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Houston
20th March 2009, 03:15 PM
Here is the result of another of the 6 small blanks I picked up in Brisbane last October. It is my first attempt at turning a square bowl. The Huon Pine blank was about 5" square by 1-3/4" deep. I'm not totally happy with what I did with it, but I guess it is OK for a first attempt. I would like to have made the corners drop a bit more and I think I left too much of the walnut base on the bowl (I didn't have it mounted very well and I got nervous and decided to quit before I really messed things up:C).

Gil Jones
20th March 2009, 03:22 PM
Well done, Houston :2tsup:
Very smooth, and fluid curves.:2tsup:

ElizaLeahy
20th March 2009, 04:20 PM
I think it's beautiful. One of my favourite timbers and a lovely contrast with the walnut.

I have no idea how you made it square! I can only make round things on my lathe. I guess it's a special chuck or something.

;)

new_guy90
20th March 2009, 06:26 PM
I think I left too much of the walnut base on the bowl (I didn't have it mounted very well and I got nervous and decided to quit before I really messed things up:C).

it looks better than it would have on the floor :2tsup: really nice work

Patrick

artme
20th March 2009, 06:37 PM
Mate that is very well done and has simple lines.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Perhaps some lacework with a Dremel in one or two corners will alleviate some of the plainness.

Pat
20th March 2009, 08:05 PM
I have no idea how you made it square! I can only make round things on my lathe. I guess it's a special chuck or something.
;)


Normal chuck/faceplate, but watch the corners that you want to keep. Ouch!

Houston, very nice flowing corners, much better than my attempt with Huon and the Walnut does invite further inspection due to the contract. I find most Huon to be bland, unless it has Birdseye through it, although the shed smells good for a short while. I second Arthur's suggestion to add some more visual appeal to the corners.

Houston
20th March 2009, 10:37 PM
I have no idea how you made it square! I can only make round things on my lathe. I guess it's a special chuck or something.

;)

I didn't want the excitement of turning a square object on the lathe - so I glued on scrap wood to make a round blank. In theory, once you have the shape, you just cut off the scrap wood with the band saw and sand. However, when I cut off one side, I wasn't happy with the thickness of my edges - so I remounted it and turned some more in the square configuration. The picture below should make it clear.

joe greiner
20th March 2009, 10:52 PM
Nice work, Houston. I think you got the drooped corners just right, especially for a first attempt.

Cheers,
Joe

Paul39
21st March 2009, 12:38 PM
I wouldn't change a thing on that bowl. The square corners, the droop, and the knot relieve the plain wood. I don't think the walnut foot is too high.

I also like the dramatic effect of the black background. The bowl jumps right at you. The quality of light is beautiful, it draws the form well.

Black velveteen makes a drop out background. I used to buy old dresses in second hand shops. Now they have become fashionable, and buying a couple yards new at a cloth shop is cheaper.

Ed Reiss
21st March 2009, 12:46 PM
:wts: .....looks good :2tsup:

Houston
21st March 2009, 01:20 PM
I also like the dramatic effect of the black background. The bowl jumps right at you. The quality of light is beautiful, it draws the form well.

Thank you Paul. I can't take credit for the light. The sun was setting and I was out on my balcony trying to get the picture before I lost natural light - using my body to block the direct sun.

orraloon
21st March 2009, 04:51 PM
Nice work Houston. It is great wood to work with and dont it make the shed smell nice.
Regards
John

orificiam
21st March 2009, 11:04 PM
Love it Just the way it is Houston.:2tsup::2tsup:
Cheers Tony..

Grumpy John
22nd March 2009, 03:37 PM
Very nice bowl Houston. My first attempt at a square bowl ended in disaster, but I will definitely have another crack at on at a later date.
Nice photography too, do you use a blue/greenscreen, or do you spend a lot of time editing the background. Also, what light source are you using?

Skew ChiDAMN!!
22nd March 2009, 04:16 PM
Nice first try! :2tsup:

You've already picked the areas I think could do with improving... personally I'd have tried to remove the walnut base altogether, but that'd have been a mongrel to reverse mount and I can't blame you for taking the path of disgression. :D

One option is to mount a disk of ply to a faceplate, centre the bowl on it - using light pressure from the tailstock to hold it in position while you tweak it central - and glue/screw straight offcuts to the faceplate tightly around the square section.

Then packing small triangles of polystyrene (packing foam) into the corners, above the wings, and screwing diagonals above the wings and into the glued offcuts. These'd press the foam into the wings and hold the bowl in position.

I find this works better than cole jaws for square bowls, especially when they don't have a crisp internal lip. :)


I didn't want the excitement of turning a square object on the lathe - so I glued on scrap wood to make a round blank. In theory, once you have the shape, you just cut off the scrap wood with the band saw and sand. However, when I cut off one side, I wasn't happy with the thickness of my edges - so I remounted it and turned some more in the square configuration. The picture below should make it clear.

It might be worth mentioning that, before gluing on any scraps, it's an idea to measure the diagonal of the blank and across the square of the blank, halve both measurements then subtract one from the other. That gives you the minimum thickness the offcuts need to be to ensure a round blank.

I generally don't bother cutting it on a bandsaw, just throwing the glued up blank straight onto the lathe and quickly roughing it round.

It soon becomes apparent when you haven't made the offcuts thick enough... as although they prevent the edges of the original blank from chiping out, they don't remove the knuckle catching problem. DAMHIKT. :-

Houston
22nd March 2009, 10:17 PM
Nice photography too, do you use a blue/greenscreen, or do you spend a lot of time editing the background. Also, what light source are you using?
I have a piece of black velvet as a background and the bowl sitting on a plexiglass stand. There is nothing fancy here. I'm outside on my balcony but the light is "warm" because the sun is setting behind me. I'm using my body to block the direct sunlight from the picture (which is why my watch is reflected in the plexi stand). I did use Adobe Bridge to adjust the blacks and get the background totally dark since the auto exposure was a bit too light with that dark background.

Skew - your reverse mounting idea with ply is excellent! I'll have to try that next time I find myself holding my breath while trying to clean up a base.

efgee88
22nd March 2009, 10:45 PM
I like the simple flowing shape and the contrasting timber for the foot. Nice job!
Cheers,

FrankG

Skew ChiDAMN!!
23rd March 2009, 06:18 PM
Skew - your reverse mounting idea with ply is excellent! I'll have to try that next time I find myself holding my breath while trying to clean up a base.

It's more a case of "Oops! What do I do now?" thinking than any brilliance on my behalf. :D

By pure serendipity, I've also been working on a winged bowl, and couldn't find my Cole Jaws for reverse mounting. (Moved into a new place and am still building a shed, so nothing's unpacked. :~)

Rather than waste time hunting, I simply screwed a large piece of wood directly to the offcuts glued to the blank, sank a mortise for the chuck and faced off around the mortise to ensure it sat squarely. A pseudo-faceplate, of sorts.

It worked very well... and I could take much larger cuts to remove the old tenon than I could with Cole Jaws! :2tsup:

(After reverse mounting, you may notice I also roughed the corners of this pseudo-faceplate round. Not really necessary, but it's bad enough barking knuckles on the "rounded" corners... pointy corners really hurt. And I know my knuckles will home in on them within 30 seconds of switching on the lathe... :rolleyes:)

RETIRED
23rd March 2009, 06:58 PM
hmmmm That timber looks familiar.:wink::D

Have done the same thing myself.

turn
10th April 2009, 09:12 PM
Congratulations - well done

You've inspired me to use a piece of huon I've got - but I'll use a piece of blackwood for the pedestal part,

Barry