Anybody ever made a lather bowl?

[Odie]

I guess I'm dense, because I had to look it up! I've never used a shaving brush and cake shaving soap, so it caught me off guard when someone asked if I'd make one. Ran a search and don't see any wooden lather bowls......ceramic seems to be what most are made of. Off hand, I don't think wood is a good material for a lather bowl, unless there is a very durable waterproof covering.

Anyone made one? How did you do it?......marine wood finish?

ko

 

[john lucas]

Use Lignum Vitae It's been used for bearings on boats. Very hard and self lubricating, whatever that means. Read that somewhere. I have a chunk but haven't turned it yet. It's waiting for that special project.

 

[hockenbery]

People are turning functional sinks and using epoxy paint. They hold water.
I should think epoxy finish on a small bowl would be suitable for holding soap and lather.

You might select woods used in the boats. They would be durable.

White oak, teak, Purple Heart,were popular for boats in the Chesapeake.

With an epoxy shell you could probably use any wood.

 

[egsiegel]

Bath and Body works sells a wooden lather bowl...nothing special.
I believe "The Art of Shaving" has some also.

I always wondered about how they would hold up.

 

[John Altberg]

I am currently using a shave bowl made of walnut that I finished with a coat of AeroMarine epoxy. It is holding up well, though I should have done a couple of more coats. The amount of time that it is exposed to water is not all that long in the scheme of things. I keep my cake of soap in a small madrone bowl that is completely unfinished, to no ill effect. I am in the camp that feels that a utility bowl should take on some patina from its intended use. My favorite salad bowl is one that was finished with oil only that we bought in 1988. The ones finished with oil/varnish mix just seem somehow inert through use, as their character and appearance never change.

 

[Dean Center]

A couple of years ago, a fellow to whom I owed a gift expressed a strong interest in a wooden shaving mug. I made one out of unfinished cocobolo hoping the oiliness would stand up to the water, but I haven't heard how it's worked out. About that same time, my personal shaving brush had the brush part fall out, so I made a new handle out of padauk, again unfinished, and it's held up very well without any attention from me.

 

[R Henrickson]

For years I used a mug, not a bowl.

 

[Hugh]

My Father used a wood shaving mug all through my childhood. Seven days a week. Worked well. He would wet the badger hair brush and run it around the soap in the bottom. Actually did not get it too wet, come to think of it. Then it would go back into the cabinet above the sink.
I wonder what ever happened to it?
Hugh

 

[Odie]

Do you take special requests?

I decided to turn down the request for a "lather bowl".....

Had several requests for custom lathe turnings lately.....and, you know what? I've mulled this over, and decided I just don't want to do this kind of thing. Maybe I'm finicky, but I just want to row my boat in the direction I want to go. I want to put all my effort into a single direction.....that's all.....focused.

In the past years, I've done a few custom turnings, but I've never felt like it's been satisfying to me. Usually others are happy with my work, but sometimes what they envision isn't what I gave them. Besides that, having specific objectives isn't appealing to me at all.....I want complete freedom to do as my instincts dictate, and special orders are just too confining. Funny, but I think not one single bowl I've made hasn't been modified away from the initial conception during the process of making it.......

ko

 

[hockenbery]

I decided to turn down the request for a "lather bowl"..... Had several requests for custom lathe turnings lately.....and, you know what? I've mulled this over, and decided I just don't want to do this kind of thing. Maybe I'm finicky, but I just want to row my boat in the direction I want to go. I want to put all my effort into a single direction.....that's all.....focused. In the past years, I've done a few custom turnings, but I've never felt like it's been satisfying to me. Usually others are happy with my work, but sometimes what they envision isn't what I gave them. Besides that, having specific objectives isn't appealing to me at all.....I want complete freedom to do as my instincts dictate, and special orders are just too confining. Funny, but I think not one single bowl I've made hasn't been modified away from the initial conception during the process of making it....... ko

In general I avoid commissioned work. Even though I am quite confident in what I do, I always have the feeling that I might not satisfy the commission customer.
I also know lots of turners to pass the commission request to.

A couple of commission i took were, the item for the Quiet Waters Arts Festival, commemorative plates for the Delaware leadership council, sash pulls, and a 40th birthday present for my dentist.

The QW Arts festival - was sort of an honor we could not refuse, we could make what we wanted. It was nice to have a woodturning as the featured item in the advertising and displayed in the main entrance area.

The commemorative plates was a commission I had passed on to a friend. The friend got into a time crunch and begged me to take it for them. I was to copy a prototype which was 8" diameter 1" high straight walls flat bottom to be engraved all 1/4" thick from scrap Osage Orange left over from the building of the replica ship Sultanna. While I was out they dropped of two 7" diameter logs. I called an told them that I could get 6" and 7" diameter plates which they said was ok. I also made an arrangement to have the engraver do a test plate to see if I finished it Before or after the engraving. The engraver informed me that it engraved fine over the finish and even looked a little crisper than the unfinished. But... Her engraver carriage hit the rim sliding all around so the rims plate could only be 3/4 " high. Thank goodness I had a a vacuum chuck and the skill to cut the rims down to a 3/4" height.

Sash pulls was sort of a fun thing to do. A lady called and was desperate because her supplier had stopped making the pulls. These are just hollow spindles that she covers,with fabric an threads over a decorative cord. she sent me a design and we decide that unsanded poplar would do. On a couple of runs we worked on designs together. These were like runs of 24 or 12" depending on the job. It was sort of mindless work to help someone out and it was fun for a while.

The birthday presnt was fun....