Natural Edge Walnut Bowl for Mrs. Niemi

Vaughn McMillan

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I'm way behind on posting pics of this one. A few months before the Tour de Wood 2010, Tom Niemi asked me to make a bowl for him to give to his wife. We arranged to get some of Larry's Michigan chocolate shipped to SoCal, and I had this bowl waiting for Tom when he got here with the Tour. Actually, I made two bowls, and Tom got the pick of the litter. He did choose the better of the two. ;) It's 17" x 10 1/4", and about 5 1/2" tall at the tips of the wings. The finish is my standard Formby's and PL buff, with Renaissance wax afterward.

Bowl 085 - 02  800.jpg Bowl 085 - 03  800.jpg Bowl 085 - 01  800.jpg

Last I heard, Mrs. Niemi was happy with her new bowl. :) Opinions, suggestions, and finger-pointing are all welcome -
 
Vaughn went over the top for me with this NE bowl, it is way beyond my expectations:thumb::thumb::thumb: and she LOVES it and so do I, thanks again Vaughn it is WELL DONE:D
 
How do I offer any critique contribution for work like this?:dunno: When my best work is a handle at that. :rofl: All i can give you is an atta boy Vaughn. Now you set the benchmark high you need to stretch it to get something higher cause we now expect this from you at a minimum.:);):thumb: I am still utterly amazed at how that bark stays on there heck not just the bark all the endgrain wood. Mine version would be laced with Chucks coffee grains and expoxy solutions to chip out. So my version would be called and expresso chocolate bowl.:rofl:
 
Thanks for the comments, guys. :thumb:

...I am still utterly amazed at how that bark stays on there heck not just the bark all the endgrain wood...

Sharp tools are key, but part of the trick for me is being good at patching bark, too. ;) As I recall, there were a couple of small pieces that came off on this one, but careful work with scrap bark, medium CA glue, and a good woodburner, and the repairs can be made nearly invisible.
whistling.gif


Regarding the endgrain wood, this was turned in a side grain orientation like most other bowls. (Turned from half a log, if that makes sense.) Mark Cothren did a good pictorial of the process in this thread:

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13180
 
Vaughn......I noticed in your link that he is using a chuck to mount the wood to the the bark side in the beginning of the NE turning. What kind of adapter or ? is he using to mount it so the chuck jaws can be used.
I do alot of natural edge turnings but i just bore a 1" hole in the middle and tap a two prong spur into it, mount it up and slide the tailstock up. Then form the tennon and reverse into my powergrip jaws.............
 
Dan, as I recall, Mark has a dovetail faceplate ring that fits his chuck.



They make them in three sizes...I'm not sure which one he has.

I've used my 4-prong spur center on small to medium NE blanks, but on the bigger ones I like to sink some screws into blank.
 
:doh:my bad Vaughn...by now you would think i know my end grain from my side grain. Oh man this sponge of mine is saturated :rofl::rofl: stuff keeps dropping out. I saw that post by Mark and forgot all about it. Thanks for the pointers. ;):thumb:
 
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