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Miniature bowl inspired by Odie

A couple of days ago, I made a miniature screw chuck and modified a cheap chuck that came with my lathe so I could turn miniature bowls like I would a normal-sized bowl. I turned a couple and wanted to try something harder. I am working on the March challenge, which made me realize that I am quite bad at copying shapes. I don't turn bowls much, so I considered Odie's bowls as a reference. I found a picture, took rough proportion measurements off my computer, and looked for wood. I found some mountain mahogany cutoffs, Persian ironwood, and something else that could be vine maple or some cherry branch. The details would be a challenge, however more so the placement and proportions than the details being clean.1.png2.png3.png4.png
 
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The final product. The other two I made were worse. I cheated by using the best-turning wood, but I didn't sand at all, or use an oil before I buffed it. I could have spent 10 times as long on it, and maybe the lines would be more accurate, the finish would be smoother, and there would be a richer oil and polish. Not today. If this was my design, and it was more than an inch or so in diameter, or maybe if I were Odie, I would spend more time on it. This isn't a serious project, I have a couple of those going, and I needed to do my schoolwork, so I used this as an excuse to turn in a bit!IMG_5722.pngIMG_5723.png
 
Isaac Litster said:
The final product. The other two I made were worse. I cheated by using the best-turning wood, but I didn't sand at all, or use an oil before I buffed it. I could have spent 10 times as long on it, and maybe the lines would be more accurate, the finish would be smoother, and there would be a richer oil and polish. Not today. If this was my design, and it was more than an inch or so in diameter, or maybe if I were Odie, I would spend more time on it. This isn't a serious project, I have a couple of those going, and I needed to do my schoolwork, so I used this as an excuse to turn in a bit!View attachment 73872View attachment 73873
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@Odie will surely give his stamp of approval.
 
Alan Weinberg said:
@Odie will surely give his stamp of approval.
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Yeah, definitely a shape I've done before.
Good job, Isaac....:)
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Isaac Litster said:
I cheated by using the best-turning wood, but I didn't sand at all, or use an oil before I buffed it. I could have spent 10 times as long on it, and maybe the lines would be more accurate, the finish would be smoother, and there would be a richer oil and polish. Not today. If this was my design, and it was more than an inch or so in diameter, or maybe if I were Odie, I would spend more time on it.
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You've dipped your toes into another world of woodturning, Isaac. You should go ahead and sand it out to perfection.....then try similar shapes on some difficult, less forgiving exotics and highly figured domestic woods. Your perspectives will then broaden your sensual experience by what you can and will learn.

Carry on, my friend! :)

=o=
 
I've always considered cross-grain bowl turning to be the most difficult of the traditional wood lathe pursuits. This is because you can't cut where the cutting would be the easiest......it becomes necessary to present your tool to the wood where it's the most difficult to achieve the best possible cut. To make matters worse, the woodgrain alternates between the two extremes while the bowl turns on the lathe.....and because of that, the resistance to the cut alternates. It should be obvious that hard/dense woods and erratic grain patterns compound the difficulty in getting the "perfect cut".

^^^^^None of this is insurmountable, though.....it can be done.....and Isaac just proved it! :)

=o=
 
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