All of my past projects have primarily been simple bowls made from a single block of wood. In this piece I wanted to start exploring the use of several wood species. Another change in this piece is that I first built a computer model of what I wanted my design to look like. This gave me a template to work from and allowed me to preview the design to make sure I liked it before I actually started working on the piece.

In the gallery pictures you can see the progression from computer model through to the finished piece which was entered at the North Coast WoodTurners and Buckeye Woodworkers and Woodturners annual Woodturning Competition and exhibition.

The bowl was created from a piece of curly, spalted maple that also was riddled with worm holes on one side. Cleaning out the worm holes was a very labor intensive process, but well worth the effort. Overall, I am satisfied with the piece. There are several design elements that I will change for future iterations and I definitely still need some work on my finish. But as long as I keep growing with each project, then I am happy.

This Square Bowl is one of my first major woodturning projects. I had seen plenty of turnings which did not have a traditional round shape and I tried to figure out how they did it. This bowl is my first attempt at creating at turning of a non-round shape. In fact it is probably only my third piece I have ever turned.

This bowl is made from Walnut and was turned on my old ShopSmith (I have since moved up to a Nova 1624-44 lathe). The method I used here, as you can see from the photos, was to glue poplar wasteblocks to the edges so that I could turn the bowl round. Once the turning was complete, I used my father in laws bandsaw to remove the poplar.

If I was to return this project today, I would start with a square blank, skip the poplar waste blocks and turn at a much higher speed. I don’t think I went much above 800 rpm when I first turned this, but would probably turn close to 2000 RPM today.

This is a simple Zebrawood winged bowl that I created for a gift to our dog sitter for her 18th birthday. The bowl was buffed and finished with light wax coating.

You can read an article I did on creating this bowl on my blog. This article was subsequently reprinted in the Nov. 2008 NCWT newsletter

This is the second bowl in my “Logs to bowls” series which highlights the natural bark and wood grain. This bowl was made from one half of an Osage Orange log. The vibrant yellow grain is offset by the deep orange/red bark. Like the other bowls in this series I turn a bowl in a bowl to create a symetrical element in a non-symetrical piece of wood. I have also cut a 10 degree slope on each end to present more of the end-grain when viewing the bowl from various angles.

The bowl is finished with Shellac and Danish Oil.

This is a walnut bowl with a wide rim that I turned for my mother before her recent cancer surgery. In the bottom of the bowl I included an oak medallion with a walnut ribbon inlay.

You can read more about the history of this bowl on my blog.

This is a 7” x 3” bowl with an undercut rim made from a beautiful cherry burl. The Burl creates a unique grain pattern that is centered in the bowl and gives the bowl a very distinctive look.

This finish is a combination of Shellac, Poly and Danish Oil to give it a high sheen and depth.

This is the third bowl in my “Logs to bowls” series which highlights the natural bark and wood grain. This bowl was made from a left over slab from another project and shows how even “scraps” can become beautiful pieces. I think this highlights why many wood workers are loathe to discard those scraps as you never know what you might become inspired to create.

This amboyna burl bowl posed a bit of a challenge as it really dulled my tools pretty quickly. In addition it required quite a bit of sanding to remove the remaining tearout which I couldn’t get rid of with my gouges. Unfortunately, after spending six hours in the shop working on this bowl, I showered up only to find that my face, ears and arms were covered in rashes and blisters. Needless to say I won’t be turning any more Amboyna for a while.

This is a nice cherry burl bowl I turned. It includes a natural edge with lots of bark still intact. There is even some moss still clinging to the outside. This bowl is finished with shellac and then Danish oil.

This is my first project in my “Logs to bowls” series.

This bowl is 13” x 3” and is my first attempt at turning larger projects. As you can see from the photos, there are a lot of bark inclusions along with the burl which gives the bowl its distinctive look.