Silk Purse out of a Sow's Ear
Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL
>A while back, I was lucky enough to have Andi Wolfe at my house for a demo on here Pyrography and carving techniques. My wife watched, and after I subsequently bought a decent woodburning pen she said that she might like to try that woodburning stuff. She played with in on some flat wood for a little while, and then got a wooden egg from me and did a pretty good job on that. Then she said, how about doing a bowl. Well, part of me did not want to put the time or expense into a solid wood bowl - I just don't have that much around, and at the time, certainly none what was dry.
But at the time, I was builing an extension onto my shop to hold my DC and Air Compressor, and I had lots of 2x4 cutoffs. Some of you might remember that I did a segmented bowl for last year's 2x4 contest. So, I took the cutoff, and made up a segmented bowl for her to practice on.
It came out pretty nice, but then again it was just white wood with a Celtic braid burned into it.
Then my wife approached me about donating a bowl for a silent auction for her women's club. I know how these things work - I donate a $400 bowl, and some pays $50 for it. So, I decided to finish off here 2x4 bowl. I shot it lacquer and sanded it until glass smooth, then tinted it with red tinted lacquer, and then gave it a couple of clear coats over the top. The inside is painted matt black.
Turned out pretty good. It is 9" in diameter.
I have started encourageing people that want to give segmented turning a try, to start with 2x4s - a good cheap way to learn, and get your techniques and tools dialed in.
Mark
