Oak Bowl

Published Jan. 16, 2009 at 2:53 a.m.

This is the first green turn in my life. I have been practicing woodworking retirement too long and decided to get back to business after a long break. I have completed many turning projects prior to a decade long break. I prefer to work primarily with show pieces that will never be used for food service. Anyhow, about the bowl: The stock was chosen from a tree that was from my neighborhood. The tree was cut during the summer months of 2008. I mounted it with a 4” face plate on the inside of the bowl. I turned the outside shape first. I finished sanded the outiside shape sandpaper – 100, 150, 220. After applying 3-4 coats of tung oil, I allowed it to dry in a brown paper bag. The bowl dried and had the cracks open pretty wide shortly after turning. It took about 4-5 weeks for the cracks in the wood to subside; at this point I glued a backing board (poplar) to the bottom of the bowl and mounted the 4” face plate to comlete the inside, also finished sanding the inside with 100, 150, 220 grit. Applied 4 coats of tung oil and polished with the last several times before using the parting tool. I used a chisel to scrape the bottom clear of the backing board and the glue/paper towl. Sanding a bit to get a slight concave shape on the bottom helped me get an even edge for support. Note: all lathe work done useing a small bull nose chisel with a sharp burr (many times to the grinder). The only way to turn with the sharpest cut known to man!

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