad left in the bowl. It is also fairly thick in its walls. I did not measure, but this bowl has gravitas. ;-) I am finding that I am getting a reputation for heavier bowls, and people really seem to like them.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/unfinishedcherrybowl02.jpg">
Here is a shot looking down into the inside. Without any finish it is sort of hard to see the details of the grain and figure, but this is some very pretty wood if I say so myself. Of course, I can take no credit for that, it's just there as a benefit of the beauty of creation. This particular piece will darken into a very deep and rich color, based on the performance of his brothers who have gone before.
Thanks for taking a look. If anyone has a question or a critique, I will be glad to entertain it.
Bill
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Originally Posted by Bill Grumbine
