Apple Wood For Bowls

[W.Y.]

Meant to post this yesterday but ran out of time :redface:



The same person that I gave the plum wood pen to yesterday gave me this apple wood today.
Taking pictures of it was an after thought so I had already cut this big 12" diameter one in half so I sat the pieces back together for the picture .

It was well waxed on both ends with just a few small cracks showing. He thought it was about 8 or 10 years old .
I have never cut such a hard piece lengthwise before. My chain was smoking after the first inch in so I stopped and gave it a good filing and it still took a long time to cut that piece in half like this.

.

There was also a smaller seven inch diameter one and I cut it in half lengthwise as well and here it is sitting on top of the 12" one.
The round one in the forefront is cherry with lots of splits in the ends. I have not cut any ends off yet to see if they have gone too far.

There appears to be some nice grain pattern in that wood so I might try one of the smaller pieces and make him a small bowl first . I have a feeling that wood is going to require frequent tool sharpenings as I go.
I recall trying dry apple wood a few years ago and it was like turning concrete

 

[bitshird]

Very nice haul Bill, I'll be it smells good while you turn it.

 

[W.Y.]

This was last night

I got around to making a bowl from one of the seven inch diameter pieces . It took half of one piece so with a little luck I should be able to get three more from that little log.
I was pleased to see that it was heavily spalted yet at just the right stage where it was solid and required no stabilizing .
I put a clear lacquer finish on this one but might try an oil finish on the next ones to enhance the grain better.
I will probably turn the three more little ones before attempting the big hard and heavy ones from the 12" diameter piece. Those pieces will be about all my little 1220 Jet wants to handle .
This first one is 6.5" diameter at the rim and 3.5" deep.
Gotta love free wood when it turns out like this.

Then this was this afternoon



I went at the remaining part of the little seven inch diameter spalted log this afternoon .
I was lucky enough to get three more bowls out of that little log. These are all between 5.5 to 6.00 inches in diameter and all with different shapes.
At this point they are only oiled and I like what the oil does to the coloring and grain better than the clear lacquer on the first one. .
I will give them another coat or two of oil and then after about 48 hours they should be ready to buff to a nice sheen.

 

[Fred]

William ...


I like your bowls and especially like the way you have turned off the bottoms. That will make folks wonder how you turned them and always generates rooms for conversations. Just how do you reattach your bowls to the lathe for working the bottoms? I use a very nice cole jaw setup make by the good folks over at Hens and Chicks.

Great job on using the wood and discovering just what is hidden inside the logs. I award you several large thumbs up on all your work! (That and a $1.50 at Waffle House will get you at least a cup of coffee!) :biggrin:

 

[wdcav1952]

William, those are beautiful! It makes me want to go cut down one of my apple trees! May I ask what oil you chose to use?

 

[Rick_G]

nice bowls William. Nice to get wood that is dry enough to finish the bowl right away and not have to wait 6 months to finish turning.

 

[W.Y.]

William ...


I like your bowls and especially like the way you have turned off the bottoms. That will make folks wonder how you turned them and always generates rooms for conversations. Just how do you reattach your bowls to the lathe for working the bottoms? I use a very nice cole jaw setup make by the good folks over at Hens and Chicks.

Great job on using the wood and discovering just what is hidden inside the logs. I award you several large thumbs up on all your work! (That and a $1.50 at Waffle House will get you at least a cup of coffee!) :biggrin:

Thanks for the coffee :biggrin:

I have made just about every size and design of cole jaws and donut chucks etc that there are plans for.
You can see some of them in my PictureTrail albums under my Shop pictures in the signature link below.

Since I got my vacuum chucking system I seldon use any of them except for very large bowls where I don't have enough vacuum to safely hold them.

 

[W.Y.]

William, those are beautiful! It makes me want to go cut down one of my apple trees! May I ask what oil you chose to use?

For that particular purpose I use Watco Danish Oil .
It has just enough polyurethane plus a bunch of other ingredients to give the finish a real nice sheen after about 48 hours of curing and buffing on the three stage Beal buffing system using first Tripoli then White Diamond , then Carnuba wax .

 

[TellicoTurning]

William,
very very nice.. I love the grain in applewood.. those are beautiful

 

[tim self]

Nice work William. Like the apple. Wanna trade some walnut for apple? jk I also like your bottoms too, pardon the pun. I've gotta cut mine a little shallower as yours.

 

[W.Y.]

Thanks for all the nice replys.


Here are the same three bowls all buffed and ready to go.
That oil has some pretty decent driers in its formula because it was cured enough for buffing just 24 hours after the third application. Of course it was a nice warm sunny day yesterday so I sat them out of top of my wood pile to cure. Probably would have taken 48 hours if allowed to cure indoors.

They now have a smooth as silk sheen to them that I feel is adequate as a shine for this particular type of turning.

 

[artme]

Great timber turned into wonderful bowls.