Hackberry Popcorn/Serving Bowl

[Dave Hoskins]

Finished this one up late this morning. It's 12 3/4" diameter, 2 1/2" high, 1 3/4" deep at the center and 2" at the bottom of the trough for unpopped kernels. It holds 3/4 gallon measured to the brim. The first two photos show it holding one bag of nuked popcorn. Probably will hold two if you wanted to. The wood got two coats of walnut oil for sealing. Finishing was done with shellac with a bit of walnut oil based wax mixed in.

 

[Darren Wright]

That's a good looking bowl!

 

[Ted Calver]

Mighty purty!!!

 

[Paul Douglass]

WOW! where do you get hackberry big enough to make a bowl from? I thought it was a bush,, but maybe I am thinking huckleberry...?

 

[Dave Hoskins]

Thanks, guys! The hackberry logs I have right now average about 18" in diameter. I've had a lot bigger but not from this tree. Don't know anything about huckleberry except from Mark Twain. Might be what your thinking on Paul.

 

[Paul Douglass]

We have huckleberry bushes in the wild here... the are similar to Blueberries only smaller.. good eating... good for pie making...

 

[Chuck Ellis]

That's the great thing about Hackberry... you never know what you will get when you open it up one of my favorite woods..... beautiful beautiful bowl

 

[David Johnson]

That is a very pretty bowl. The grain really stands out.
David

 

[Mike Stafford]

Huckleberry.... Like Dave I knew about the reprobate Huckleberry Finn.

I knew that they existed but had never seen any or had any food that incorporated huckleberries until very recently. Our next door neighbors went on a grand tour driving all around the country. They put like 12000 miles on the car during this drive. I would have been saddle-sore..

While they were in South Dakota they had car trouble and had to spend a few days on foot. This gave them time to do some shopping for souvenirs for friends and neighbors. They are kind and generous like that. We were the beneficiaries of two souvenirs and both involved huckleberries. The first was coffee infused with huckleberry oil. Can't say much for that as we didn't care for the flavor in coffee. The second was a pint jar of huckleberry jelly. Good stuff!

And that is all I know about huckleberries which is a lot more than I knew a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Dave Hoskins]

Many thanks, folks! Many thanks.

 

[bill kaminski]

I know nowt about turning, but I do like that wood.
Dave, is it hard, soft, or porous?
btw..will be coming thru your area in about 10 days

 

[Jay Caughron]

I know nowt about turning, but I do like that wood.
Dave, is it hard, soft, or porous?
btw..will be coming thru your area in about 10 days

Its a hardwood Bill. Mostly considered a trash tree. I used a lot of it when I was building benchs for YMCA's locker rooms and tennis courts as a substitute for Red Oak.

 

[Dave Hoskins]

To me it is a soft wood. Not as porous as cottonwood, but it usually takes 2-3 coats of walnut oil to soak in and seal it good. The trees get taken down all the time by high winds due to the softness. Whenever we have some real high winds I can usually count on getting more of it. You don't want a hackberry near your house or other structures. You might end up with one on your roof. Too bad as they are a decent shade tree. Where are you going, Bill???