Warped Queen Ebony Bowl

[dai sensei]

I was at the club the other night and someone was struggling with a big black hunk (300dia x 300 thick) of very dry and hard wood. Chisels were only lasting 30 seconds before becoming blunt. He didn't have any TCT tools and so generously decided to give the blank to me to do something with :2tsup:.

Rather than basically a deep bowl with dia=depth I decided to halve the blank for 2 bowls. I got stuck in and the the TCT tools did a great job although it was extremely dusty horrible work. From the smell and colour I realised it was Queen Ebony. I finished the bowl off to a beautiful natural shiny finish, without any actual finish, to be sprayed with lacquer at home.

Yesterday after a few days I looked at the bowl again and was horrified to find it had warped :o. Although dry as a bone, obviously it still had some stresses/movement still in it, I should have rough turned it and then left to rest (as I will now do with the other blank). I turned it upside down with weights on it, not too much as it is only 4-5mm thick and I don't want to crack it, but today it looks pretty much the same :C.

So, I'm thinking of boiling it, then leaving it again to dry upside down with weights again. I do worry about a few cracks I had fixed with sawdust and thin CA as the heat may melt it.

Thoughts from the experts?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Maybe a steamer box would be a gentler approach?

[smiife]

thoughts from the experts?
Hi neil,
I thought you were one of the experts:C
Also where are the photos ?
If you don, t want the other piece just send It to me:U

[Mobyturns]

Hi neil,
I thought you were one of the experts:C
Also where are the photos ?
If you don, t want the other piece just send It to me:U

Yes! No photos - it didn't happen :rolleyes: So I guess you didn't make a mistake after all. :D

[dai sensei]

Maybe a steamer box would be a gentler approach?

I did think of stem Skew but thought as steam is hotter than boiling water it would be more aggressive :whatonearth:


I thought you were one of the experts..

Always learning but a long way off expert


...Also where are the photos ?

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It was so perfect Thursday :weeping2:

[bench1holio]

Neil, I reckon you better get to liking it, cause id be shocked if you could get it back.

[dai sensei]

Neil, I reckon you better get to liking it, cause id be shocked if you could get it back.

Yeh it may end up that way. I'll call it the wobbly bowl, or drunken bowl :rolleyes:

[dai sensei]

Didn't fit in my prawn pot but just fitted in the big wok. Put it in with hot water from tap, then brought the temperature up relatively quickly until I couldn't put my finger in, then left it on simmer for 2 hours. I have just taken it out, placed it upside down on a tea towel on the bench, with a 30" frypan on top that I slowly filled with water. The wood is still quite hot but no movements as yet.

I'll leave it overnight and see what happens :fingerscrossed:

[powderpost]

Didn't fit in my prawn pot but just fitted in the big wok. Put it in with hot water from tap, then brought the temperature up relatively quickly until I couldn't put my finger in, then left it on simmer for 2 hours. I have just taken it out, placed it upside down on a tea towel on the bench, with a 30" frypan on top that I slowly filled with water. The wood is still quite hot but no movements as yet.

I'll leave it overnight and see what happens :fingerscrossed:


Good luck... I think you may need it...

Jim

[Ubernoob]

Turn it in to a WWII British Army helmet?

It's nice looking timber.

[Cliff Rogers]

Nice chip bowl, stick it on the table full of potato crisps & nobody will notice it.

[MAPLEMAN]

Turn it in to a WWII British Army helmet?

Great idea :)...no bullet would go through it...MM:2tsup:

[Paul39]

I would let the bowl do what it wants to do. It is beautiful. It would be a shame to keep mucking about and ruin it.

If you need any justification, read about Ricard Raffan's warped and round bottomed bowls. I think it is in his "Turning Bowls" book.

[Christos]

Far from me to say what ebony will do.

I am wondering if the raised lip was not there I don't think it would matter if it warped to an oval shape it would just be a nice effect.

[Drillit]

Hello Neil,
I have (like others) had a few warped ones over the years. I said to a lady at a Craft Fair, who
had queried the warping "You don't know how much effort was needed to create that wonderful and unique shape".
She bought the bowl. I agree that, on the hard stuff, the TC cutters are the only way to attack and defend. Drillit.

[dai sensei]

It seemed to improve slightly. So I cooked it some more this morning with near boiling water simmering for 3 hours. This seemed to help a lot, the raised lip seemed to reduce from 10mm to 2mm. So back in pot again simmering again this afternoon, and been there now for 6 hours, I'll leave it there till I got to bed then let you know how it goes tomorrow after drying overnight.

Definitely won't fix it, but if I can get it to at least level it would be good. Cracks have certainly got worse on the lip, so some CA and coffee will be required, plus some ebonising to bring back some colour (the boiling has taken out a fair bit)

[dai sensei]

So far so good. Been drying for 18hrs and just have to wait and see if it stays that way as it dries.

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[Christos]

Certainly looks like a good improvement.

[Luke Maddux]

Neil,

Have you thought about putting 3 or 4 feet onto it? This would cause it to sit steadily while maintaining its somewhat symmetrical warping, thus giving it a more deliberate look.

If it works, you could delete this thread and no one would eeeeever know... :whistling1:

[Christos]

.......

If it works, you could delete this thread and no one would eeeeever know... :whistling1:


With over 470 views I somehow don't think that will happen. :biggrin2:

[dai sensei]

Well I finally finished it, well as much as I am prepared to do anyway.

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The boiling did seem to work to a point, but the bowl did still want to re-warp as it dried, although not to the previous extent. It at least now sits flat on its base and the top lip only has a 2mm variation. Unfortunately the previous repairs to cracks I had done with coffee/CA turned whitish with the boiling, and those that failed needed redoing, but didn't turn out too bad. I also coated the bowl with a diluted mix of my ebonising solution (vinegar/steel wool/tea bag), to redarken what the boiling removed. There were a number of other minor cracks that I didn't fill with resin hoping they would be reduced/un-noticeable by the sprayed finish.

I gave the bowl 4 coats of full gloss NCL, trying to fill the minor cracks & faults, as any talc in satin NCL would be clearly visible. I then gave it a coat of 30% gloss NCL as the final coat to dull down the gloss giving it a nice satin finish.

I didn't manage to fill all the minor cracks (see bottom photo), but considering the bowl is warped plus the bottom shape not quite right, in this case near enough is good enough.

It has been an interesting and learning experience.

[Cliff Rogers]

Got any black paint? :think:

[Drillit]

Neil,
It takes a lot of hard work to bend wood like that. Good selling point me thinks, eh. Drillit.