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natural edge

H

herb

Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
56
Likes
8
Location
Lakewood, Colorado
Hi,

I enjoy making natural edge bowls and when the bark is thick and figured they are quite dramatic. Unless of course the bark falls off during the drying period. Sometimes I have torched the edge where the bark used to be. That's OK but not great. Have any of you found other options for decorating the bark less edge?

Herb
 
I have blackened the area where the bark was by using torch or simply coloring it with a permanent marker.
I am now working on one where I built up fake bark using epoxy. It will probably be a week or so before I have time to carve it. Right now it's just big blobs of thickened epoxy. I'm into the learning curve of using thickened epoxy and have more experimenting to do.
 
MichaelMouse said:
What frustrates me is when you work and get thick bark continuous, only to have it loop up as the wood underneath contracts while drying.
Click to expand...

I agree - I just did three fairly nice NE bowls (ca. 10-12" diameter) out of hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) back in August with some really interesting figure and coloration deep in the heartwood. All three of them did the bark separation thing during drying to the point where there's no way one could easily repair them, short of major surgery through the bark line.... Not sure I can salvage anything but a standard ("plain") bowl out of the remaining heartwood. It's more than frustrating - it's maddening! :mad:

Rob
 
john lucas said:
... I am now working on one where I built up fake bark using epoxy...
Click to expand...

I've rebuilt small chunks of missing bark with bark scraps and CA glue, then used a woodburning pen to touch things up and hide any visible glue. Carefully done, the patch is very hard to find when it's all done.
 
Well I had one that a pc came off during the drying and as mentioned i used CA and some of the same bark that was laying around to repair the section. I used a razor blade to cut it to fit in length and width best i could. Then used some black paint and touched up with a small brush and sanded to blend. It came out fine but a pain to do and frustrating to even happen.

Other turnings with bark i use CA prior to sanding - with it still on the lathe I turn by hand slowly and drip CA onto where the bark and wood join. That seems to hold it much better - then do the sanding. You either have to be very careful doing this or put some wax or something on the wood part so you do not stain the wood with the CA
 
Hi Herb,

I have always turned natural edge bowls in one turning. If you turn them 1/4" or less he bark seems to stick better.

I have found that turning them this thin allows for power sanding right on the lathe... depending on the wood used of course. It works for me on most domestic woods.

There is also a process I learned from Burt Marsh years ago. He would take sanding sealer and thin it 50/50 with lacquer thinner. He would slather it on the bowl before sanding with each grit. It seems to work by flashing off the moisture at the surface. It has always worked for me. It allows me to see sanding dust instead of gummed up sanding disc. 🙂

Remember that a natural edge look oblong anyway, I have never seen a reason to twice turn them. I have always thought that the reason for twice turning was to get a round finished piece. But, if you are looking for a thicker piece, I yield to the other excellent replies you have received.

Best wishes,

Dave
 
Dave Peebles said:
...Remember that a natural edge look oblong anyway, I have never seen a reason to twice turn them. I have always thought that the reason for twice turning was to get a round finished piece. But, if you are looking for a thicker piece, I yield to the other excellent replies you have received...
Click to expand...

I've done a few larger (16" to 18") natural edge walnut bowls that I turned/dried/turned, and I've single-turned smaller (and often drier) bowls. After thinking about it a bit, your logic behind going to finished thickness in one session makes perfect sense to me, even for larger, wetter blanks. I'll have to give that a try.
 
For some species, I've had some luck in preserving the NE by soaking the bark/wood interface with CA, before, during, and after turning; with immediate repairs if needed, assuming I can find the remnant.
 
Sealer, then thin CA

I sand after turning green to the grit I can get away with, then coat the outside and bark with lacquer sealer (Deft gloss, Thinner, 50% each.) When dry I then drip CA on the bark, carefully, with a paper towel at the ready to catch the worst drips. The sealer pretty well protects the body of the bowl from staining. The lacquer sealer may even speed up the drying of the CA, and also help cut back on bark and wood movement, and moderate the speed of drying just a bit. Anyway, this is fast and has worked well for me, even on delicate potato chip bark such as Madrone. I do check carefully for the CA to be dry. A lot of it is buried in globs in the crevices of the bark, and it has the habit of flying out into my glasses. Tough to remove.
 
Does anyone know how long a natural edge bowl edge will actually last? I've done a little of all of the above and found that soaking the Cambium layer with thin CA seems to hold everything the best so far. What I'm concerned with is after I sell the piece. I have given away or sold my natural edge bowls so I don't have any long term pieces to see how they actually hold up over years of wood movement.
 
Over 6 years so far

And we have swings of humidity from 10% summer and 70% plus in the winter. And no signs of problems. This is with madrone, walnut, and black oak. And I know from sticking drawers, opening and closing joints, and doors that the wood is feeling it.
 
john lucas said:
Does anyone know how long a natural edge bowl edge will actually last? I've done a little of all of the above and found that soaking the Cambium layer with thin CA seems to hold everything the best so far. What I'm concerned with is after I sell the piece. I have given away or sold my natural edge bowls so I don't have any long term pieces to see how they actually hold up over years of wood movement.
Click to expand...

As what? Obviously a potato chip or popcorn bowl would be tough on the bark, what with passing it around, but use as a centerpiece or pretty on the shelf guarantees almost forever. Longest of mine is one I gave mom over twenty years ago and passed on to her neighbor when we moved mom here. Mom kept coins and keys in it, so the bottom was chewed a bit. CA had kept the bark fast.
 
john lucas said:
...found that soaking the Cambium layer with thin CA seems to hold everything the best so far...
Click to expand...

It works, as long as the bowl doesn't shrink, and the bark doesn't...which happens often. Some research found that if you harvest a log in winter, when the sap isn't running, the bark tends to stay on longer. In summer, with a wet and soft cambium layer, it will come off nearly instantly.

In tough ones, I have actually cut the bark, shaved off a small amount, and glued it back on with CA. I also tend to soak the bark with CA, and it holds together a lot better.
 
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