Cherry Salad Bowl

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

Mike Rubes

>Hi Bill,

Very nice. I am becoming more fond of the beauty of a more utilitarian shape and yours seems right on. I particuarly like how sides just barely start to curve back towards the center at the lip of the bowl. Nice touch.

Up until now, all but 2 of my bowls have been turned from dry timber. With the arrival of a Bandsaw (and hopefully soon a chainsaw to go with it), I find myself turning green wood now. I'm curious about your roughing procedures. Namely, using this bowl for an example, how close to the finished size was this piece? What was your drying method for this one? Also, when you rough one out, how closely do you try to mimic what you expect the final shape to be? Finally, how rough do you leave it? Do you use scrapers to help refine the shape while roughing or is it really rough, like what you (well, I:) ) might expect from a bowl gouge?

Thanks for the pics, I always love to see what other people are turning.

Mike

Lots of wierd white stuff on the ground and the stores are out of bread and milk in Apex, NC!!!

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Bill I think it looks great unfinished, and is bound to get plenty of oil on it anyway through use.

I have a question for you if you would be so kind please.

How do you treat your cherry blanks after roughing them to shape? I would like to begin roughing out much of the cherry I've accumulated, but I don't know how to best prep it after roughing to dry. My experience has been that if its not sealed, it'll crack as soon as you stop paying it attention, unless its anchorsealed. Do you paint the end grain? If so, inside and out? Would a coat of oil do? Do you put them in a bag or just on a shelf?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

Dick Jacobs

>Bill . . . beautiful bowl! Thanks for posting it and the story that goes along with it. I have two questions:

1�does it have a small foot on the bottom?

2�what instructions do you give people for cleaning/maintaining a finish-free salad bowl?

Thanks again for all your thoughtful, insightful and good-humored postings.

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

Marc Phillips

>Really nice Bill...

A great piece of wood, and I'm glad you're the one who turned it... you certainly did it justice!

Are you leaving it unfinished?... or waxing it?... oil?..

Looks great the way it is, but how does it look after awhile?... does it age and look better all by itself?

Thanks....

Marc

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

Glenn Hodges

>Beautiful bowl Bill, I also like my customers, now make my bowls a little on the thick and heavy side. One of my customers said she liked a lip so she could pick it up without it slipping out of her hands, and on a bowl of this size I have started doing this. Anyway, I have started listening to my customers....I think everybody has asked so many questions they have ran Bill off. Just kidding, if I know him he is out in the shop turning out bowls.

Nashville, Georgia...just rain on the ground

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

Jorge Casta�eda ~ East Penobscot Bay

>Bill,

Nice Bowl, I like them heavy too.

Also nice pictures!

Thanks for showing

Jorge

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

Dinyar Chavda

>I actually SAW this bowl yesterday, and the pictures just do not do it justice, both with regard to the colors, as well as the shape and feel. Also, one of the things that struck me was that, despite the fact that it was as thick and solid as it was, it did not appear the least bit clunky--kinda reminded me of those big guys you read about who are graceful on their feet.

Dinyar

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

David Hammond, in Powder Springs GA

>Very nice bowl Bill, very nice. One of the "to do" things on my list is try to finish a bowl, with no finish - my goal would be for it to look like the bowl you just posted - beautiful!

David

Re: Cherry Salad Bowl

Bill Grumbine, Kutztown PA

>Good evening all

Glenn is right, I have been in the shop all day, still cleaning up from the aftermath of the Christmas rush, and then finishing out by roughing two more bowls out of the wild cherry I posted a little while ago. But thank you all for your very kind comments. And now on to answers...

Mike R., this bowl was cut from a log that was very uniform in its shape, almost a perfect circle, and so the warping was minimal. The roughed out size was approximately 1 3/4" thick at the rim, and tapered down thinner through the walls to the bottom. I did not measure wall thickness after finishing, but when I finish turn any bowl, the outside is turned just enough to get it round and smooth, and then the inside is hollowed out to make the most room. The shape is pretty much determined when it is rough turned. There is some room for tweaking it a bit, but not much for changing it significantly. As far as how rough I leave it, I usually try to avoid lots and lots of tearout. Roughing a piece is a good time to practice tool control and technique. There are ways to hold a bowl gouge that leave the surface as smooth as smooth can be. I don't often use a scraper in the roughing process, although it is certainly legitimate to do so, and I often use a scraper in finishing. I also shear scrape with the bowl gouge on the inside. It can be exciting, but the effort is worth it.

Mike S., I have a love/hate relationship with cherry. I love the look and the way it works (most of the time). I hate the way it warps and cracks while it is drying, but that is a characteristic of any fruitwood, at least any with which I am familiar. I turn a blank so that the rim is the widest, or thickest part of the bowl. From the rim it tapers down to its thinnest point, the bottom. If the sides and bottom are thicker than the rim, it is going to crack, period. Then I coat the endgrain only inside and out, with Anchorseal. Glue, paint, and other moisture buffering substances will work, but Anchorseal is the best, mainly in that it is inexpensive compared to other options, and easy to apply. You can buy the stuff direct in five gallon cans for about $40.00.

Once the bowl is sealed, I wrap it in newspaper for about two months (for a bowl of this size). Then it comes out and sits around until the muse strikes me, or until someone orders it. I have soaked them in soap (too much work and too much money in soap), boiled them (works well for problem woods) and just let them sit around. I also have a huge kiln I built from an industrial freezer, but right now it is sitting in a barn with no electricity since I needed to make room for the Legacy machine. This particular bowl was only air dried, with the newspaper wrap process.

Dick, the foot is approximately 4" in diameter. This shape lends itself well to a substantial foot while allowing the piece to look like it is floating off the tabletop, no matter what the size. Four inches is just a hair under the "foot equals 1/3 the rim" formula for a bowl of 14", but this one does not even come close to rocking. Cleaning this bowl is just like cleaning a cutting board. Wash it off with soap and water, and let it drain dry. With proper treatment, it should last about 100 years or so. After that, I really don't care. ;-)

Marc, this was left unfinished at the customer's request. It will darken naturally with age, and it will develop a patina from the oils used in it as well as handling. Even if it just sits on a shelf, it is going to get a nice deep reddish brown color to it. I know that because it has been sitting in the shop for over three years, and it had a nice color to it right up until the gouge was applied.

Glenn, like I said, you were right, I was in the shop turning. Rain only huh? When I came down from the shop it was still daylight, and the thermometer said 12 degrees!

Jorge, it seems most people (except for other turners and art critics) like them thick. If it is 12 here, what is it like for you up there?

Dinyar, of course it is graceful, since I am one of those guys! ;-) I am glad you made it home safely last night. I said to Jim and Bruce after you stopped to make sure everything was all right, that I did not think fast enough, and that I should have said we were getting together to talk about you since you had left! Bruce commented that that was why he stayed to the very end.

David, thank you. I am honored that you would seek to emulate my work. Have at it, and I hope yours comes out even better.

Thanks again, everyone, for your comments, and for taking time to respond.

Bill

-7� F

Jorge Casta�eda ~ East Penobscot Bay

>Less cold today than yesterdays -28� F