Still have your first bowl?

[Bob Slocum]

I keep my first on the sewer pipe display in my basement workshop as a reminder. It shows the tick - tick screw holes. All I had back then was a faceplate and some screws to attach to my Shopsmith.

 

[Charles Cadenhead]

@Amy, nice bowl and welcome to the forums!

 

[Neil S]

Will my oldest recorded piece of turning suffice?

​

That was in 1970 with my wife-to-be who is now in her mid-70s and grandmother of five with the eldest now old enough to be driving!

Fortunately I missed out on the high school woodshop turning project, which may have destroyed my later love of wood and woodturning.

The wheel component is faceplate work and turned outboard, something which I've done ever since. I may have turned some bowls back then, but have no examples of those. If I had they would have been a bit dog bowl like so it is a good thing the world was spared those...

My next piece that I still have is pre-mid-1980s (ie before the modern scroll chucks came in). By this time I had completed my art degree and was lecturing in ceramics. The form is influenced by my interest at the time in the Japanese ceramic tradition, rather than any other woodturners having no contact with any at the time. You can see my appreciation of the natural wood surfaces that I have retained in places and some undercutting and trim on the rim to frame the piece. With bowls and the like my intention has always been to celebrate the inherent qualities revealed in the wood and to avoid any hubris about my skills as a woodturner...

Ancient River Redgum​

I can see some areas of tear out on the outside... no excuses there as you get a second go with jam chucking....

 

[Amy Rothberg]

@Amy, nice bowl and welcome to the forums!

Thanks…. I’ve actually been a member of the forum for quite a while. Don't post much but when I posted this, the count was at about 12 (since 2019). I guess I woke up some automatic idle reset because now it's at zero. Hm ... won't take it personal.

 

[Bryan Field]

My first bowl ended up a funnel!

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

My first bowl ended up a funnel!

So did my 2nd, 42nd, 51st, 63rd, and 101st. ;-)

 

[Charles Cadenhead]

Thanks…. I’ve actually been a member of the forum for quite a while. Don't post much but when I posted this, the count was at about 12 (since 2019). I guess I woke up some automatic idle reset because now it's at zero. Hm ... won't take it personal.

Oh that's weird on the reset. I wonder if one of the forum software updates did that? Well welcome back!

 

[Donn Fishburn]

I have a tough time due to unsteady hands. I'm still not very good, but I've kept one of my first to remind me I am getting better.

 

[Brian Gustin]

I have a tough time due to unsteady hands. I'm still not very good, but I've kept one of my first to remind me I am getting better.

I still have that problem in some areas when I am turning shapes or spots that are not conducive to just body movement, but once I learned about locking the tool handle to the hip and use body movement to control the gouge, well it became far easier - body weight is far more mass which moving that mass gives steadier control (Some sort of physics involved I am sure) but I still run into rough spots such as at some transitions of curves or trying to turn beads where tool control is involving wrist/finger/hand movement alone... so I need to come up with some sort of regular exercises to strengthen and steady that fine control, I guess, or sooner or later I'll find some "magic" process....

As far as my first bowl, It is still around somewhere - its just an end grain piece of 4x4 pressure treated wood turned into a mortar & pestle that I did just to try out the freshly bought used HF Lathe.

 

[Doug Machin]

First bowl was segmented - 2 years ago. 40 years in woodworking, was an easy way to get a blank. Plenty of scrap cherry and curly maple. I am Colorado, so have no trees handy. (since found an arborist and have turned hundreds since). Learned a lot about faceplate turning. A catch destroyed the pine I was using as sacrifice wood. Bowl survived. Now have a bunch of vicmarc chucks!

 

[Art Chamberlin]

Even though I started on small projects in 2006, when I was gifted my first lathe, (an old belt drive that was collecting dust), I finally tried turning a bowl in 2007. Well, five years ago I found it. I had gifted it to my in-laws for giving me the lathe. My greatest disappointment was that I found it up in the loft of their barn! The horror. My ego took a hit. But then I decided to attempt to restore it. As proud as I was of that first bowl, I felt much better when I saw what 12 years of practice had developed within me.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I found some pictures buried deep in my phone.

 

[Richard Patrick]

I’m a little late to the party but here is my first attempt. Took a wood turning class at Woodcraft in Orlando. Teacher was David Marks. Late 1990s. Bought a Jet lathe and an assorted set of Sorby tools that day!
Unfortunately, life got in the way and I never really used it until late 2020. Then I was hooked and haven’t stopped turning since. I’m out in my shop 5-6 hours nearly every day. For my retirement splurge I bought a Robust AB in 2021. No bad days!

 

[Ron Solfest]

I think I had turned a couple shallow dishes before this one, but for Christmas in 1994 I ‘turned’ 7 of these 1.75” x 4.3” cherry and maple bowls. I didn’t have thicker stock so glued up 3 boards. At the time I thought that it had to be thin to be good, so I worked hard to get to 3/16”, bottoms ended up a little thinner but no funnels . Pictures don’t show it but there was some inside tear out I couldn’t sand away completely. I did a lot of sanding.

All done with a 1/2” or 3/4” Sorby scraper and LOTS of sandpaper held by my fingers. I didn’t even know about scroll chucks and turned the outside with a screw hold and then reversed them onto the faceplate holding only with double sided tape. Given I didn’t start until after Thanksgiving, had a full-time job and 3 young children I recall many late nights after everyone was in bed and finishing just in time for Christmas.

 

[Frank English]

Grade 10 woodworking class 1961. Alternate pieces of mahogany & pine or fir. 2nd iteration as first effort blew apart. Teacher then suggested because he had me in his class for half the year the other woodworking teacher should have the joy of my efforts for the 2nd half!! My mother kept it until she died in 2013. Should probably pull the leather off and do a proper bottom.

 

[John K Jordan]

I had turned some spindles when starting out, then made a poor practice bowl from three glued-up layers of 4/4 red oak. I didn't like it at all and have no pic.

So after a bunch more spindle turning I eventually tried again and made a "real" bowl, cherry, I think. Gave it to someone.



I suspect it was under 8" across.

JKJ

 

[James Holland]

I have several bowls and platters from when I was in junior high school, my first time on a lathe. I don't know the type, but it was mounted on a shop-made wooden stand. It had two speeds - slow and slower - and we had one scraper. If I was lucky, it had been sharpened in the past week. Bear in mind, this was 1964. One of these days I'll get them out and refinish them.

Just started turning again last fall, and will be looking to upgrade from my little midi lathe to one with more mass. What I have now - both lathe and tools - is still a far sight better than 1964-1966.

 

[Pat Cogdal]

This bowl was made in a class at The Chicago School of Woodworking in 2019. My first one ever. Clint Stevens taught it and encouraged everyone to save the first bowl they made. Glad I did and glad I took some classes. I spent 5 years before that trying to turn with no instruction, that class put me on the right path for sure.