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Hello from Texas.

Thanks for the welcome.
#1 wife has first refusal on the things I make.

I like to work with mesquite because I have a lot of it. I have a Timber King mill and before cutting lumber I lop off the limb protrusions. This is one of them that turned into a bowl.

vQtQEkQ.jpg


The table it's sitting on was made from an old cypress cistern we had at the ranch. My great grandfather had repaired it by stapling chicken wire inside it and grouting it to get a few more years from it. That was in the 1950s. It fell down about 1980 and I gathered up the lumber. I built the table in the late 90s. I had (have) a 10" Ryobi planer and the blades got a workout. After the second sharpening (from hitting rusted staples) I just cranked it all through until I was past the staples. I shapened them again and ran everything through one more time. The edges were beveled and were random width. I ran everything through the jointer but did not square up each board. I just squared the table top after it was all glued and done. I'll see if I can find pictures.

Alan
 
Alan,
A bowl like that is what got me sucked into this wood turning thing.... I was admiring one a fellow made and was showing in a gallery in Fredericksburg... made the mistake of commenting how pretty it was and wished I could do something like that... when we got back home to Humble, the wife called my son in Austin and told him I wanted a lathe for Christmas... he brought me one and I had to lean to turn wood.... that was nearly 20 years ago and I've been addicted ever since.... according to my log, now I've done nearly 4,000 piece and haven't turned a piece of mesquite yet.

Edit: I forgot.... welcome from Tennessee from a Texas transplant.
 
Welcome to the clubhouse, Alan. :wave:

That's a great-looking bowl. Did you carve it or turn it on a lathe? Either way, it came out looking nice. :thumb: The table looks sweet, too.
 
Most of the "carving" was done with a Lancelot tool and various other grinding wheels. finish sanding by hand.

So far #1 has only let one bowl go and that was to her sister. I have done a few that were sold at auction for our area school's scholarship funds.

Alan
 
Welcome to the family Alan! :wave: The bowl shows why the wife doesn't let many go, WOW! :bonkers: If you don't mind sharing, what did you put on the table to have that kind of sheen yet at this age/use??
 
It's just plain old high gloss polyurethane. I put on a number of coats as the cypress was very dry and somewhat soft. When I sanded it I sanded the middle of the table to lower than the edges. Spills run to the middle and not off the edge. With four boys and six grandkids, spills happen. I may have done a few myself.

Alan
 
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