# First piece for 2007



## Woodnknots (Jan 5, 2007)

I went to Michigan during my transfer leave, and inspected a couple trees that have been taken down for me and are waiting to be milled (Elm and Black walnut, probably about 1000 bdft between the two of them, with one more elm left to take down).  Anyhow, I brought back a couple of small crotches from the Elm to turn while I was waiting on the rest of it to be milled in the next year or so.  Here is my first piece for 2007.  It's about 8-9" across, and about 5-6" tall.  Nice little bit of spalting there.  It's only got a coat of BLO on it, the rest of the finish will come later.  Comments/critiques welcome!


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## bnoles (Jan 5, 2007)

Dave,

That is one highly figured HF and you did a great job on the form.  The spalting is a plus also.


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## JimGo (Jan 5, 2007)

Wow  [:0][:0][:0][:0]


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## wood-of-1kind (Jan 5, 2007)

Forgive me for saying but I see Wonder Woman's  <s>chest</s>... er, I mean figure in that wonderful bowl[:I]

-Peter-


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## Penmonkey (Jan 5, 2007)

I love the grain and the spalting.  That is a very good bowl.


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## Tubby (Jan 5, 2007)

Dave,

Wonderful grain and the shape is very pleasing to the eye.  When I look at the top photo, I see that big fish eyed guy from one of the Star Wars movies [][].  Can't wait to see it with a final finish on it.

Tubby

Ed Jordan
Wichita Falls, TX


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## OKLAHOMAN (Jan 5, 2007)

purdy,prudy,purdy!!!!!!!


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## darbytee (Jan 5, 2007)

Very very nice. Very very nice. Did I mention very very nice?


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## jjenk02 (Jan 5, 2007)

> _Originally posted by wood-of-1kind_
> <br />Forgive me for saying but I see Wonder Woman's  <s>chest</s>... er, I mean figure in that wonderful bowl[:I]
> 
> -Peter-



I think your right[] Very nice


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## TellicoTurning (Jan 5, 2007)

That is nice... I have an elm laying in the back yard just waiting for me to start working on... it's about 20" diameter at the base and was about 50 feet tall... I hope some of my stuff comes out looking like this.
Elm is nice wood to work with.


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## Woodnknots (Jan 5, 2007)

> _Originally posted by ozmandus_
> <br />That is nice... I have an elm laying in the back yard just waiting for me to start working on... it's about 20" diameter at the base and was about 50 feet tall... I hope some of my stuff comes out looking like this.
> Elm is nice wood to work with.


This was my first experience with Elm.  I liked it!  I have a couple more pieces to mess around with, but the rest of the tree will be lumber for furniture.

Thanks for all the nice comments!!


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## johncrane (Jan 5, 2007)

looks very nice Dave![]


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## tseger (Jan 5, 2007)

Dave that is beautiful!!! I have a question though, What, if anything, did you do to prevent the pith from splitting further in the future? This has been one of my main problems with turning bowls.   Tim


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## larrystephens (Jan 6, 2007)

wow!!!!


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## BigRob777 (Jan 6, 2007)

Nice job with it.  I think that the eyes look like praying mantis's.  Pretty cool conversation starter.
Rob


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## Woodnknots (Jan 6, 2007)

> _Originally posted by tseger_
> <br />Dave that is beautiful!!! I have a question though, What, if anything, did you do to prevent the pith from splitting further in the future? This has been one of my main problems with turning bowls.   Tim



Tim
When I get very close to an outside dimension, I use lots of thin CA, then I do the inside and when I'm very close there, I use more CA from the inside.  You can usually tell where you are going to use more or less.  It also helps if the pith appears pretty tight when you start. It has now been a little more than 2 days since I turned it and soaked it (about 2 hours) in BLO.  The pith seems to be holding.  I'll know more in a week or so if it's completely stable.  I've a feeling it is.
Hope this helps! Dave


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## bob393 (Jan 6, 2007)

Well all right! nice


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## Woodnknots (Jan 6, 2007)

Well, as the wood dries and shrinks, there appears to be a small amount of curling at the pith areas.  The inside is pretty well coated with CA, but the outside only has it in the cracks.  I think I'll remount it on the lathe probably tomorrow or Monday and hit it with some CA and a little sanding to ensure all will be well.  I need to give it some more time to stabilize though.  When that's all said and done, I think I'll use wipe-on poly for the finish.


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## TellicoTurning (Jan 6, 2007)

Dave,
There's also a procedure that you can "cook" the wood with a microwave to dry it faster.. it's a little time consuming since you have to work in short times in the MW, then allow the wood to cool for 1/2 hour or more before you cook again.. I was fortunate to pick up an old used MW for local goodwill type store that I use on my woods.. I did a mortar and pestle from my elm, but the mortar cracked the very next day (that was before I got the MW).

Will be interested to know how the bowl stabilizes... it is very nice.


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## Woodnknots (Jan 6, 2007)

> _Originally posted by ozmandus_
> <br />Dave,
> There's also a procedure that you can "cook" the wood with a microwave to dry it faster.. it's a little time consuming since you have to work in short times in the MW, then allow the wood to cool for 1/2 hour or more before you cook again.. I was fortunate to pick up an old used MW for local goodwill type store that I use on my woods.. I did a mortar and pestle from my elm, but the mortar cracked the very next day (that was before I got the MW).
> 
> Will be interested to know how the bowl stabilizes... it is very nice.


I've used the MW before, but only when I rough turned thicker and then finish turned afterward.  This one is a consistent wall thickness throughout, so it should dry okay.  Another technique I like is rough turning, then soaking in DNA for 24 hours, then drying in a paper bag for a few days.  That works really well too, with less cracking than the MW.


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