Found Collection

I just turned my first natural edge bowl from a piece of Bradford Pear.  I
had a short piece of Bradford Pear trunk about 10" in diameter and 12" long.
I bandsawed it down the middle and prepared two blanks.  I used a 2"
forstner bit to create a flat on the bark side of the blank for my***
chuck.  Then I bandsawed the blank round.  I mounted the blank on the***
chuck and turned the outside profile and foot.  Then I reverse-chucked the
blank and hollowed it.

It went pretty well, I think.  I believe I was able to avoid some of the
more common pitfalls of beginner bowl turners, such as:  leaving too much
wood in the base of the bowl, leaving that "nub" in the bottom of the bowl
and not getting a uniform thickness on the bowl walls, or not getting a
uniform curve from the base to the rim.  The walls are a bit thick, though
at about 3/8".  Maybe I'll try to go thinner on the next one.

My bowl is now in a paper bag drying.  The bark seemed to hold very well.
Can I expect the bark to stay on?  I've never worked with Bradford Pear
before, so I don't know what to expect.  Thanks.

Barry

^^^^^^^^^^^^
It may not be obvious at first, but it is not necessary to band-saw the
blank round.  This was the subject of a long discussion a couple of years
ago.  If the second half-log has not been band-sawed yet, you might consider
skipping that step.  You will wind up with a more elliptical bowl.

Hedge your bet by running some water-thin CA around the cambium, inside and
out.  Careful it doesn't run into the wood, unless you plan on sanding it
out.

Bark is best when the wood is winter cut, because the amount of nutrition
available in the cambium (only living layer) is minimum, so it doesn't rot.
Another advantage is the bark itself is generally dryer, so it will shrink
less.   Putting CA in will help the shrinkage problem, and help adhesion as
well, even if you have a summer-cut piece of wood.  I don't like to go much
less than about 1/4 thick if I'm going to leave the bark.  It loses its
visual impact then, unless you're turning something like willow or elm with
very thick bark.  Then you cut to display the bark as a frame- flaunt it
rather than just leave it.

As Leo mentioned, you might want to try a "winged" creation a la Feltmate.
You certainly want to play with it on smaller branches, where you can use
the whole thickness.  Sort of gives the piece "eyes" where the pith is.
Made a run of them end of winter, and the difference in appearance is quite
striking as you vary the angle and sweep.

http://www.roundthewoods.com/

  The walls are a bit thick, though

Hi Barry,
Don't forget that you can turn a natural edge bowl or container from an
end grain log. It's easy to do and can be quite attractive. Cut a short
log with a wany end, but not too distorted. Leave about an in. of the
wavy end (bowl's top) and shape your piece below that. Hollow out,
leaving as much of the inch as suits your artistic talents. I think
there is a description in O'Donnell's book.  Maybe Darrell would make
one and put pictures on his site?  Arch

                   Fortiter,

I'll tell you one thing Barry, It sure dulls a chainsaw blade in a hurry!
It's not bad to turn and if you had left it out in the sun for a while it
would have turned a lovely orange. Of course since you turned it green, I
guess it ould have warped it too!
Paul  :)

Arch
I will see what I can do. I probably can not put up a "how to" for a day
or two, but I can get a couple of pictures up tonight.
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
http://www.roundthewoods.com

Arch wrote on Tuesday 27 May 2003 09:15 am:

Right after I joined my local AAW chapter, I did a demo for the group on
turning natural edge vases from limbs, as Arch suggests. My demo might have
ended with a slightly dramatic and humorous lesson had I not brought along
spare blanks as a "just in case" thing. Here's my account of that demo:

http://www.crwoodturner.com/meetings/aug/index.html

Once one gains a little experience turning these, you can try turning
crotch sections to get a winged vase. I have a couple examples at:

http://www.crwoodturner.com/gallery/kengrunke

Ken

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Leo:

I think that the bowl will be the same shape whether you bandsaw it
round or not.  The ellipticality (new word?) of the result is a function
of the relationship of the radius of the bowl and the radius of the log,
assuming a reasonably round log.  An infinitely small bowl would appear
to be round.  As the radius of the bowl increases, it will appear to be
more elliptical.  Actually, though, it is really round.

The only difference between sawing and not sawing is that you will have
more 'ears' to cut off when turning if the blank is not round.  When I'm
turning easy-to-turn wood, I don't usually bother sawing carefully.  
When turning ***s which are often like rocks, the sawing can save
time and trouble.

Bill

Leo,  thanks for the advice, but in my situation there is another reason for
bandsawing the blank round...........size of lathe............I'm turning on
a Jet Mini.

Barry

Does anyone know how to get rid of those pesky black marks on the bowl base
from the chuck jaws?  Or, does the bowl just have to be reverse chucked and
the marks turned away?  I wonder if stainless steel jaws would do that?
Thanks.

Barry

Richard Raffin frequently turns a 'detail' exactly where his chuck jaws
contact the bottom of the piece.  Or, he expands into a recess on the
bottom.  Also, he hates the Oneway chucks because of the damage they
cause; he uses plain, dovetailed jaws which mark less (but also grip
less, IMHO).  

He is doing wonderfully fine production work.  In the US there are many
of us who would never do the same.  We reverse chuck and rework the foot
and area near the foot so that there is no dovetail, no recess, no sign
that the piece ever was in a chuck.  If you do otherwise, someone will
mention it.  And it doesn't take that much time when you are used to
doing it.

Bill

Leo, I'm trying to visualize how you would get a more eliptical shape by using
the lathe rather than a bandsaw.
If you took two identical logs and cut them both at the same diameter. One on
the lathe and the other on the bandsaw. Wouldn't you end up with two identical
blanks? I thought the difference between length and width was determined by the
diameter of the log and the diameter you cut or turned them at.
Are you refering to the thread where James Barley (I think) turned a couple
test pieces?

Bob, Naugatuck Ct.
http://www.outofcontrol-woodturning.com

Darrell,
Thank you for such a generous response. The pics and instructions are
excellent. I'm waiting for your first tape (hint).  Many turners will be
making as many end-grain natural edge pieces in the days to come as they
have your angel wings. BTW, the one you used to demo is as easy to look
at as your sermons must be to listen to. No need to turn any head
knockers or nose ticklers to keep your flock awake. ;) Many thanks for
giving so many turners  the benefits of your site & posts to rcw.  Arch

                   Fortiter,

Arch
Thanks for the kind words. Actually there is an older gentleman in a pew
on the right that nods off just about every Sunday around the middle of
the sermon. Maybe he likes the ending better? After all, he wakes up for
that :-) Woodturning tapes for fun and sermon tapes for the insomniac?
Might be a market :-)
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
http://www.roundthewoods.com