Unique Red Cedar Display Bowl

Dave Hoskins

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5,252
Location
Parker County, Texas
I turned two of the today, and that they are so similar I'll only post one. Any of the usual minor cracking was sealed with good ol' superglue. This was turned end grain so I could have the upper edge that I wanted. I've already had several inquiries so I don't think they will last very long, which will in turn make me turn more of them. I carried the outside sweep pretty much to the lip edge though it probably doesn't look like it because of all the gaps the wood has. But, I do love the rustic look of it. The bowl has an average diameter of 12 1/2" with a height of 4 1/2" and a depth of 3". It's a little thicker on the bottom but it's quite acceptable. A little bit of extra weight on the butt of the bowl never hurt anybody that I know of. I first sealed the wood with walnut oil, which as the wood is so dry it soaked in 3 coats before I could do anything else. Then I got several coats of a walnut oil/shellac mixture while spinning, so I can't really say for sure how many coats it got. Probably 5. Maybe less. I just go until the finish starts feeling kinda tacky and makes the brush drag. Thanks for looking.


 
Nice!

I think the little flare out on the lip of the edge helps highlight the natural edge. Keeping a few remnants of the outside of the tree down the edge helps that as well.

How thick is the base? I've had somewhat mixed luck with bowls with the pith in the bottom surviving long term (no cedar though) and the survival rate seemed somewhat correlated with being thinner. In most cases the cracks were accepted as "character" and I moved on unless it was to bad :D
 
Hi Ryan! Thanks for the comments. The base is a bit over 1" in total thickness. The center of the base foot is beveled so in the center it might be a little less. I normally get the depth where there is only about 3/4" of thickness on the base. I do like a somewhat broad and heavy base on my bowls. Yep. Cracks are character and I a lot of times just let some superglue drip down in them to strengthen the wood and not worry about any dust filler or whatever.
 
Yep. Cracks are character and I a lot of times just let some superglue drip down in them to strengthen the wood and not worry about any dust filler or whatever.

I see a lot of folks who like the character, and in some cases like this bowl I don't think they'd detract at all :D Being a type A personality they bug the heck out of me on my work but I've been learning to deal. :rolleyes:
 
Thanks! Appreciate the comments. Jim, the foot might strike you a bit odd because it is thicker than I usually do. Just one of those things that you discover when you are done and just go with it.
 
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