Back in the saddle again

After having been shopless for what seemed like forever, it was with a bit of trepidation that I finally approached my lathe after 2 1/2 years.

This project came about on a whim. A woodturning acquaintance needed to cut up some freshly cut cherry logs on my bandsaw and graciously let me take my pick of their resulting blanks. As coincidence would have it, I had just watched a video on turning natural edge bowls a couple of days before and suddenly became inspired to turn one from this sopping wet blank. The end result was two firsts in one – the first thing to come off my lathe in the new shop and my first natural edge bowl. I wish I could say it was a total success however I turned the bowl a bit too thin and it cracked while drying. Nevertheless, I gave it an oil finish and now use it as a candy bowl in my shop. Despite the cracks, I really enjoyed making this piece. It is about 8” in diameter.

-- Anything worth doing is worth overdoing