End Grain Bowls?

Re: End Grain Bowls?

John Veerkamp

>Steve,

I frequently turn end grain. I have turned oak, elm, walnut, soft maple, cherry, peach, apple, osage orange and plum. all work well. you get nice grain patterns , especially with spalted woods, Just be sure that you have your tools verrrry sharp.

John

Re: End Grain Bowls? *LINK*

Dave Peebles Lyons, Ohio!

>Hi Steve,

You should really check out some of Box Elder Joe Quesada has turned. It is some of the best I have ever seen.

Best wishes,

Dave


Joe's Box Elder turnings

#471 is what I'm after!

steve antonucci

>Thanks for the link! I have a bowl blank of considerable size ~17x6 that has the same look as #471.

I'm inspired to know that it can be done, and even though painfully slow, will be worth the effort.

Steve

Re: End Grain

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Steve,

When I turn end grain pieces (bowls/few, hollow forms/usually) I drill out the pithe when the piece is still wet. This seems to release tension and reduces or eliminates cracking. You do, however, need to be carefull to keep your wall thickness even so that things dry with less warping and stress.

Mark

-2=mail

Re: End Grain Bowls?

Tom Sweeney - Coatesville, PA

>Hey Steve,

Is this the blank from 5 barns? I already used some of your tools & they work fine :-)

I remember Dominic turned an end grain box elder a while ago - Don't know if he posted it on WC. maybe you can search under his name or maybe he will pop in with a link.

I hope it works out for you. I tried an end grain pear bowl from some wood Joanne Adler(sp?) gave me at 5 barns but I had a lot of problem with the end grain tearing out.

Yes it is.

steve antonucci

>It's the box elder that we traded for my old tools. Glad to hear that they still work.

I roughed it, and I'm usually in a hurry to get it off the lathe, so I've got some tearout too. I expect that I can clean it up when I final turn it later this year.

S

Re: End Grain Bowls?

Brad Vietje

>Steve,

End-grain bowls (and vases) can be a lot of fun. You can make them the whole diameter of the log, with the pith in the center, which can be left intact, or drilled out, but the bowl is more likely to crack with the pith intact. You can also make these with the entire piece to one side of the pith for smaller pieces or larger logs.

Two thoughts:

1. The generally accepted "rules" for getting smooth, efficient cuts tell us to cut from the center of the bowl outward to the rim (remember, this is exactly the opposite of side-grain bowls) to cut down the grain. You can drill a hole to depth, and work each sucessive cut from the center outward, deepening the bowl as you go. If you cut into an end-grain bowl from rim to base, you'll get a much rougher surface, with a lot more tear-out.

2. This is an excellent place to us a hook tool or ring tool. These are designed to work like a bevel-supported gouge, but can work where a gouge just can't get in there to make a good, bevel-supported cut. Hook and ring tools really excell at cutting end grain and leaving a very smooth finish off the tool. There are many sorts, like the Termite, Exocet, ProForme, Andre Martel hook tools, and even home-made varieties.

Good Luck, and safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Thetford, VT