My First Attempt at Bowl Making

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 11:09 am

Really nice work, Fred. Looks good to me. Thanks for being a teacher in this process.

pinebeetle · Post by **pinebeetle** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:32 pm

A friend gave me some old locust, that was very dry and very hard. He had tried to use in his wood stove, but couldn't split it. I took the chain saw to it, and bandsaw, then turned it. I gave up when i noticed a number of splits, then a month or so later talked to a friend of mine who did a lot of turning 45 years ago in high school. He suggested taking two part epoxy, thin with acetone or lacquer thinner, add oil paint pigment to color, then inject via a syringe. Turned a little afterword to remove excess then sanded. Finished one with linseed, other with butcher block oil. Worked like a champ!![ATTACH]20976[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]20977[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]20978[/ATTACH]

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:29 pm

Nicely done. Good Job!!

fredsheldon · Post by **fredsheldon** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:31 pm

Nice work. I guess there is life in these bowls even with cracks. You give me hope.

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:33 pm

Is it possible to mix some of the sanding dust with the CA glue or woodglue to make a filler and patch? I know this works for other cracks in other wood projects, but I don't know if it would be stable or durable while turning. Thanks.

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:25 pm

I find it much more interesting on the bowls to use contrasting colors and highlight nature's handiwork.

Nature is a much better artist than I will ever be.

fredsheldon · Post by **fredsheldon** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:14 am

swampgator wrote:Is it possible to mix some of the sanding dust with the CA glue or woodglue to make a filler and patch? I know this works for other cracks in other wood projects, but I don't know if it would be stable or durable while turning. Thanks.

Swampgator, the short answer is YES.

Here is a before and after picture of the bowl on the left that had several large cracks. I mixed up some fiberglass resin with some sawdust and two hours later I was able to turn the bowl down to it final size.

[ATTACH]21067[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]21068[/ATTACH]

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 2:38 pm

Super job, Fred. Thanks for the show and tell.

fredsheldon · Post by **fredsheldon** » Mon Apr 29, 2013 10:41 pm

Here are the first 6 bowls that I turned green and bagged for later finishing.
I have learned a few things such as not turning to the final thickness until the bowl dries may not be a good way to go. In all cases the bowls were out of round after drying for 2 to 3 months. Made it much harder to finish turning. My next efforts will be to turn the green wood all the way to the final thickness,bag them and let them warp/split/crack or whatever they want to do and let it go at that. I will sand them and cut off the tenon after they dry.

[ATTACH]21254[/ATTACH]

All these came from the same log. The front left one has a natural bark edge. I figure if I sold them for about $300 each I might break even on my labor costs

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 11:04 am

Really nice Fred. Those look great.

Shopsmith Forums

My First Attempt at Bowl Making

cracks in bowl