Elm wing bowl progress

[Raul McCai]

I started this a while back. Elm dried pretty fast

Got some BLO on the one side. Still have the post to remove and finish work on the other.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Can you show a profile shot so we can see the shape? Looks very nice so far.

I'm a little concerned about the depth of the mortise, AKA rabbet (or rebate as they say in the UK and Oz). Does the top edge of the jaws make contact with the bottom of the rabbet? If not, the bowl runs the risk of shifting around in the chuck.

 

[hockenbery]

It is hard to see the shape of the curve. What I can see looks good.
The mortise can work and I see a lot of good pieces with mortise holes in the bottom.

The issue with a mortise is that it limits the design options to one that has a hole in the bottom the size of the chuck. A great piece rarely has a mortise because the design limits imposed by the mortise yields a one size foot fits all which forces design compromises.

We all transition through many phases.
I can remember just being happy to have kept a pice on the lathe.
My first chuck was a precision chuck and it only did a mortise hold.
They got pretty boring being all the same.

Philosophically - A great piece will have all of its design created by the maker. When a mortise is used the maker is turning over the design of the foot to the chuck manufacturer.

 

[john lucas]

I still use a mortise occasionally and since I turn the bottoms I can resize the mortise or get rid of it as long as I leave enough wood. Usually when I do that it's on a platter and I'm going to make the foot larger anyway. Occasionally I take all the foot off and leave a concave bottom. In that case a moritse doesn't hurt but I still use a tenon probably 94.7% of the time. 🙂

 

[Raul McCai]

Can you show a profile shot so we can see the shape? Looks very nice so far.

I'll get one.

 

[Raul McCai]

A great piece rarely has a mortise because the design limits imposed by the mortise yields a one size foot fits all which forces design compromises.

Yah well I haven't built my vacuum system yet and also am still only started on my reverse bowl chuck. I got a dough-nut system but haven't told myself to design out the mortise before thinking through the work piece. In fact I'm still digesting the printed wisdom that Mortises are now a normal part of a work piece - - Dunno where I read that but I read it somewhere and it made me feel more comfy with the mortise when at first I saw it as a flaw. I guess I'm behind the curve.

This, If I don't blow it up, will be maybe my ( maybe) fourth actual work piece completed. (Aside from three pieces of spindle work and various little wood pulleys and such I've made for jigs)
I do appreciate the encouragement.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Raul this is the way I sometimes do the finishing of the base of my natural edge bowls.

As you can see I hold a round piece of wood in the chuck with some foam rubber between it and the bowl.

On the bottom side I use a small piece of wood (just for this picture) that fits into my live center, (removed the steel point) that keeps and steadies the bowl.

Then I can finish turn the base any which way I like, as I use a recess almost exclusively, I don’t have to remove a tenon normally, and can finish the center of the base even before doing the rest of the bowl.

 

[Raul McCai]

the other side

Asymetric & winged. There's a knot running through it so on the second turning, after it dried, the shape had changed and I had a bit of work to do just to mount it.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Now, that's a nice surprise and not at all what I was expecting to see based on the earlier views of the bottom. I'm glad to see that the knot didn't give you any problems.

 

[hockenbery]

I think you have a fine looking piece there.
I like the way you have done this one.