Fairly Large Hackberry Bowl

Dave Hoskins

Member
Messages
5,252
Location
Parker County, Texas
This is one of a series of bowls that I have been turning for the fall fair I have coming up at the end of the month. The spalting in this log is amazing as all of the bowls from it have this amount of it. The bowl's diameter is 13" with a height of 4 1/2" and a depth of 3 1/4". I like having a relatively heavy base for extra stability. Just a personal preference. of mine. The walls are a bit over 1/2" thick. All of this combined gives me a nice sturdy usable bowl. I sealed the wood with walnut oil as I usually do. I finished it with several coats of a walnut oil/shellac mixture. I have been experimenting with my lighting to better determine how I am going to build my new photo booth. I think I am on the right track with it. Hopefully. Maybe. Could be. Time will tell. Hope you all like it.

 
That's a nice bowl you have there Dave... Hackberry is one of my favorite woods to work with... it always has such interesting marks in the spalting. I'm currently working on a pretty large pile that my pastor offered to me... I'm afraid I'll lose some of it because I don't have inside storage and I can't turn it fast enough to get it all turned before it rots... I cut a few pieces today, before my saw gave out and also threw a couple of logs on the burn pile as they had gotten too punky to really use.
 
Nicely done, Dave. :clap:

The lighting in your photos looks good. :thumb: I think you'll like using a tent, because it makes it easier to get even, consistent lighting. I also highly recommend a neutral (usually gray) gradient background. Patterned backdrops can distract from the grain in the piece you're photographing, and colored backdrops can throw off the color balance as interpreted by your camera, so the color of the subject piece in the photo won't match the actual color. You can buy gradient backgrounds, or print your own on a large format printer at a copy shop (like FedEx Office). Here's a link to a high-resolution gradient background file if anyone wants to print one:

http://familywoodworking.org/misc_images/Gradient Background.jpg
 
Thanks, fellers! Chuck, one thing I try to do as soon as I get the logs in is I keep them off the ground using cheap landscape timbers. Keeps them off the ground at least 2 inches. I don't store any wood inside. All outside. I used to seal the ends with anchor seal and other things, but with the real soft wood like hackberry or cottonwood, it seemed to be a waste of time and money. But, I do a lot of turning so I don't lose a lot of wood to rot or checking. In fact I have a bunch of oak I need to get off the ground right now. Darren, some hackberry can be kind of dull, but not usually. Most people, including myself am amazed at what it can look like turned. Beautiful stuff usually. Vaughn, thanks for the tips. One thing I can never claim to be is a good photographer. I have listened to so many local pro photographers that I got really confused. I know a retired Marine Combat Photographer and went and asked him the other day and he looked at me like I had lost my mind! He reminded me of when I first started out doing this my photos were taken on a plain piece of sanded plywood with some brown paper background when needed. And, they were just fine and dandy. So, I probably will go with that with diffused lighting. Think that might work as I plan on building basically a box 3' wide about the same in depth, and sides? I plan on the sides also having an angle at the top rising to the front so the lighting can hang both from the top and sides and maybe not cause much in the way of shadows. After the fall fair and Christmas season is past I will have time to play with it more than I do right now. Again, thanks for the tips.
 
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