It’s Monday…let’s make something! ~ Week 31
It’s a chilly, windy and rainy day here in the Pacific Northwest…fall has arrived and is rearing it’s head! Add on top of that Daylight Saving Time over the weekend and it was the perfect storm for grumpy kids! But hey…I got them off to school and was able to get up and into the barn for today’s project!
<—- Check out today’s video!
A week or two ago, I ran down to Rockler Woodworking in North Seattle and picked up quite a few things, and this figured maple bowl blank was one of them! I love these bowl blanks, they always seem to have a great selection and they are always quite nice! Today’s was no exception. I could tell from the blank itself that there is some spalting in it…so I couldn’t wait to get this bowl made.
I started off by finding the center and then drilling a hold for the wood worm screw. Once that was done, time to pop this bad boy on the lathe. Can we talk about my lathe for a second? It’s a Powermatic lathe and it’s a BEAST. I started out with a small lathe from Harbor Freight when I started my woodshop all those years ago. And the upgrade to the Powermatic lathe was a game changer. I would have had to had one foot on the bottom rung of the other lathe to keep it from jumping all over the place while I turned this bowl. But thankfully I don’t have to deal with that anymore! It’s true what they say “You get what you pay for!”
As with any bowl, I started turning the outside. I rounded out the blank, then flattened the bottom. After that was done, I cut the foot into it which would go into the chuck jaws. Then it was time to get the shape of the outside. I wanted to keep as much as I could because of the spalt and figuring! Then it was time to sand and oil.
When that was done I flipped the bowl over so I could turn out the inside. This is where the shavings really fly! I was covered when I finished! Once the inside was turned I sanded and oiled it. Then it was time to get my cole jaws on the lathe so I could turn off the foot. This part is always a little sketchy. The vibrations can pop the bowl out of the jaws and send it bouncing around…and it doesn’t usually end well for the bowl. But I was able to get the foot turned off, and then forgot to turn the camera back on for the sanding and oiling…it’s hard to find good help these days!
I truly do enjoy turning these bigger bowls, especially when they have such character to them! And as always…pictures and videos never do the piece justice at all!
I’ll see you back up in the barn next Monday!
