My First Attempt at Bowl Making

[tomsalwasser]

Nice work Fred! Welcome back. A few questions if you don't mind.

What was it like when the bowls blew out? At what speed are you running your 10ER lathe? Do you wish you were on a Mark V/VII with variable speed?

Tom

[fredsheldon]

Nice work Fred! Welcome back. A few questions if you don't mind.

What was it like when the bowls blew out? At what speed are you running your 10ER lathe? Do you wish you were on a Mark V/VII with variable speed?

Tom

Tom,
I have a PowerPro V as well as a 10ER. As I have stated in great detail in previous posts in this thread I prefer the 10ER with a speed changer for turning bowls, of which I have turned over 100 on the 10ER alone. The problem is I didn't remove all the pith from some of my prepared blocks thus causing cracks to form while they were drying even though I sealed them with sealer. I used a slow speed on the 10ER.

[fredsheldon]

Fred, That is a beautiful bowl!!!

How long did it take?

Mike

Mike, It took about 3 hours total time since it's a small bowl. I already had the blanks rounded out so all I had to do was mount the block and start turning. Since I use carbide cutting tools I didn't require any down time sharping them. Using dry wood takes about twice as long to turn as green wood since the tools get hotter and the wood is harder. I spent about 30 minutes sanding and polishing the finished bowl.
Fred

[TomH]

Hell of a pencil cup! Great start! Sometime you just have to chuck up wood and see what comes out of it. You'd think after making a bunch of bowls or whatever, you'd lose interest but it doesn't happen! Each one is different (or at least mine are!) and the wood will guide you.

Biggest thing I learned as a beginner turner is learn how to sharpen your tools and do it often!

Turning is a Zen exercise, you can just shut out the world and watch the shavings fly!

[TomHoffman]

I did not read all the post in this thread, however I have been turning bowls on my Mark V for several years. I thought all you turners might appreciate a really nice source for Air Dried sealed bowl blanks of many native hard woods.

I found this place 20+ years ago when I was wandering around the back country roads around Strawberry Point Iowa. I met the father and the son. They had recently been written up in Wood Magazine. I went out to find them. Well worth the trip.

http://johnsonwoodproducts.com

Give Randy a call, they are nice folks to deal with. They ship all over.

[Jose90]

Mee also want to thank you for sahring this link..It help me a lot

[fredsheldon]

well it's been over a year since I have done any bowl turning, I guess after producing 90 bowls in one year I got burned out. Now I'm getting into the mood again and I have some wood that has been drying for two years now and I'm interested in how they will be like to turn instead of the wet wood I used originally. And several new folks at work who were not around when I passed out all the bowls for Christmas two years ago are wanting some for themselves after seeing all the bowls on their coworker's desks.

[Mike907]

Glad to see you back, Fred, and looking forward to seeing what you make.

Mike

[BuckeyeDennis]

Fred, you've been gone way too long! But while you were missing in action, I did my best to fill your size 16 shoes. I turned my first bowl, and my oldest daughter went to a Jimmy Buffet concert!

[fredsheldon]

Dennis,

Great job on your first bowl. I hope you keep at it, you have talent.
Fred