First real attempt at a bowl

[iMattDaddy]

I got ahold of a decent sized piece of fairly wet olive yesterday so I wanted to take a shot at roughing out a bowl. I'm thinking I probably should have thinned it out a bit more before letting it dry, but it's my first go at it so I wasn't sure. I did realize that I really need a bandsaw to round bowl blanks if I'm going to be doing anymore of these. What a pain it is to get round on the lathe.

If you do bowls, I'd like to hear how you go about roughing them out and how thick you leave the walls. Thanks.

 

[KenV]

Looks like a reasonable thickness. A good bit more finished surface than a lot leave.

Coat the end grain and wait.

Protect the center point of the tenon for easier remount.

Will be spectacular.

 

[JimB]

From what I see it looks like the walls are a good thickness. In general I leave them about 1" thick or a little more on large bowls. As the roughed bowl dries it will warp so you need the walls thick enough so when you remount it you can make it round again. Some wood warp more than others and you can never be sure how much so it is better to leave them a little thicker.

Also, remember, as it dries you run the risk of it cracking. You should place the bowl in shaving, a paper bag or use another method to control the drying.

It looks great so far!

 

[iMattDaddy]

Thank you. I filled a paper bag with the shavings and put the bowl in. I'll pull it out and coat the end grain like you suggested.

 

[KenV]

Olive cracks easily. Be prepared to do some embellishment. Unless cracked to the point of a safety risk, it can still be a beauty.

I use anchor seal on end grain and a paper bag. I get less molds growing that way.

 

[Sappheiros]

Looks pretty great to me! I still have yet to try something new on my lathe other than pens, but I really like it!

 

[Heartwoodturning]

Great bowl. I just bought a Record Sc4 chuck and I'm saving for the bowl gouges. I hope my first bowl looks as good as yours. I really like it.

 

[JimB]

Great bowl. I just bought a Record Sc4 chuck and I'm saving for the bowl gouges. I hope my first bowl looks as good as yours. I really like it.

You don't need to save much. PSI has a 1/2" bowl gouge for $20. That's all you need to do a bowl start to finish.

 

[KenV]

Great bowl. I just bought a Record Sc4 chuck and I'm saving for the bowl gouges. I hope my first bowl looks as good as yours. I really like it.

You don't need to save much. PSI has a 1/2" bowl gouge for $20. That's all you need to do a bowl start to finish.

Shipping will be much more than the gouge plus the customs.

 

[JimB]

Great bowl. I just bought a Record Sc4 chuck and I'm saving for the bowl gouges. I hope my first bowl looks as good as yours. I really like it.

You don't need to save much. PSI has a 1/2" bowl gouge for $20. That's all you need to do a bowl start to finish.

Shipping will be much more than the gouge plus the customs.

My bad. I didn't notice the posters location. Oh well.