Gofer
Member
I mentioned a "little bowl" to my buddy Mark, and I figured I should share with everyone, here it is. The wood is Elm and was cut down to make room for the ring road around the north end of Edmonton and was part of a harvest that filled a 20 foot car hauler trailer. It was cut into a roughly into shape with a chainsaw and put onto the lathe with a little bit of sweat and colorful language. It was a little harder than normal being that it was roughly 24" across and the trunk itself was about 16" in diameter making the "Bowl" weigh about 100lbs.
Once secured in the lathe I had to do a little triming with my 16" electric chainsaw so that it wold rotate and clear the bed ways. when the moment of truth appeared I could only spin it at 125rpm before the lathe started to dance. It was slow going with it taking a few hours before it was roughed out with the final rpm of 520. It was hard to believe that I was getting wet from the water coming from a log that had been drying under cover for over 3 years.
With the blank having so much water still in it the center of gravity changed everytime I left it overnight (it was wrapped up to prevent cracking) with the water migrating. I was not going to push my luck after I got it roughed out without having it crack in the week it spent on the lathe, so I cut a big tenon on the bottom cleaned up the top side and got it good and drunk. It took a little adjusting but I squeezed it into the 25 gallon plastic barrell I use for my DNA "drunk tank" where it wil take up residence for a couple more weeks due to the extra large size of the blank. I doubt that I will do much more than wrap it really well and stick it in the shed to dry fully for a few months before I use the center saver and get a nested set from it.
Enough typing have a look at this fun,
I will take more pics after it sobers up and goes for a little more spinning. If I would have thought I would have taken pics of all the other bowls that were roughed out that weekend, roughly 30 in all. Best part was that the wife was happy to see a pile of logs disappear for beside the house.
Bruce
Once secured in the lathe I had to do a little triming with my 16" electric chainsaw so that it wold rotate and clear the bed ways. when the moment of truth appeared I could only spin it at 125rpm before the lathe started to dance. It was slow going with it taking a few hours before it was roughed out with the final rpm of 520. It was hard to believe that I was getting wet from the water coming from a log that had been drying under cover for over 3 years.
With the blank having so much water still in it the center of gravity changed everytime I left it overnight (it was wrapped up to prevent cracking) with the water migrating. I was not going to push my luck after I got it roughed out without having it crack in the week it spent on the lathe, so I cut a big tenon on the bottom cleaned up the top side and got it good and drunk. It took a little adjusting but I squeezed it into the 25 gallon plastic barrell I use for my DNA "drunk tank" where it wil take up residence for a couple more weeks due to the extra large size of the blank. I doubt that I will do much more than wrap it really well and stick it in the shed to dry fully for a few months before I use the center saver and get a nested set from it.
Enough typing have a look at this fun,
I will take more pics after it sobers up and goes for a little more spinning. If I would have thought I would have taken pics of all the other bowls that were roughed out that weekend, roughly 30 in all. Best part was that the wife was happy to see a pile of logs disappear for beside the house.
Bruce
