Wet blank to finished boxelder bowl #2

That’s pretty sweet Doug. Love the colors and grain patterns. I’ve never turned a single piece of wood in my life, unless you count the ones that spin when I toss them in the scrap pile, well there is that one that I didn’t clamp to the drill press ;)

I’m going to need a bigger shop. You guys have got me wanting to try all kinds of new stuff.

-- I've cut that board three times and it's still too short!

Well now, Douglas, what I know about wet turning you could put in a thimble. This looks like a very good bowl. It shows all the color that Box Elder is famous for. It also looks to be about the right size to eat cereal out of, but I don’t suppose that is what you intend. Just pulling your chain. It really looks great.

Tom

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Very pretty.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Good job Doug. I’m still Latheless. I have lathe envy. mike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

Good job Doug.
I wrap my bowls in their own shavings in a plastic bag wth a few holes punched for slow drying.
It helps to prevent cracks but nothing is for certain .
Leave at least 15% more wall thckness than you want to have on the finished job as they usually go oval by that amount.
The other thing I often do is mount a dry wood foot on the base so that it does not go out of round and makes it easier to remount the blank.

Cheers Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Wow, that’s some grain pattern. Never seen boxelder before.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Man, this bowl-turning stuff is too scientific for me.

Very pretty, Doug!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Super nice, Doug. I like the way the grain appears ‘stretched’ across the bottom of the bowl.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Very good Douglas. Nice bowl.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Hi Douglas;

Is that the lathezy man’s way to do it?

Beautiful bowl. Gotta love box elder.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Hello Douglas,

Woo Hoo! Congrats on your Box Elder bowl! Your bowl looks sweet and the colors are to die for… :-) Down Texas way, we can’t grow Box Elder, so I’ll have to live vicariously through you when I want to turn Red Stain Box Elder. Just wait until you turn some Box Elder Burl… :-) Take care and please let me know if I can ever help you. Best wishes to you and yours!

Steve Russell
Eurowood Werks Studio
The Woodlands, Texas

-- Better Woodturning and Finishing Through Chemistry... http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com

beauty!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh

Thanks Guys!
Bob, I’ll have to try the dry foot trick. And thanks Mot for the rub-bevel trick, as well as encouraging me to try a little side-grind action on the bowl gouge. I never thought of turning the tool sideways for thin shearing cuts.
The hardest thing is waiting for the bowl to dry…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Douglas, that’s a beautiful piece. I’m glad those shear cuts worked out. They sure take care of tearout in a jiffy, don’t they. Great bowl! Just great!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

The shape is a tad pedestrian, but I didn’t want to detract from the red stained wood (cause unknown, thought to be associated with stress to the tree) or lose any of the heartwood. The superglue trick on the rough blank kept parts from shedding during the drying process (I lost an inch in height on the first one).

Boxelder bowls – Not just for breakfast anymore!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Really pretty Douglas -

What method did you use to sand this one?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Didn’t use the Abralon pads on this one. Just through P500 Klingspor (not wet dry) and 4-0 Liberon steel wool.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

by hand or on a pad or?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Just by hand. It was pretty smooth with the shearing cuts. I used folded velcro backed 5” 8 hole RO disks from P100 – 180 – 220 – 320 (Mirka gold or Norton). Then the Cellulose sanding sealer. P500 to level, then the hi-build Mylands friction polish, P500 again and the Liberon 4-0 wool at the end. I keep meaning to do a comparison with the Ubeaut Shellawax Cream, as it smells great and looks good, but I have just been sticking to the tried and true with these first wet bowls.

Have to admit it has turned me into a log scavenger. I drove by a couple of roadside dump jobs on the way to work today, but didn’t stop as it looked like they were Cottonwood stumps and I have never seen or heard about anyone turning that wood.

I go out of my way to drive by a recycling center and two farm fields tucked in between two bedroom communities – still enough of a country geek to want to watch the corn-soybean-corn rotation year after year and note that this year the farmer just chisel plowed, (and say, the beanfield was pretty clean this year, only a little buttonweed at the fields margins and the yard waste compost heaps were steaming today). You get the drift. It’s just a little “re-charge the soul” work in the middle of the traffic bustle and anticipated hassles at work… Cheap therapy.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Thanks for the finishing details. And I’d pass on the cottonwood as you did…pretty “furry” stuff.

I get what you’re saying with re: to the cheap therapy – I could certainly use some of the pit-stops you describe!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Christmas 2007 Update:
Gave this bowl to my Sister-In-Law and her husband for their first Christmas together. The log this came from dropped from the tree they were married in front of this last July, and the wood hitchhiked home with me from Chicago after the ceremony. The groom seemed touched at the gift that commemorated their special day.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

That is a nice bowl Doug.

-- Maplewood, MN

Nice update, Doug

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.