Proy Wood

Next Projects Large Hickory Bowl and Red laminated salad bowl Discussion and plans

Hi Everyone,

Well, its cool day in the northern mid west this morning-perfect turning weather! We also have an owl close by who has been hooting away a lot lately so its perfect wood shop weather.

We have two new projects to do:

The first is a large hickory bowl blank. I ordered this last year with the red elm bowl blank that I began turning yesterday. Id like to get this cut into shape in order for it to dry and be finished by fall. Here is a photo of it:


This is fine wood that is turning very well.

Normally I like to leave very figured wood alone--ie--I dont add any adornment to the exterior surface but this time I have hankering to add something to the surface-some beads or coves. Im not sure what Ill do so Ill stop for now and think about that before I continue.

Next project-Laminated red bowl

I wonderful friend of mine asked me for a red salad bowl some time ago and Ive searched heaven and earth for a solid red block of wood to accommodate her request but alas, no such luck. So in order to get a project going for her before I turn 100 years old, Ive decided to laminate a block of red-colored woods and make her a bowl.

Here we go:

I have some wood in stock that is red colored and its kempas wood, a favorite wood of mine for turning. Kempas wood is most often used in the US for flooring and exterior decking on houses. Its a deep orange red color and it turns wonderfully, but since most of it goes for flooring, its difficult to find it at all, let alone in solid turning blocks. Luckily I found some kempas lumber a month ago and had the foresight to buy it. This will make up most of the bowl. Next I have some cumaru wood, also found in flooring and decking and its a lovely golden brown color. It turns wonderfully and I bought some of that when I bought the kempas. I also have lots of hickory for contrast and a small piece of thin rosewood:



Ive gone a head and cut them to a uniform 4.25" in width and then I cut them down to 12" in length:



Lets arrange them into a possible bowl blank:




It needs to be a little wider in order for us to have a 12" diameter blank. Im going to have to add more wood but what kind and what color? Hmmm....better leave this and think about it over night too.

While I had the table saw set up I cut two platter blanks from solid planks of wood: one is black ash and the other is Phillipine mahogany. Those will become serving platters in the coming weeks.

So here we go again. Ill be back tomorrow to work on everything some more and in the mean time Ill give all this some heavy thought. So grab some coffee and put your feet up and join me tomorrow in the wood shop for yet another adventure in woodturning.

See you soon,
VW