# Salvaged/repaired wooden bowls/platters...!



## robutacion (May 11, 2013)

Hi peoples,

A lot of this stuff has started long ago but, didn't go to plan or I didn't wanted to spend much extra time with a damaged piece, instead is faster and easier to grab another of dozens pieces I have rough turned long ago or as I feel like and finish something that I can use immediately, for sale, gifts, exchanges or, a pay back to someone that gave me a tree that had significance to them.

Anyway, I'm not going to say that, is financially viable  or even worth it, to spend the time, electricity, glues, wood and all the other stuff that goes with it, to persist with some blown-up or simply too out of shape pieces that most would throw in the bin or on the firewood pile without hesitation however, I find most challenging to demonstrated that, anything is repairable...! (exceptions do apply...!)

Doing wood work as a HOBBY, you can enjoy the time and processes involved with this sort of work, there is an enormous variety of techniques and processes that are to most, unknown or of limited knowledge, the fact is that, you will never learn if you don't give it a go, you may stuff up the first time but, you will be a lot more prepared for the next time, nothing teaches you faster than your own mistakes (if you have a brain, off-course...!:wink::biggrin

Everyone/most can turn a bowl or a platter if everything is in their favour, wood, shape, tools, lathe, light, eyes, hands and brain, getting to the final result without any dramas or complications depend upon many factors and not all depend of you, nature has always some surprises on hand and mistakes even small, can spoil the whole thing however, repairing/salvaging a badly distorted, blown-up or something that many wouldn't see suitable to be mounted on a wood lathe and spun at velocity, is a totally different type of "fish"...!

I've seen amazing "saves" through the years however, most will not admit that was a repair and who was responsible, instead they claim that, "it was suppose to be like that...!" sure...!:wink:

I have shown here many bowls and other pieces I've made, many more are not shown however, there are a few that I think pertinent to this thread sentiment so, not going too far back, here is one that I finished a few weeks back, the wood is the Australian Casuarina and this piece was turned green (day after the tree was cut) about 18 months ago, it was sealed with Fungishield and put a side.

When I saw it a few months back I couldn't believe how much out of round that piece was, cracks weren't the problem the oval shape was.  Well, how much out of round...??? just look at the amount of wood segmented in there, there is how oval it was.  I used Red Gum root and Olive wood first, and then Walnut to cross the pattern, this is what I endup with.


    



Here is the last I've done, a couple of days ago, the wood is Sugar Gum and the segment is made from Tortuosa Willow that I stabilised blue but, unable to fit it in the vacuum chamber, I simply used a 1lt of blue stained Cactus Juice and a heavy duty plastic bag, strapping in such way that the liquid covered all the wood.

I looked OK after 20 hours in the solution but I felt a little too light so I knew that the penetration couldn't have been 100%.  Vacuum may have dome a much better job but, and as I was turning the segmented piece glued in place, I could see that, as deep as I would go, the less blue I was getting, I little spalting but no much.

It was a shame that the wood didn't take the colour without full vacuum, it would be looking very nice, I had planned to used Turquoise for the flaw filling so it would match OK but still, it looks OK...!:biggrin:

          


I have many like that some years old, one in particular is a medium size bowl/vessel type made from Majestic Olive wood heartwood, I rough turned it about 7 years ago, it cracked and buckled considerably as most Olive wood would/will, a year later and with the wood dry I gave it another spin that improved its condition but far from acceptable, to me...!

  

I have had that piece in a place that I see it everyday, is actually serving as a container with some small stuff in it that I use often, I have created a dozen shapes and finishes for it, in my head since however, I am yet to grab it and finish it.  I know that I can turn all the flaws and cracks into features, in fact the grain is so beautiful that almost anything would make it look good however, I'm yet to feel the urge to tackle it, one day though...!





So, what is the purpose of this thread...???

Before you throw stuff away that didn't go according to plan, pull it out and put it a side somewhere out of the way, forget what happened and forget you have it there, one day, you may feel in the right mood to test your own abilities and re-built/repair/salvage something you didn't think possible.

If you have some examples of this, feel free to share it with us...!

Cheers
George


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## Bob Wemm (May 11, 2013)

Neat George, I like it a lot.

Thanks for the thread.

Bob.


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