Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

Inside NIP Bowl

Ben Aragon

>The knots converge at the bottom of the bowl.

Side View1 NIP Bowl 

Ben Aragon

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Side View 2 NIP Bowl 

Ben Aragon

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Re: Inside NIP Bowl

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>Very nice Ben....I love the orientation of the knots. This wood really fascinates me.

Do you turn it with a light bulb behind it while turning? When I'm doing something really thin, I find this a must.

Nice job Ben.

Jennifer

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

RonZ

>Wow Ben, really nice work. Great orientation and the foot adds class, too.

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

Sascha

>hey ben, where do you live. i have a shipment in my backyard of about 15 logs of NIP, but it's hard to come by here in los angeles.

how do you treat yours when turning. rought, soap/alcohol?? then finish.

do you use CA glue anywhere, i am just curious about YOUR way. i pretty much use rom kent's approach.

sascha

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

JL

>Absolutely stunning! It almost looks like it's on fire.

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

Mike Schwing from Md.

>What a stunning piece of work! Excellent turning Ben. I like your choice of a pedestal base to show off the knots coming together as well.

Now if you really want to show off next time, hollow the pedestal so it is also translucent.

Light Bulb

Ben Aragon

>Jennifer,

I use the laser on my hollowing rig to gauge my thickness, then when I�m getting thin I�ll stop the lathe and check it with a light bulb. I don�t turn using a light bulb. So far I�ve been relying on the laser and sound to gauge things while turning.

You know how it is when you find something that works you don�t look for a better way, well next time I�ll try turning while using the light bulb at the same time. It seems so very obvious, don�t why I didn�t try it. These two NIP bowls are the only things I�ve tried to turn this thin (translucent).

Thank you,

Ben

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

Ben Aragon

>Sascha ,

I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, There was a guy in our turning club from Florida that brought some NIP out. Do to an illness he was forced to move back, he was out here less than a year. He didn�t want to hall his wood back, so he sold me about 5 pieces, this is the only NIP I�ve seen sold out here and one of the few time I�ve bought wood. So far I only turn local wood acquired from a tree trimmer friend or trades I�ve made with members. It would be hard to come by here also and I�m afraid the shipping might be a little too expensive for me. I posted another bowl on May 27, and the process I used on May 29, here it is I hope this helps.

Best Wishes,

Ben

Posted on May 29:

NORFOLK ISLAND PINE

I posted a NIP bowl on Friday the 27th and have received several emails asking how I arrived at this bowl and how I accomplished different aspects. I thought I would post this message to consolidate the answers and describe processes I went through. I�m no kind of expert on NIP or woodturning for that matter, these are just the processes I went through. I�m sorry but this email is quite long.

OIL MIXTURE

1-gallon Boiled Linseed Oil.

1-gallon oil based varnish from Lowes.

1-gallon of Mineral Spirits.

All in a new 5-gallon bucket from Lowes.

The only reason I didn�t use 3 gallons of Danish oil is I couldn�t afford them. I had on hand a gallon of Boiled Linseed oil and a gallon of Oil Based Varnish I used on a fence, and I went out and bought a gallon of Mineral Spirits.

FORTIFY KNOTS

I treated the knots with CA glue through out the whole process. After rough turning I applied a sanding sealer to the knot area and filled any voids in the knots with coffee grounds and CA glue. All along the finish turning process you have to keep a close I on the knots if they become loose or develop chips you need to stop turning and repeat the CA glue fortifying process. If you stay on top of the knots they come out smooth as glass like the rest of the bowl.

I�m turning a second one right now and I have found it easier and these are the changes I made. The first problem is with drying a NIP bowl with alcohol, the bowl is very dry and the grain likes to tear, makes for a lot of sanding. I think this is why most people that make this kind of bowl soak them in a soap solution to stabilize them first, they finish turn better.

TURNING PROCESS

1) First Rough turn to 1� to 3/4� thick

2) Stabilize with the alcohol process, this is to prevent green wood from cracking.

3) Fortify knots; don�t forget to use sanding sealer around the area.

4) Second Rough turn to 1/4� to 5/16� thick.

5) Soak in oil solution over night and let dry the next day.

