First Bowl

[eemer]

I finally attempted a bowl. I had a small piece of Box Elder from a tree that had fallen over the brook that borders our property. The neighbor from across the brook came over and was cutting it up for firewood and I asked if I could keep some for projects. There was a small streak of red and a big split, there is a little bit of the split left and the red is but a trace, but the grain and worm holes really give it character. I call it a bowl, but it is really cup sized and a fellow at work said I should make a pestil (spelling?) and call it a mortar instead of abowl due to the very rounded bottom. It is 3" dia., 2-1/8" high and 1-5/8" deep.

I am going to cut out a piece of Purple Poplar for the next one!

Any suggestions or improvements are more than welcome.

 

[Doghouse]

Congrats on the nice bowl. Free wood is always the best, I get a lot of my wood from yards. Lately I have started giving a turning back to the tree owner. You would be surprized how much more wood that will give you. 😀

 

[chippypah]

Well done, we all started somewhere and if we were honest the early turnings are nothing like the ones we make today. Try different stiles until you find the one you like, i found doing larger turnings gave better scope for trying out different things. My early turnings were like a dog bowl thick and heavy, but now thin and i think good looking but the good bit comes when somebody says oh i like that how much is it that is the greatest feeling that somebody wants to part with there money for something you made.
Keep it up and cheers for now
Pete

 

[Bill Boehme]

Good Work

Very Nice. The first bowl is always special. My first two attempts failed as I first had a bad catch and next cut through the bottom, in both cases trying to make it too thin for my experience level. I have only turned a few bowls so far so my experience level is not very far along. So as one beginner to another, I have learned that features such as worm holes should have a crisp edge so now I try to keep my finish sanding very light in order to try to achieve that goal.

Bill

 

[melogic]

Bowl Turning DVD

I would like to pass on a little information that was passed on to me. I found a wonderful DVD by Bill Grumbine at www.wonderfulwood.com It is called "Turned Bowls Made Easy".
This is by far the best tutorial I've seen. I took a class on bowl turning at Woodcraft and this is the next best thing to doing it first hand. He has a lot of very helpful techniques and tips that will make bowl turning a lot better for us beginners. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.

Mark Lynch
Countrytime Crafts
Southeast Ohio

 

[Rick-U]

Keep on Trukin'

Mark,

Keep on Trukin' (I mean turnin'). The first bowl is, as already noted, special. Keep it around. You'll find it gratifying to be able to compare then and now.

As for suggestions, look at others' works and try to understand what it is that makes you really like one more than another.

Ever since my wife saw Bin Pho demo thin wall bowl turning, I never seem to be a ble to get one thin enough to keep her from telling me it needs to be thinner.

 

[eemer]

A big heartfelt Thanks to all of you who viewed and commented on my first bowl. While it isn't such a big deal of a turning, your critiques and suggestions are real helpful to a beginner. I don't have the most expensive lathe or tools, but with suggestions from the experienced- I can learn and continue with this hobby in a psoitive manner. I thank you all for your patience and input to all of us beginners out there. Experience is definitely the best teacher and the articles and posts that have been available on the web really help a "newbie" more than you can know.

There is a thread that talks about an article on Plagiarism, well if us beginners are to learn, we Must Copy those before us in order to develop into our own as turners. I believe the real jist of the thread was that we shouldn't profit from the copying, but true plagiarism is passing something off that you did as someone else's for profit or fame or whatever. If I were to make a bowl in the Elsworth Style, I would say that it was my bowl in his style. The Really Great teachers out there would have no problem with me trying to copy their style as that is one of the best ways to honor their accomplishments, now if I tries to pass it off as their's that's a different story. Of course, there is no way I could ever duplicate one of the great turner's work, but it does at least give us something to "shoot" for!

Enough rant on copying and back to Thanking those who allow us to try to copy their style and therefore learn our own unique styles.

THANK YOU!