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This bowl was made from the same log as the last bowl I posted Maple Candy Dish. To see the log it came from you can go to the blog on my Chainsaw Sawhorse I built .

The bowl is made of rock maple and it is 7 ¾" across the top and 4 ¾" along the bottom. It stands 4 ½" tall with the bowl sides 3/8" thick and the wing 5/32" thick. It was sanded to 600 grit and I applied EEE Ultra Shine and it was finished off with Shellawax Cream.

This bowl was started in the same fashion as the last. That is to focus on some new tools and two new techniques.

• Normally I cut the inside of my bowls using a 3/8" Sorby bowl Gouge that is 19 " long. I recently purchased a 3/8" and a ½" Crown bowl gouge. They have been in my shop for a while and needed to be reshaped prior to using. I like to have a fingernail grind on my bowl gouges and using a Tormek sharpening system is great once you have the basic shape in place. It took a little doing but they came out great. They are both 26" long and that extra length is such a huge help.

• For finishing the inside of my bowls I have always used a Sorby 1/2" wide by ¼" thick x 16" long round nose scraper. It has worked ok but as you get deeper into the bowl and the tool hangs over the toolrest it starts to chatter. So I purchased a 1 1/2" wide by 3/8" thick inboard scraper that is 24" long made by Henry Taylor. This gave me a much better finish on the inside of the bowl. The chatter was hardly noticeable when it was extended to the bottom of the bowl. Great tool, I should have gotten one a while ago. I guess I will be getting less use from my power sander now.

I recommend all three of these tools for any turner's tool chest. They are well made and did a great job.

As for techniques there are two areas I wanted to focus on.

• First is the bottom of the bowl. I normally create a foot on the bottom of the bowl and use a jam chuck to cut it off after the bowl is finished. On this bowl (as well as on the previous one) I cut the foot into the bowl and used the outside of the chucks jaws to hold the bowl. The hold power was fantastic but there is a small mark left by the jaws so I will need to get a set of smooth jaws for this in the future. But after much practice I am happy with my results.

• The winged top is new for me as well. It came out differently than I had hoped for but it was something I hadn't done before. The wing is 5/32" thick where the walls of the bowl are 3/8" thick. This was done as an experiment. I want to see how the wood moves as it is drying with different thicknesses. My hope is the top will become quite wavy and add some beautiful shape to the bowl.

It was a lot of fun using the new tools and working on some new techniques. I know there is still room for improvement but I am better today than I was yesterday.

All comments and suggestions are welcome.

Gallery

Comments

· Registered
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9,848 Posts
nice work … very crisp, clean shape and finish
 

· Registered
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871 Posts
Very nice bowl. It is allways good to experiment with new shapes and tools.

This came out fery nice. You might get more movement in the rim if you leave it a little longer. Just my opinion.

Keep up the great work.

Scrappy
 

· In Loving Memory
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2,704 Posts
Nice turning, nice shape and finish.
 

· Registered
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19,753 Posts
Very nice bowl looks great
 

· Registered
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363 Posts
Thanks for the comments.

Was fun to turn and learn at the same time.
 

· In Loving Memory
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10,409 Posts
Good one.
 

· Registered
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363 Posts
Thanks Grumpy, the top of the bowl has really started to move.
 
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