Apple natural edge bowl

Nathan Hawkes

Member
Messages
96
This is a newly completed (haven't reverse turned the foot yet) bowl from an apple tree that died in a friend's yard. It is roughly 11" in dia., and about 8" tall. For an apple tree, it was huge. Roughly 15" in dia. It unfortunately succumbed to disease and ants (fortunately for me it succumbed to be turned on my lathe....)


The finish is Antique Oil, but it has only one coat so far, and is still very wet at the moment. Also, its missing bark in one spot from a chainsaw mark--couldn't avoid that. I was amazed that I didn't need any CA glue to keep the bark on. Hopefully it will stay on as it dries.

For those of you that haven't turned green apple, it is somewhat of an experience. It literally sprays water out of it as it spins! It felt like it was raining inside the shed! Sanding it was quite a challenge, and took three times as long as normal. I had to keep stopping and blowing off the wet dust off the sandpaper with compressed air.



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You HAVE been busy :D

how is the apple to turn?

Cheers!


Yeah, I've fallen into the "vortex" as it seems to be referred. Turning is quite addictive. You should see the dozens of paper bags full of roughouts!! My McNaughton is getting a workout!!! Anyway, the apple is a dream to turn. It peels off very easily. I s probably could've started with 220 or 320 sandpaper if it had been dry, but because of the moisture, I had to start with 180; the finer grits really gummed up fast. I don't know it was the sanding or the spinning, but it was dry enough after the first couple grits to go to 400.
I wish I had a video camera; as the gouge got warm from nice, long deep cuts, a small mist of steam could be seen around the exiting wood!!!!
 
Beautiful wood!! Absolutely beautiful!!

I must confess to being a bit jealous of your Apple wood turning. I grew up on a farm that had 1000+ apple trees, a great many of which I helped to plant. Before they were mature enough to harvest apples from I moved away and then some years later my Dad sold the farm. The new owners received permission to do some developing, and I kept a close watch on the orchards to see if I could buy some of the wood from the trees I had helped to plant, but obviously I was not watching closely enough as I drove by after a couple of days of inattention and one of the orchards was gone...., not just cut down, but had vanished! I guess the new owners had hired a contractor to come in and clear the property.

Anyway ... you have a nice bowl in the works. Please show us the finished version?

cheers eh?
 
Somebody get the fire extinguisher, because Nate's on fire. :eek:

You've been turning a lot there, dude. This is another nice one. :thumb:
 
Thanks folks. I've become addicted here recently. You should see the bags of roughouts I have drying in the shed.....As for the apple, I just hope it doesn't crack on me. The whole thing is a pretty consistent 3/8", but the base is a little thicker--1/2" plus the tenon. I need to turn that off pretty soon here; I'm a little worried about the thickness cracking on the bottom.
 
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