Recent Bowl

[Thomas Heck]

I finished this one last night. This was part of a knot, I think it was a burl, but might have been a grown over limb, not for sure. I got it from a logger this summer. Seems he told me it was a type of oak. I had it cut sort of square with a chain saw and it took over an hour to get it round. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever turned. Any clues to if it is a burl and what type? It is 6 1/2 across the top and about 4 high. I slung it out of cole jaws while working on the bottom. It hit the lathe hard, then the floor and barely made a dent near the top. So, I had to rechuck it and change the top slightly.

 

[Mark Mandell]

Oak is tough stringy stuff, especially in the crotch as you have. It will, however, make you a better turner as you conquer problems that are mere ripples in other woods.

A tip: Keep a spray bottle of water near. A few spritzes before you cut will, along with proper tool angle, help eliminate torn grain.

 

[Thomas Heck]

Thanks Mark. Just been turning about a year and have alot to learn.

 

[Mark Mandell]

Second Tip:

Get some different wood to turn.

Great practice wood: Poplar - On the edge of soft but still a "hard" wood, cuts well, forgiving of mistakes, useless for firewood so it's free.

Call a tree-guy(service) in your town and ask if you can scrounge his pile. When you give him a nice bowl as a thank you, you'll be up to your spindle in turning wood 😀😀

PS: Okay, so that's 2 tips

 

[Thomas Heck]

Thanks again Mark. I have turned several diff. types of wood. This was just the hardest. I haven't turned much popular though. Is it bad to crack and warp if turned green.

 

[MichaelMouse]

That "feather" figure is characteristic of stressed wood under a branch. Mark shows what's above what you have, and apparently on a smaller scale. Must have been a big branch on yours.

I guess I'm not as negative about oak as others. I turn it and it sells quickly when I can get it. It doesn't take kindly to scraping, but slices reasonably well for a wood with big hardness difference between early and latewood.

Kids took an oak salad/chip bowl of about 16x6 dimension up for the silent auction at the charity ride this weekend. I expect they'll get a decent price for it. It was fairly thin, so when you flipped it with a fingernail it almost rang.

 

[Mark Mandell]

Small

Michael,

The photo is of a crotch bowl, 11" in diameter. About the max that my old JET 1236 would do.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Michael,

The photo is of a crotch bowl, 11" in diameter. About the max that my old JET 1236 would do.

Yup. Looks like each of the branches was smaller than the one who feathered the other bowl. The feathering starts below the entrapped bark by a couple inches or so on a branch piece. Folks need to realize this and NOT cut short under the crotch itself, rather leave long and ease down from the other end to the start of the entrapped bark. Also more likely to get more and fancier figure from urban or open-growth trees where the branches run laterally, rather than race the surrounding competition vertically for the sun. More vertical load distribution on those forest branches, so less pretty underneath.

 

[john lucas]

I have to turn a lot of Oak from a 100 year old tree they took down on our campus. I have a love hate relationship with it. I don't mind the actual turning. With sharp tools it's kind of in the middle on hardness. Cuts easily I just can't take as big of a cut. I like how it looks when I'm done.
I hate the shavings. The rust anything metal they touch in seconds. I will have to come up with a curtain or something to block the shavings. My new to me table saw is too close to the lathe. I was cleaning the shop the other day and found shavings on top of the garage door almost 12 feet from the lathe.

 

[Gary Chapman]

John,
I too have turned a 119 year old red oak that was taken from the Gettysburg battle grounds that was planted in our local DAR park and blown down when hurricane Ike came through. The tannin acid turned everything black. Out of twenty bowl blanks , 1/3 of then cracked and after sealing with anchorseal and paper bagging them. I do like turning black oak though,for it has a lot more color and tends to hold up better. Gary