Purpleheart Bowl with abalone inlay

[jtate]

Geez, this stuff is hard! Turned a small bowl from purpleheart, turned a space for the inlay, cut the iulay pieces from an abalone shell, glued them in with CA, added a coat of System Three Clear Coat and here it is!

Diamter 4.5 inches Height 2 inches.

 

[rhahnfl]

That's a nice one too. You've been busy turning bowls it would seem.

 

[jtate]

Oh yes, Bowls Bowls and More Bowls.

I've become a hot glue fan. There was a thread recently about glueing a waste lock to a bowl blank with CA. I used the cheapo Hot Glue Gun for this one.

Ca's expensive, hot melt glue is very cheap. A glue gun from WalMart is less and five dollars and you can glue lots of stuff with it. I did the purpleheart bowl with this technique as I didn't want to waste any of the purpleheart by making a tenon from it.

Tip: if using hot melt glue, put the two things to be adhered together in the oven and warm them, to about 160 degrees before gluing. If they're warm, the glue doesn't cool and solidyfiy as quickly and you have more working time to get your bowl blank placed properly on your wasteblock.

On the Purpleheart bowl I glued on the wasteblock and left it sitting overnight to make sure it was secure. Boy was it ever secure!

On other bowls after they've been turned, I've just popped the glue joint apart. On this one I put it in the oven at 160 and it came apart quite esily once it got a little bit warm.

 

[rhahnfl]

That's pretty neat. Bowl blanks can be very expensive and it is a shame to waste any more than absolutely necessary. I had a salesman ask me about turning them and when I told him I'd yet to turn a bowl he told me to turn a few out of a half log until I got the hang of it so as not to waste money on a blank that I'd probably blow up anyway.

 

[jtate]

Bowl turning is much easier with green wood than well-seasoned wood like this. Probably part of the reason it's easier with green wood is because green wood's cheap and you're not all tense about messing it up.

 

[rhahnfl]

That was the salesmans point. He said if I got to doing it well I'd be more apt to continue with it. If I spent a bunch and got nothing to show from it I'd just quit. He'd rather have a bunch of sales later on than one expensive one up front.

 

[MarkHix]

It's a beautiful bowl. I've turned a couple of purple heart bowls and they were right up there with Bois D'arc for hardness. I'm going to try the hot glue trick. I ususally use yellow glue. Greenwood is easier to turn and spring is just around the corner. That means the neighbors will be trimming the trees so I get more practice wood and the occasional nice spalted peice.

 

[R2]

Sorry to sound a sour note but I don't like the design of that at all.

 

[Gary Max]

Heck I think it looks great---but then I know how much work it takes to do the inlay.

 

[jwoodwright]

Nice bowl. Great inlay.

 

[jtate]

Thanks for the responses - I'm wondering what Arthur didn't like. I'm open to feedback but I need something a wee bit more specific. Again. Thanks to everyone, including Arthur.

 

[louisbry]

Nice work and the inlays really add to it. The design is fine and is more suited for a functional bowl.

 

[louisbry]

Nice work and the inlays really add to it. The design is fine and is more suited for a functional bowl.

 

[R2]

Julia, did you get my email?[:X]

 

[jtate]

I just did get your response, Arthur. Thanks. I'm looking for ideas on design and am, in fact, taking a seminar this summer to enhance my skills in this area. I think I have the basic skills and techniques opf the craft down now. It's time to learn more of the theory and whys and wherefores about what works and what doesn't. After this summer's workshop, y'all can expect to see some fabulous stuff!

 

[TellicoTurning]

Julia,
I agree about the hardness of the PH... I have a partial bowl laying on my work bench trying to figure out how I'm going to be able to reconfigure and finish the bowl.. the bottom blew out and ripped off my chuck.. and the edge has shattered from a catch..

 

[R2]

Julia that's great!![:X][:X]

 

[jtate]

Oz,

Sounds like you may have made a round shadow box frame!

Doesn't it just kill you when the bottom blows out? Especially on a beautiful wood like PH.

Julia