Bowls! Discussion and plans

Hi Everyone,
Well, Ive started back to work and I must say Im really tired! Its been a long time since Ive gone to work and Im going to need to establish a routine and get myself back in the swing of the things. Im also going to be turning a whole bunch of bowls for Christmas presents so Im going to be busy this semester (and Im learning Javascript code so Im a busy critter).
I finished the small poplar bowl. Here it is:
It will make a lovely gift for a friend of mine.
And I bought a small piece of hickory and Im turning this into a plate for another friend to whom I owe a big thanks to:
Lets talk about bowls for a few minutes: Ive been asked to make several black ash/Brazilian cherry bowls, a walnut bowl (which Ive begun working on and Oh Baby, what a bowl!), and a bowl that will be raffled off this holiday season. I went and bought some more Brazilian cherry this morning and I cut up my remaining piece of black ash and Im assembling the turning blanks as I write (Ill post some pictures shortly). So Im going to be working on the black ash bowls and the walnut bowl over the next several weeks and posting about this.
Ill be back shortly with some photos.
VW

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Next Project The Drinking Bowl Discussion and Plans

Hi Everyone,
As I mentioned in my earlier post, our next project will be a drinking bowl.
Now, what is a drinking bowl?
In the Middle Ages and probably earlier, Northern Europe and the British Isles made their kitchenware out of wood and it seems from relics that have been recovered, most people used bowls for eating and drinking. These areas also had a long tradition of wood turning on pole lathes, a lathe that utilized the natural springiness of tree saplings to power a lathe (there are many pole turners on the Internet and one of the better known is a gentleman named Robin Wood, who is located in the UK. He makes a living turning bowls and plates and other stuff with a pole lathe and you can see how he does this by going to YouTube and searching for Robin Wood Bowls. He has a series of videos that show how this is done). Since very few people owned tables at this point most bowls had a very rounded shape so people could hold them comfortably in their hands. Contrast this with bowls that are produced in contemporary times- these bowls have a much flatter shape with a wide foot. This is because these modern bowls are designed to be used on a table.
See this photo:

The dark blue bowl has a much wider foot than the light blue bowl and its the design of the light blue bowl that were going to try to emulate:

So heres what were going to do: Well go down to the workshop and get some scrap red birch and some scrap mahogany and mark it for cutting:

Since our light blue bowl is about 5 inches in diameter, well cut out our blanks about 6 inches in diameter:

Next, well coat them well with Titebond glue and stack them together. Im going to place the mahogany blank on the top so the bowl will have a dark red rim:

And lastly well clamp them together:

Hmmmm.....this looks like a large wood cookie with glue for icing.
The label on the glue bottle says to leave this clamped for 24 hours so well come back tomorrow evening and take the clamps off and see how were doing. If all is well well place it on the lathe and begin turning a small drinking bowl similar to the light blue bowl in the photo. Red birch and mahogany both turn very cleanly so Im anticipating a nice present for my friend.
See you tomorrow,
VW

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The Blue House Bowl Discussion and plans

Selasa, 01 Maret 2016

Hi Everyone,
Well, I decided to begin working on a bowl that I am planing on donating to a charity called the Blue House. This charity supports an orphanage in Uganda that takes in girls and young women who have been orphaned because of AIDS. Every year the ladies at my church have an annual craft fair to raise funds to support these young women.  And yours truly donates cutting boards and other stuff for sale every year.
This year, amongst other things, I plan on donating a full-sized salad bowl to the sale and this blog posting will be the first in a series about how the bowl was made. I hope this will give people a window on how a large bowl is made and get them interested in the sale.
So, I have gotten a large 12"x3" white ash bowl blank and this is what I will be using for the bowl. The wood is unseasoned, meaning that it has a considerable amount of water in it and so we will be making a green wood turning and this adds several steps to our turning process, and certainly nothing that Selkie Wood Works cant handle! Heres what were going to do: Im going to mount the block on the lathe and completely turn the outside of it and partially turn the inside of it and leave the bowl about 1" thick. This is much thicker than a standard bowl and the reason Im doing this is this will help the bowl retain its round shape while its drying out. When we come back to the bowl in several weeks time, it should have dried out enough to allow me to finish turning and shaping it, and with any luck, it will be ready for the Blue House sale, which always takes place the first weekend in December.
So were off for another adventure in the wood shop. So make some coffee and stop by for photos and a complete process discussion on the Blue House bowl.
Best
VW

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