It’s Monday…let’s make something! ~ Week 52!!!
Week 52! I started this project one year ago as a way to get myself into the barn to make things on a weekly basis with no excuses! And now that I’m at week 52 I can’t help but think back to all the things I’ve made! I started with a bowl, my comfort zone, and then pushed myself to try new things! Bud vases, lidded vessels, mortar and pestle and so many other things have been featured in my blog and IG reels over the past year! Do you have a favorite?!?
Well..let’s get to today’s project! Check out the video here ——>
I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to make this morning, but when I walked into the barn I saw this large chunk of cherry that my neighbor gave me last year. I feel so fortunate to have people around me who think of me when they are cutting down trees…giving me the chance to try new things and push myself! I’ve made many things from the logs from his property…and I still have so many more! I am excited to work with them!
But today I grabbed this log and took it to the Grizzly bandsaw and started to break it down into a piece I could mount on the lathe. Once I got it where I wanted it, size wise, I drilled a hole for the woodworm screw and mounted it to the lathe. Being green wood (wood that has been cut recently and still has a TON of moisture in it) I knew that there would be cracks already there, and more that would form during and after turning as the piece began to dry.
I worked on shaping the outside of the bowl, taking off a ton of wood that was rotted and/or cracked. I even had to use my hand saw to cut off a little nub so I could reset the tail stock on the bottom of the bowl where the foot would be. In this video I left more of the actual process, so it’s sped up quite a bit. But you can see how I removed a lot of material from the bottom in order to get to solid wood where I could turn a foot.
Once the foot was turned I worked on the final shaping of the outside of the bowl. There was a pretty large crack up on the top rim of the bowl, but I had an idea that might make it so it wouldn’t crack as much…but that might be wishful thinking. After getting the outside of the bowl turned, I sanded, oiled, sanded, buffed with wood shavings and oiled the outside one more time. Then it was time to turn the bowl around and mount the foot into the chuck.
I needed to make sure that I took it nice and easy while turning the inside of the bowl. With such large cracks in the wood, it meant that large chunks could potentially go flying off the bowl and take me out. (I stood a ways to the side for this entire project haha) But thankfully I was able to keep the piece from breaking apart…and even got to turn the rim the way I’d pictured in my head. I’ve not done this style before, and by doing it this way, I was able to leave the bowl thicker on the walls. I turned out the rest of the inside of the bowl and then sanded, oiled, sanded, buffed and oiled again.
This is where I’d normally mount the bowl in the cole jaws on the lathe to remove the foot. But because of the odd shaped rim, I wasn’t going to be able to do that. So I got out my handy dandy bowl blank and used the tail stock to hold the bowl up against the blank. then I carefully got to work removing the foot. I had to leave a little nub for the tail stock to push up against, but I sanded and oiled as much as I could. After taking it off the lathe, I used a power tools to remove the nub and then an orbital sander to finish sanding the bottom.
After a final whole bowl oiling…the bowl is done! I’m super excited about how this bowl turned out! I have my fingers, toes and eyes crossed that it won’t crack too much. I’ll keep it in the garage where the moisture level is higher than inside the house…so hopefully that’ll help with the drying process.
I know I’ve said this several times over the past year…but I’ve really enjoyed this year long project! I’ve pushed myself and created some really fun things. And by making the videos and writing the blog posts I’ve been able to share the process and the products with people from all over the world! It’s crazy to think about!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this past year as much as I have! And if there’s been a favorite item that I made, leave me a comment and let me know!! I hope you all have any amazing week! And don’t worry, I’ll continue to create new things in the barn to share, but it just won’t be every Monday!
But until next time…thanks for joining me in the barn to see what I make!
