Monthly Book Giveaway - March 2023

Mystery Wood Bowl

345
25
Kenny sent me some wood recently, which included a blank of “definitely not mulberry,” which he had picked up somewhere. It had pretty grain, but he hasn’t been turning a lot of bowls lately, so he passed it along to me.



It took me a few days to find the right shape for the bowl within the blank. I started by getting it close, but with ½ inch thick walls, and then staring at it while I figured out what shape it needed to be.



Once I decided that I wanted a defined rim on the bowl, I finished thinning the walls (to a little under ⅜ inch, or 9mm), mostly hollowing them from the inside, though cutting the rim from the outside. I had a tiny bit of chip-out right near the transition from heartwood to sapwood, but decide to leave it, rather than removing the rim I’d made, which is a good feature of the bowl.



Finish is a couple coats of tung oil, some shellac, and Ack’s Finishing Paste. The bowl is about 7 inches in diameter, and 4½ inches tall.

I’m pretty happy with this one, and my sweetie thinks it’s a “keeper,” which means we need to find a place to display it. I guess there are worse problems to have.

25 Comments

Hmmm, me thinks hackberry.

Nice looking turning Dave!
Hackberry without a doubt. End grain tells all.

“If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not working on hard enough problems.”

Nice grain and color there Dave, and a nice smoothing shape. Well done.

Main Street to the Mountains

Nice looking bowl, Dave. I like how the shape mimics the growth rings. I also like the rim you added and the outlined shapes (they look like islands on a map) nature created.
Dave,

That is a cool bowl.  I like what looks like a map of islands in the 2st pic.

Petey

Nicely done! I like the rim you cut into it. 

Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".

Well done Dave!  Glad it went somewhere and got used.  I had a feeling there was a nice bowl hiding in there.
love it dave whatever the wood is doesn't matter. i really love how you did the rim. that tiny chip just adds character which is fine.

working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

Nicely done, rim sets it off well.   

Ron

Thanks, Splint and Tony! Hackberry is probably right. I wrote that on the pen blanks I made from the cut-off corners I got making it into a hexagon.

Thanks, Eric!

Thanks, Ron! The spalting was scattered through the wood, and I turned away a few nice patterns, too. Tried to keep the couple you can see now.

Thanks, Petey! Maybe I should’ve added an X to the treasure map. ;-)

Thanks, Ryan! I’m pretty happy with the rim myself.

Thanks, Kenny! Glad I could find it, and thanks for helping to make it happen.

Thanks, Pottz! Some of my pieces have TONS of character.

Thanks, Ron!
Turned out great Dave! I can't wait to try using one of those spinny things...

Mike

Yooper with a Drawl

Thanks, Mike! How’s the shop coming along?
Really nice turning here Dave, if there's a chip out, I can't see it. 
Thanks, Tom! Apparently I’m getting better at hiding my mistakes. ;-)
It's definitely worth keeping! I usually make more obvious mess within 3 days of use:)  

No name noobie here

It looks like it’s alive and it’s eye is looking at you not me. To spooky. But a great turning. 8^}

James McIntyre

Thanks, James! Took a little longer than some of my other turnings, but it was worth the fiddling about, I think.
Dave,

Bowl looks great.  Grain is interesting, +1 for looking like an eye, or half a filbert nut.

daveg, SW Washington & AZ