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Fairly Large Cottonwood Bowl

Dave Hoskins

Dave Hoskins

Member
Messages
5,252
Location
Parker County, Texas
From time to time I turn a larger bowl. Normally I don't because they don't sell all that well. Bowls in the 10-12" range seem to do best for myself. I was kinda pleased with this one as there is hardly any rough spots in the wood. Normally a cottonwood bowl of this size has several that won't sand out because the roughness goes all the way through. Anyway for those who want to know the bowl barely weighs 3 pounds but holds one gallon measured to the brim. The diameter is 14 1/4", 2 3/4" high and has a depth of 1 3/4". Left a little extra in the base for stability as this is such a light weight wood. Sanded down to 800 grit and then buffed with it's own shavings gave it some natural shine. As usual I sealed the wood with 2 coats of walnut oil and finished it with two coats of a walnut oil based wax. Still able to feel the grain of the wood as most of my customer base like. Hopes ya likes it! :D

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Yes, it is! We have to do it to remind ourselves that we can. Only drawback to cottonwood is if you do like I do and rough it out while green, you kinda take a bath with the water slinging out of it and off your gouges. Sometimes that water slinging throws the balance off some, too. Then the fun can begin!!!
 
Thanks, David! It is a very versatile wood. Was sought after and used for dishes, bowls, utensils, mugs and no telling what else by the settlers heading west. I need to turn me some new popcorn bowls from this batch and hide them when folks come over. They tend to do whatever it takes to get them from me. No fair. Glad you liked it.
 
Thanks, Frank! I didn't know about the bark being fed to the horses, but makes sense. I'm surprised that you don't have any there. It's fairly abundant here. Your right about it being so versatile. Make most anything with it.
 
Dave Hoskins said:
Thanks, Frank! I didn't know about the bark being fed to the horses, but makes sense. I'm surprised that you don't have any there. It's fairly abundant here. Your right about it being so versatile. Make most anything with it.
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Coincidentally, this past weekend the local woodturners club had it's annual show and sale. At the event was an Amish fellow who sells wood for projects like our spinny madness. He said, yes, cottonwood does grow in the Ozarks and he will look for some. Personally, I wouldn't know a cottonwood tree if it fell on me.
 
They have real thick and coarse bark. These logs I have right now average 36" in diameter and I would say the bark is probably 1" to 1 1/2" thick. And, if green like these are, full of water. That equates to quite HEAVY! I wouldn't want any tree falling on me, but a cottonwood would squish me like a bug! Nothing left to scrape up. :rofl:
 
The bark is pretty popular with character carvers (especially folks carving things like wood sprites). Its thick enough you can put quite a bit of depth into it, hard enough that it takes detail well, and soft enough that it carves easily.

The problem with bit cottonwoods is that the tend to start shedding limbs everytime a breeze comes by. My grandpa's place had a few that were 4-6' across at the butt along the road but the second time a 12-24" (around) limb landed on the road during a bit of a storm he cut them down before they took out an animal or a person.

That's a good looking bowl though. Be fun to get some cottonwood that big to play with.
 
Nice job on the bowl, Dave. I'm personally not a big fan of the partial natural edge look, but I know it sells well for you. :thumb:

Ryan Mooney said:
...That's a good looking bowl though. Be fun to get some cottonwood that big to play with.
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That's about the only tree that regularly gets big enough to turn around here, lol. I've not had a chance to try any, but I understand it can be a bit finicky to get a clean cut on. Curt Fuller has done some beautiful pieces out of cottonwood, though. He tends to find stuff with great figure in his neck of the Utah woods. I've not seen him post anything here in quite a while, but he has some nice examples on Facebook.
 
Thanks, Vaughn. Yeah, that look sells well in my crowds. It's actually not a bad wood to turn. Sometimes you can get a bit of tear out here and there, but I find if I go slow and keep the cuts shallow it turns fairly well. And, if you are like me and rough your blanks out while green, then be prepared to get wet. The water will literally sling out of it. Sometimes to the point of throwing your wood out of balance. But, hey. I don't mind getting dirty. I have several friends that have large cottonwoods in some bottom areas. As they start to die, I come and take them down and get all the wood. The only real drawback is it kinda gums up the chainsaws while cutting it green. Especially when ripping them down.
 
Yeah, I can imagine wet cottonwood could make a mess of a chainsaw, lol. I know what you mean about turning the wet stuff. My last shop had a stripe on the ceiling from turning wet blanks. :D
 
Yep. Gotta keep a steel bristle brush handy to clean the muck off the teeth so you can cut some more. But, ain't turning the wet stuff fun??? Maybe I'm related to Pigpen on Peanuts. The bigger mess I make the happier I am! :rofl:
 
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