Lilac and Alumilite Bowl

[MarkD]

I had a bunch of Lilac that cracked to the point that it wasn't much good for pen blanks so I decided to make a bowl from it.
This is the result. It's made from the cracked Lilac scraps and Alumilite. It was sanded to 600, waxed and buffed.
The dimensions are 8" x 3".

 

[MikeL]

Very nice! I wish people would stop doing this awesome work. Makes me add another thing to my list I want to try and I can't afford it. Great looking bowl!

 

[NittanyLion]

Very creative Mark. I can see why you wanted to use that lilac....looks great!

 

[triw51]

Beautiful workman ship and the colors go togeather so well. Question did you cast this in a bowl shaped mold to save resin? Thanks William

 

[Jim15]

That's awesome.

 

[MarkD]

Beautiful workman ship and the colors go togeather so well. Question did you cast this in a bowl shaped mold to save resin? Thanks William

I tried to save as much resin as possible so I glued up some 1x12" pine and turned a bowl shape on the inside to create the mold. I also turned a plug to take up space in the center of the bowl. I had hoped to be able reuse the mold but that didn't work out this time...I ened up turning the mold off the bowl.

 

[mtassie]

Unbelievable!! That looks amazing! Nice job !

 

[wwneko]

I've been thinking to do something very similar, your execution is flawless. Nicely done!

 

[Tom T]

That is very cool. What a beautiful thing to think to make. Great job turning also.

 

[Bobostro61]

Wow, that's spectacular! For the mold you made, did you cut rings from the pine and glue them stacked? I'd love to try that some time. I use polyester resin to make pen blanks though. Would that work as well as aluminite?

 

[Dai Sensei]

Looks great well done

 

[thewishman]

That is gorgeous! Worth the extra work (easy for me to say) it's a real winner.

 

[MarkD]

Wow, that's spectacular! For the mold you made, did you cut rings from the pine and glue them stacked? I'd love to try that some time. I use polyester resin to make pen blanks though. Would that work as well as aluminite?

Actually, I cut the 1x12" pine into 11 1/2" circles and glued 6 of them together. I then mounted a faceplate and turned the bowl shape on the inside of the round mold. It could probably have been done with rings as well.
From what I understand, polyester resin tends to shrink a bit and pull away from the wood as it cures. Alumilite works better when your casting wood and resin.

 

[MarkD]

Thanks for all the complements, they are greatly appreciated.