Thread: Back in the saddle

After an enforced shed layoff of almost 2 weeks (due to carpal tunnel op) I bit the bullet and decided to finish off a salad bowl I've been working on for over a year now

...John, your getting to be almost as slow as me

Not ever fun to go under the knife...heal quickly, friend.

yr recovery is coming along nicely GJ. good news

FWIW I gave you a large lump of spruce a while ago. might be it.

Edit, on 2nd thoughts, think you gave me one, and I passed it on. Senior's moment

I think he was passing Spuce out left right and center. Even I got one.

Nice bowl Grumpy. That should keep the cherry tomatoes from rolling all over the table.

Looks thin and very pretty from here. Careful with the crappy tumbler thing and don't overdo it.

Originally Posted by Ed Reiss

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...John, your getting to be almost as slow as me

Not ever fun to go under the knife...heal quickly, friend.

This bowl developed so many cracks in it during drying that I almost threw it on the scrapheap. However I decided to persevere with it and put it back in the garbage bag full of shavings. About a month ago I finally decided enough is enough and mounted it on the lathe to true it up. The wall thickness when I started was about 35mm and by the time I had turned the ovality out of it the wall thickness was down to ~8mm. I filled the cracks with sawdust and CA, except for the large one which is shavings from the key cutting machine at Bunnies mixed with Araldite and left it till today when I decided to extract the digit and finish it. I'm glad I decided to keep it as there is some nice spalting going on and I think the grain structure is quite interesting.

Geez GJ, you sure the soft sections on your Cole-jaws are big enough Making sure it won't let go eh!
Don't go silly on that hand - there's enough 1-armed bandits on here already (or is that 1.55 armed bandits )
I'll reserve judgement on the bowl until I see the finished product - as they say, it ain't over til the fat lady eats from it!

Crikey, hope his missus doesn't read this thread over his shoulder ;-}

Great effort there GJ.

As Ed said, take it easy with those hands and don't overdo it.

O.K. Vern, here's the finished bowl. It has lumps and bumps all over it due to movement, I'm surprised it held together as well as it did considering how much heartwood I left in and the cracks around the branches don't help either. I filled the spigot hole with some redgum, hope it holds together. Does anyone know what causes the pink colouring, I suspect it is a byproduct of the spalting process.

Attachment 131426 Attachment 131427 Attachment 131428 Attachment 131429

If the pink is from the spalting it will prolly go brown after a while. That sort of thing is a bit fugitive I think. Nice though.

FWIW with salad bowls GJ you might that find a wider base makes them more stable, for tossing leafy and lumpy bits.

Originally Posted by rsser

FWIW with salad bowls GJ you might that find a wider base makes them more stable, for tossing leafy and lumpy bits.

I deliberately made it quite thick at the base to help stabalise the bowl for the reasons you mentioned. Time will tell if it works. The cherry tomatoes may still end up all over the kitchen table .

Fair enough - nice job GJ I've seen pink staining in White cypress and a couple of other similar timbers as a margin around insect attack - don't know if it stays pink 'cos all the pieces I've turned with the pink in them have either sold or been given away

Truly a nice job GJ. Glad you got it finished. I don't think you'll have to chase too many tomatoes.
Could the pink be some of that stuff a tree sends to wounded parts? ... sort of like a Box Elder does?
At any rate, Well done!