My 1st Bowl

[Tim_N]

I have turned a few pens now and decided to have a go at something a little bigger. I had some Camphor Laurel pieces which were cut and given to me with the purpose for bowl turning. I found that it chipped fairly badly, and I had trouble with catching edges and ripping chunks out. In the end it came up nicely with just some oil after sanding to 400grit and 0000 wire wool. There are still a few small ridges, I guess I should have finished with a scraper rather than a gouge, oh well ... lessons learned !

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[Cliff Rogers]

Chip bowl, now make another one while it is fresh in your mind what to do. :2tsup:

[fozz]

Hey Tim, as a first bowl its non too shabby :2tsup: and as an added bonus you now realise where you can make improvements so as Cliff said, while its fresh in your mind do another one and see how you go.

Ross.

[powderpost]

while its fresh in your mind do another one and see how you go.
Excellent for the first one but no... make another 10 not 1

Jim

[brendan stemp]

A good start to your bowl turning journey. You need to keep it as a reminder of your starting point. I have kept my first bowl which was made out of a mallee root. It's interesting to reflect on how things have gone since first throwing a blank on a face plate.

[smiife]

Hi tim,
As others have said , very good for a first attempt
much better than mine, well done!
I like the inclusions very nice:2tsup:
Cheers smiife:2tsup:

[Simplicity]

For a first bowl it looks great and the smell while turning you can't beat that.
Keep going I would I've been very happy if that was my first bowl.

[Tim_N]

Thanks all for the encouragement. I am very happy with how it turned out and I am looking forward to hitting the lathe again soon.


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[tea lady]

Very nice, I wouldn't be unhappy with that. :cool:

[DaveTTC]

Looks like a keeper, something to look back on in years to come. I have my first one in the hall. I was going to rework and then someone pointed out how it is good to look back on similar to what Brendan said above.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work.


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

[Christos]

Great first attempt.

Love the holes on the piece, you have to be very careful when you come to a piece like this. Stop and take a look no need to rush when turning.

[Ilya]

Great start - keep them coming!

[Mobyturns]

Tim pretty darn good for a first bowl attempt. Good work. :2tsup:

As you mentioned you had difficulty with tear out and catches this may be of help to you. I'm not aware of your experience with or knowledge of timber, so this is in no way a critism or meant to be alarmist, just make you aware thats all. :cool:

On a safety note - be aware that bowl blanks like this one while they are very attractive do carry considerable risk, especially if you turn them at high speed.

All that nice figure you have in the centre of the bowl appears to be crotch wood as you can see evidence of the two hearts on opposing bowl sides. It can be very sound or it can easily disguise faults than can become a very nasty lesson/experience. Catches can easily weaken the tenuous grain strength in the crotch wood and as the bowl wall thickness reduces the risk becomes higher. Crotch wood when it fails usually cleaves into two distinct halves/pieces which can have substantial energy and cause a fair bit of damage to you or the workshop/shed. Catastrophic failures of blanks are verious serious hazards to wood turners and have resulted in very serious injuries at times life endangering.

Other thing is keep fingers away from voids and natural edges. Please use something like the passive sanders to keep fingers well away. I very recently heard of an Australian turner who has severe hand & finger injuries from a tangle with a NE bowl while sanding. And look on this forum for a turner who recently got smacked in the nose with a bowl.

The fact that you have kept it together with the voids as well means you were either cautious or lucky - sincerely hope it was caution and good skills on your part. :2tsup:

[Tim_N]

Thanks Moby,
I was very cautious, I kept the speed low and was constantly stopping to assess where I was in terms of depth and wall thickness. I have read the thread on the face shields with interest as I have safety glasses but am going to invest in a shield before going at another bowl. I have listened to words of caution around natural edges but it's going to be a while before I consider one of those.
All hints, tips and words of wisdom are welcome as my experience is fairly limited and any criticism is also heeded as learning experiences.
Thanks for taking the time to comment and advise, it is appreciated.

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[Mobyturns]

Thanks Moby,
I was very cautious, I kept the speed low and was constantly stopping to assess where I was in terms of depth and wall thickness. ........
Thanks for taking the time to comment and advise, it is appreciated.
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Good work on managing the speed plus the stopping & checking. :2tsup: Its a habit more turners should get into. :D

For a face shield only the Armadillo is hard to pass up. ProtectorAllsafe stock them & so do Blackwoods.

[Hermit]

Nice one Tim, especially for a first bowl. :2tsup:

A face shield is a good idea. They provide much better protection than goggles, and are more comfortable, in my opinion. I won't turn without mine. My face is ugly enough already. :D

Looking forward to seeing your next...