I would like everybodies honest opinion.

Chuck Beland

Member
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800
Location
Rhode Island
Well this is my Dads belated B Day gift. This is my first regular bowl I ever turned. Dimensions are 6" across by 2" tall it's made out of Birdseye maple
I originally was making it out of red heart but the over hang from the tool rest to the bottom was a tad to much & It committed suicide. :roll: :lol:
Tell me honestly what you think.

The second bowl is a ring bowl for one of my customers it's made out of Bubinga & the finial is madagascar ebony.
Chuck

birdseye1.jpg

birdseye2.jpg






ring1.jpg

ring2.jpg
 
Chuck, as far as I can see, the bowl for your dad is beautiful. I really like the little ring bowl. What kind of finish are you using that gets so bright and shiny?

Nancy (96 days)
 
Chuck, the Birds Eye bowl has some wonderful "eyeing" and grain pattern, and the form, while different, is very nice. The only thing I can see that could have been a tad better is the side to bottom transistion as shown in the first photo. (I usually strive to make sure the inside of the bowl mirror's the exterior profile, but that can be a personal preference too.)

The Bubinga/Ebony bowl is nice. Very nice contrast between the 2 species, and the finish tells me you spent the necessary time on both sanding and finishing. That's always nice to see. Attention to detail, especially when it comes to finishing, is the whole shebang. I was amazed when I visited Arrowmont School for Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg a couple of years ago. They have an array of turned items for sale in their craft store there.........and every single one, no matter how lovely, had noticable sanding scratches. (My wife pointed them out to me, and she doesn't even turn, so that is an indication of how severe they were.) Kinda sad really, beautifully turned work.......with little or no attention to the finishing details. As you probably know, the finishing makes or breaks anything woodworking related.

Sorry for the rambling.....nice work Chuck, thanks for sharing it with us!:thumb:
 
The word that came to mind when I first saw the ring bowl was simply, "Wow!"

Very nicely done - the finish work as seen in the pic is outstanding. I'm looking forward to hearing how you did the finish too.
 
I think they both look real nice, Chuck. If you keep turning stuff that nice, you'll been to get a cleaner sheet for your photo backdrop. :p

The sides of the birdseye bowl (gorgeous wood, by the way) have a little bit of a "point" in the curve on the exterior. Not a bad thing necessarily, but just something that stood out to me. The curve of the ring bowl is more consistent, by comparison.

Especially for a first "regular" bowl, I think you did great. (And I'm sure your dad will like the gift.) I'm curious...what do "irregular" bowls look like? :D
 
You want honest opinion.... Well as for the Birdseye, Thatneeds to come ere for my personal use and evaluation, I can't provide an opinion until I have had it in my home fo a number of years...

The ring thing. My wife would love the finish as she admires a wet look. I prefer a semi gloss but she usually wins. but the only thing I would have changed would be the "finial" I think it should have followed the same contour as the bowl hollow, eventhough it is of different species of wood, it needs to sweep down and follow the gentil curve making the transition from the bowl to the pedistle. I have made several Ring bowls and that is what I do.

Just send the Birdseye bowl to my address and I can evaluate it for sure.... I'll send your dad a complimentry wood bowl to hold him till I have made my decision.
 
I Love the birds eyes!

Great job Chuck, I know I would love it I'm sure your Dad will too.

DT
 
Thank you for all your comments I am very proud of my first attempt at a bowl.

I'm sorry I forgot to tell you how I finished both pieces. I sanded to 400 then used 2 coats of Mylands sanding sealer then put on a liberal coat of Min wax poly let dry for 6 hrs then sanded with 320 then another coat of poly then sanded with 400 . I put a total of 5 coats of poly.
when I was sanding it it reminded me of doing a CA finish on a pen next time I might try to use some MM or maybe compound or scratch remover to get rid of the little ripples.:D

Chuck

I think they both look real nice, Chuck. If you keep turning stuff that nice, you'll been to get a cleaner sheet for your photo backdrop. :p

The sides of the birdseye bowl (gorgeous wood, by the way) have a little bit of a "point" in the curve on the exterior. Not a bad thing necessarily, but just something that stood out to me. The curve of the ring bowl is more consistent, by comparison.

Especially for a first "regular" bowl, I think you did great. (And I'm sure your dad will like the gift.) I'm curious...what do "irregular" bowls look like? :D

Vaughn,
I just grabbed a old t shirt for a back drop I still need to make a photo tent.:D

As far as the point I noticed it after I was all done doing the inside & didn't want to chance ruining the bowl I had turned a few into explosions cause I just tried to clean it up a little. :huh::rolleyes:

Well the saga continues lets see how many bowls i can blow up next.:D


Chuck
 
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...As far as the point I noticed it after I was all done doing the inside & didn't want to chance ruining the bowl I had turned a few into explosions cause I just tried to clean it up a little. :huh::rolleyes:

Well the saga continues lets see how many bowls i can blow up next.:D

Chuck
I completely understand about stopping before it's too late. I'd rather back off than blow something up. If I do see something I'm not happy with when I get done with one, I just chalk it up as a lesson and try to learn for the next time. ;) Sounds like you're doing the same thing. :thumb:
 
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