Octagon Oak Candy Bowl

Dave Hoskins

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5,252
Location
Parker County, Texas
I did two of these today, and will show just one since they are almost identical twins. I love live oak. Good looking wood to me. This one is 7 1/2" across, 2 3/4" high, and 2" deep. I cut the octagon shape using my table saw. Just seemed to me I would get a more accurate cut than using my crappy band saw. There was one crack that I had to fill so I got rather lucky with this one. I sealed the wood as I usually do with a couple of coats of walnut oil and used a mixture of walnut oil and shellac for the polish. Hope you like it. Thanks.


 
Cool idea!

I like the shape on the inside a lot, it has those smooth curves.

I think I'd like the shape on the outside more if it mirrored the shape on the inside more closely. It seems perhaps a bit to "abrupt" as it sits.

I suspect we'll see more of these as you go so it'll be interesting to see where you take this idea.
 
Neat idea, Dave. :thumb: Pretty wood and a nice finish, too. I do agree with Ryan on the inside vs. outside shapes, though. They seem to contradict each other in my mind's eye. The inside has nice flowing curves and everything on the outside is pretty much straight lines.
 
Thanks, guys! I follow completely your suggestions and they certainly make sense. I'm used to turning a bowl with a more steady base, I guess. For stability reasons. But, there is enough wood still on this where I could have done that. Stay tuned for the next round of them. I will definitely incorporate your ideas.
 
Uhhh....Dave....uhhh...it's dead oak. That's some sharp looking wood and the shape is darn right swell! Finish as always is great!
 
Ya got me, Jim!!! It's definitely dead. Would you like a little historical trivia about live oak? Old Ironsides was built mainly of live oak from the eastern part of the country. When they did a major refit on her in the 1980's, they mainly used live oak from Texas. Why? Live oak in Texas seems to have a natural curve to the trunks so it was easier to ship the wood from here and mill it, than use wood from that area and have to shape it and everything else. I just thought that to be an interesting tidbit about wood.
 
... I'm used to turning a bowl with a more steady base, I guess. For stability reasons...

I see turners bring this up from time to time, but I make bowls with feet that are often less than the prescribed 1/3 of the diameter, and have never really had a problem with bowls tipping over in use. Now granted, a lot of my bowls are not intended for much heavier use than holding fruit on a coffee table, but even the salad bowls and other "usable" pieces I've made are plenty stable. Of course just because I like small bases on a bowl doesn't mean that you have to also. If you prefer the look of a wider base, that's fine too, but don't limit your own designs by thinking the wide base is necessary for stability. ;)

Here's an example of a small foot on a usable bowl. These pics are actually two bowls from a set of four matched maple salad bowls. (I had a good inside shot of one, and a good outside shot of the other.) The first pic shows the curve of the inside, and the second shows the outside form. You can see the foot - the part that actually makes contact with the table - is less than 1/3 of the bowl diameter. These bowls have never shown a problem of being tippy or unstable. :thumb:

DSC_0223 - NX - 800.jpg DSC_0243 - NX - 800.jpg
 
As with most things, I think it is a matter of preference. I like a bit more of a foot than what you are showing there, Vaughn. But, as said it is my preference. On the bowl the thread was started with, I saw the reasoning behind a more sweeping outside form. So, I am going to try it. Now whether I end up liking it or not after I am done is another story. Time will tell on that. But, in the meantime "Happy Turning!"
 
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