Did you stabilize the wood with any epoxy before or during the turning? I have always experienced alot of tearout when turning such soft woods. Are you willing to share what tools you used to create such a flawless piece?
Thanks for all the great comments everyone. This piece was pure luck! This is another piece from the same tree that the other bowls and the table I posted came from. A big Ponderosa Pine.
It just has a wipe-on Gloss Polyurethane finish.
Yes, it is soft wood, was a bit of a challenge and I did have a couple of tear-out episodes that created a couple of tense moments. I was using a Sorby Sovereign system with carbide cutters, as opposed to classic tools. I am a relative "newbie" and have yet to learn sharpening techniques. I did not do any "stabilization" before starting into it.
That sunburst was the bonus, but being a knot all the way through made the tear-out potential much higher, since I was continually going from soft to hard and back again. Just took it very slow all the way through.
The Antler was the beginning of this whole project. My son had given me a couple to use for some pen turning and my wife grabbed that one and told me to make a bowl for her that would be cradled in it…so she gets the credit for the overall "look"!
Sorry for the upside down pic. It looks like all the others on my PC, yet rotates when uploaded. Strange.