recent bowls

[Den-Den]

Three bowls that I finished this week:
Sweet Gum - 11 inches diameter X 5 inches tall, finished with lacquer.


  

 
Bradford Pear - 12-3/4 inches diameter X 4-1/4 inches tall finished with Wipe on Poly.


  

 
Holly (pierced) - 9-3/4 inches diameter X 3 inches tall.  I am new to piercing but will be doing some more.


  

 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Very nice work! I like the piercing. Not sure how its done but I like it. 

[Mooseherder]

Very nice work.

[thecfarm]

I've been very good this year Den-Den. Can you put one under my Christmas tree?  :D

[Magicman]

Very nice work and I have finally seen some Sweetgum that I liked.   ;D   

[WDH]

Den,

I really like the holly bowl.  The cherrybark oak leaves are especially nice.

[Texas Ranger]

Some how I missed welcoming you to the board, so welcome, and wow, some turning there.  Well done.  Do you have an outlet in Lufkin?

[Farmerjw]

Man those are sweet!  The pierced one would make for messy breakfasts with milk though! :D ;D :
Those are very nice and do like the enhancements to all of them.

[RynSmith]

The cherrybark oak leaves are especially nice.

Silly me, I'd have taken them for holly leaves.   

Maybe I'm simple, but I liked the sweetgum bowl the best.  They're all beautiful though!

[WDH]

Well, they look just like cherrybark oak leaves  . 



 

[ron barnes]

Sweetgum makes some beautiful  bowls and vases.  Beautiful work

[Den-Den]

Some how I missed welcoming you to the board, so welcome, and wow, some turning there.  Well done.  Do you have an outlet in Lufkin?

Thanks, I have a few items in the "Fashion District" (next to PetSmart)

Well, they look just like cherrybark oak leaves  . 

I used a leaf from my yard to trace the outline, I would have called it a red oak.  I have several oak trees, some post oak, willow oak, water oak and a couple of varieties that I have called red oak, one of those must be cherrybark oak.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

 Den, now that you have found a way to make money with Sweet Gum,
would you be interested in purchasing a load of Sweet Gum logs or 12 ?  ;D

[WDH]

Den,

Cherrybark is a red oak.  It is very closely related to southern red oak.  The leaves are distinctive and look very good on your bowl. 

[Jim_Rogers]

I'd be interested to learn what you put on your bowls to prevent them from cracking.
I have some customers who want me to make bowl blanks for them and I was hoping I could help them to understand what it take to make them come out alright.
Would you share your methods?

Jim Rogers

[AK Newbie]

Wow beautiful bowls! How did you learn about the piercing?  It really adds a lot of character to the bowl.  Nicely done!

[lowpolyjoe]

thumbs up!

[Den-Den]

I'd be interested to learn what you put on your bowls to prevent them from cracking.
I have some customers who want me to make bowl blanks for them and I was hoping I could help them to understand what it take to make them come out alright.
Would you share your methods?

Jim Rogers

I use more than one method (mostly depending on the wood).  All of these are based on starting with fresh wood, allowing blanks to dry before getting them on the lathe usually means the piece has one or more cracks before you start.  A common problem for beginners is spending too long on a piece and then having to stop for a meal or overnight, during the break, the wood drys some and may warp and/or crack.

All drying methods are wood and climate dependent, what works for me  may not work in a dry climate.

** turn to finish thickness (thin) and allow to warp as it drys.  The key to making this work is making the thickness thin enough and keeping the thickness consistent. (3/8" thick for a 10" diameter piece is about the max for most woods).  Control drying rate by putting piece in a paper bag in hot dry weather, in cool or wet weather, keep it in unheated space for a few days.
pros: very low failure rate, works with difficult to dry woods, drys fast (36 hours for a hat)
cons: finished piece may be fragile, bowls will be warped, sanding is more difficult

** Rough turn thickness to 10% of diameter and turn again after drying.  The roughed out thickness still needs to be consistent.  The drying rate will need to be managed (see below)
pros: finished product not as "rustic" since the distortion is turned away, sanding can be done on the lathe,  rough turning goes quickly and it is possible to accumulate a lot of blanks that are dry and ready to be finish turned as needed.
cons: some pieces will crack and some may warp so much that they cannot be turned round (with practice the failure rate can be < 10%), drying takes longer (most of my bowls have dried for 6 months or longer before they are finish turned).  The drying rate must be managed.
    For me the surest way to manage the drying rate has been to coat the entire bowl rough-out with AnchorSeal and then store the bowl in a covered shed.  The rough-outs need to be positioned to allow air movement on all sides (they can be leaned against each other but not just stacked up).  Crack resistant woods such as elm have done well stored in paper bags (no AnchorSeal), these will dry faster. 
Some turners use other drying techniques:
* Soak in detergent (supposed to reduce cracking problems - I have not tried it)
* Soak in alcohol (accelerates drying rate - I have not tried it)
* Boiling (supposed to reduce cracking problems - I did this successfully for some difficult wood but think it is too much trouble for most woods)

I get lots of free wood so I rarely buy blanks unless they are burls or exceptionally figured.  Keeping thick blanks from drying AND from growing mold may be difficult.

[Jim_Rogers]

Den:
Thanks for that, I'm going to save it for future customers.

Jim Rogers

[Peter Drouin]

Jim just put some up. I wax the ends and put the date . I find the customer don't want to wait for it to dry , they want to bring it home and turn it.


  

  

  

 
there are nice Den Den

[isawlogs]

 Those are just awsome, now would you be so kind as to school me on the ''peircing'' aspect, how is it done  :P   ???

[Den-Den]

Those are just awsome, now would you be so kind as to school me on the ''peircing'' aspect, how is it done  :P   ???

I used a "microcarver" that I purchased a couple of months ago.  I used a 1/8" shank end-mill 1/32" diameter for a cutting tool.  The "microcarver" is like this one: http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=packard&Category_Code=carv-master-micro

[jamesamd]

gorgeous!

And welcome to TFF.

Jim

[mesquite buckeye]

Sweet ;D

[Lud]

I agree with Peter as I only wax the cuts across grain.  Just like our logs for the mill where we wax the ends to prevent too fast drying and cracking.  We want the wood to dry and I don't think total waxing lets the water a way of getting out.  Of course I'm not drying wood in Texas!

The bowls look real nice.  The piercings are eye-catching if time-consuming.  I'd drather be turning.  This Fall I went back thru my stash of bowls turned in the last six years and put them back on the lathe and turned off the foot to remove unnecessary weight and refine them.  What looked good once might deserve another look as we gain experience.

You've got skills!  Keep turning!