6) Fortify knots, all long process if needed.

7) Finish turn to 1/8� thick.

Steps 4 and 5 are the changes I made. The soaking in oil one time before the final finish turning really helped considerably with the tear out problem. The oil bulked up the wood fibers and lubricated the wood, it then cut beautifully.

THE OIL FINISH

This how I arrived at the translucent finish.

1) I would soak the piece over night in the oil solution.

2) Take it out to dry in the morning and let dry until I would get home from work at 5 PM.

3) Sand the piece and clean it, then soak again.

I did this for 6 days.

On the 7th day I buffed the bowl with the Beall buffing system.

CONCLUSION

There is nothing fast about making this type of bowl, take your time and have fun. I�m no kind of expert on NIP or woodturning for that matter, these are just the processes I went through. I hope this helps answer any questions. Here are two websites that will help http://www.ronkent.com/RKhome.html and http://home.earthlink.net/~puketarget/id1.html . If I can be of anymore help just ask.

Best Wishes,

Ben

Hollowing the Foot

Ben Aragon

>Mike,

Thank you for the compliments. Sound like an interesting idea to hollow the foot. How would you hollow it? Would you hollow it through the bowl or reverse chuck it and just hollow the foot and not go into the bowl?

Best Wishes,

Ben

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

Mike Rubes, Apex, NC

>Hi Ben,

Nice work! Very good photography as well. It really shows off the "flame" in the NIP.

Thanks for the pics, nice work.

Mike

Re: Hollowing the Foot

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Ben I guess it would depend on what tools you have. If it were in my shop, I'd vac chuck it and turn the base hollow. OR if it were a small job I might just use the Foredom and a couple of ball shaped burrs to excavate it.

This work has plenty enough WOW factor, but it is those last tiny little details that people don't expect that make them masterpieces.

Really nice work.

Doughnut chuck it?

Craig Daymon

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Re: Hollowing the Foot

Ben Aragon

>Mike,

I have a vacuum chuck and that�s how I�d do it. I did turned a small detail on the bottom of this one. I friend once told me � The enemy of good is better �. Right now I think I�m going to chicken out and live with very good. Maybe the next one I�ll hollow the foot or some day when I get the nerve I�ll hollow this one. Thanks for the advice.

Ben

Re: Hollowing the Foot

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Oh I would leave this one alone, as is. Its plenty nice enough to please anyone. It would be difficult at this point to recenter it properly anyway without some large jaws to center it from the rim. I was just giving some potential ideas for next time.

Re: Hollowing the Foot

bill Crommett in seneca

>The enemy of "good" is "Better" ! Why didn't I think of that bit of wisdom ?

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

Barry

>Absolutely beautiful! A sixteenth of an inch! That's potato chip thin! But a lot more beautiful!

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

Ben Aragon

>It might be closer to 3/32.

Ben

Re: Norfolk Island Pine Bowl

Barry Turner

>Whew! Thank goodness! I worry when people turn such beautiful, yet dreadfully thin bowls. (Guess I keep thinking about all of my ham-fisted friends and relatives and what they might do to a work of art like this.)

Re: Norfolk ..... pith?

Ruth Niles

>I just turned by first few Norfolk Island Pine bowls, 7" dia. 4" high, no problem with turning, soaking or drying. About a week later the pith sort of shrunk and looks ugly. I treated it, and the knots, with CA glue and am not filling with CA mixed with sawdust from a red wood (can't remember the name, something exotic). But now I'll have to sand it and possibly resoak? and refinish?.

Did you have any problems with any of the pieces you turned?

Thanks,

Ruth

Re: Norfolk ..... pith?

Ben Aragon

>Ruth,

I did treat the knots and pith with CA glue and coffee grounds,

Ben

Re: Norfolk ..... pith?

Ruth Niles

>Ben, I did the same thing, patched or treated with CA and coffee grounds. After final turning, I soaked the bowls in oil, the pith shrunk, redid it, sanded, buffed, 2 weeks later the patch separated in spots. Guess the CA didn't adhere good, but after reading about glues in "Russ's Corner", I see why. Shoulda used TiteBond II (my favorite).

Thanks and yours look great!

Ruth