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  1. #1
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    Default A dozen blackwood bowls.

    I have a stack of blackwood blanks that were rough turned last year and have started re-turning them. Starting from the smallest and gradually working my way up.
    Here are the first 12.
    Four of the twelve have got the same basic shape. I have tried to get a nice crisp curve on the outside then turn the inside with an even wall thickness. With no indents or slight nipples on the centre in the bottom, just one nice flowing curve and finish it off with a half radius on the lip. I wont go into the dimensions of each individual bowl other than to say out of the twelve the largest diameter is 335mm, smallest dia 240mm and the heights vary between 60-95mm.
    These first 4 have the half radius lip.

    DSCF7486.jpgDSCF7491.jpg DSCF7497.jpgDSCF7528.jpg
    Top views more or less. This view shows the lip shape better,hopefully. DSCF7531.jpg

    Group shot of those type.



    The other eight of the twelve have got a shape that is my favourite shape. I like to think of it as my own signature shape but not sure on that, someone else might have invented that shape before me. Hard to be original in wood turning.
    In profile it looks something like this. A convex and concave curve that meets at a crisp transition point between top and bottom view.
    DSCF7524.jpg Another view of the same bowl. DSCF7530.jpg
    You can see there is a definite angle between the outside and inside faces compered to the previous radius lipped bowls which I reckon is a good thing as it helps to give a better grip on the bowls when handling them. Well that's my theory and I'm sticking to it for now. If there is a downside to this shape it would be that the volume the finished bowl holds is slightly lessened. Anyway, enough of my design manifesto. Next eight pictures are the ones with this shape. All the bowls have had 2 coats of 30% gloss (in other words nearly matt) single pac spray lacquer.
    DSCF7498.jpg DSCF7502.jpg DSCF7507.jpg

    DSCF7510.jpg DSCF7513.jpgDSCF7511.jpg
    DSCF7517.jpg DSCF7518.jpg

    And finally a group shot of them all. If you have not all gone to sleep already, it is a bit of an overdose of blackwood bowls. Must say I am looking forward to getting stuck into the larger ones that are still waiting to be turned. Cheers and thanks for looking.

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  3. #2
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    Hi AB, nice bunch of bowls mate , well done , you have been a busy boy
    Not sure the ogee profile is new , the romans where making bowls that
    way many moons ago ,,,
    Very nice bowls anyway , shape , finish and great grain in the timber......
    Cheers smiife

  4. #3
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    Oh Gee!, guess I am ripping off the Romans then.
    Hope they don't come after me with copywright lawsuits.

  5. #4
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    Mareeba Far Nth Qld
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    Lovely bowls, nice simple shapes and very well turned and finished...

    Jim
    Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important...

  6. #5
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    Sep 2008
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    North Carolina, USA
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    Artful,

    Beautiful shape, figure, and finish. Well done!!
    So much timber, so little time.

    Paul

  7. #6
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    Nice work there Artful. Blackwood is a stunning timber, and you are really showing off the beauty in the timber. You must have quite a pile of shavings after having all this fun!
    The shape you are ending up with would probably lend itself to using a bowl saver of some sort, seems a shame to not utilize more of the timber. Having said that, I haven't tried a bowl saver, but have seen quite a few demos, must get around to having a play with one.

    I like the way you have done the rim, looks very neat indeed.

    Happy turnings,

    Alan...

  8. #7
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    Hi Alan
    Thanks for the comments.
    With these bowls there was not that big a pile of shavings as the bowls had already been rough turned, plus it has been rather chilly down here and with my woodheater going I have been burning the shavings as I go. There was lots of shavings and blackwood juice in the rough turning process though last December.
    I was considering a bowl saver when rough turning especially for the larger blanks but missed the boat for this lot of timber. I was not sure how the bowl saver would go with bowls up to 600mm dia.

  9. #8
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    Nice bowls, most turning shapes have been done before by potters over millennium.
    Do you wear a respirator when turning Blackwood.
    A very good mate of mine turned it for years and then suddenly acquired an extreme allergy to it.
    He couldn’t even walk into his shed or his tongue would swell up etc.
    I managed to pick up a racial powered air helmet for him which helped a lot.
    He gave me this eucalyptus burl bowl as a thank you.
    H.
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    Jimcracks for the rich and/or wealthy. (aka GKB '88)

  10. #9
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    Yes I sure do wear a respirator whenever I work with timber. I use a Sundstrom one which is a good one. I looked at a full face version the other day but did not buy it because it was really just like the regular one with eye protection which I always wear anyway.

  11. #10
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    Beautiful bowls artful, and I'll say it again, I love Blackwood.

    Peter

  12. #11
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    beautiful wood, up there with my favourites. Just damn fine wood

  13. #12
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    Great work, Artful. Love the timber and the shape . Can hear the chariots coming to serve a law suit on you. See you at the Arena

    Alan, when you decide to have a play with a bowl saver, just yell - there's one here just up the road at South Caringbah.

  14. #13
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    [QUOTE=Gary H;2145672
    Alan, when you decide to have a play with a bowl saver, just yell - there's one here just up the road at South Caringbah.[/QUOTE]

    Thanks Gary, I recently acquired one, haven't had a play with it as yet. Thanks for the offer, maybe we can compare notes (experiences ) after I get it set up.

    Alan...

  15. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by artful bodger View Post
    I was not sure how the bowl saver would go with bowls up to 600mm dia.
    I can get up to 18"/460mm OD bowls with the big set of McNaughton corers. If I remember correctly, the ID ends up at about 15.5", which leaves a fair bit of meat for warping. As far as I know, no corers would give you a 600mm OD bowl.

    Not that we get many blanks of that size, but should you occasionally get some as big as that you could at least remove some of the centre of the blank with the McNaughton to make some smaller bowls and then turn out the remaining meat to get the largest bowl blank.

    Larger bowls and platters are good for the ego, but are slow movers in the gallery. I usually have one on display to draw attention to my work and that results in more sales of my smaller pieces. So, the smaller cored blanks are the ones that are doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the funds transferred into my bank account at the end of each month...
    Stay sharp and stay safe!

    Neil



  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by NeilS View Post
    I can get up to 18"/460mm OD bowls with the big set of McNaughton corers. If I remember correctly, the ID ends up at about 15.5", which leaves a fair bit of meat for warping. As far as I know, no corers would give you a 600mm OD bowl.

    Not that we get many blanks of that size, but should you occasionally get some as big as that you could at least remove some of the centre of the blank with the McNaughton to make some smaller bowls and then turn out the remaining meat to get the largest bowl blank.
    Larger bowls and platters are good for the ego, but are slow movers in the gallery. I usually have one on display to draw attention to my work and that results in more sales of my smaller pieces. So, the smaller cored blanks are the ones that are doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the funds transferred into my bank account at the end of each month...

    Thanks for the info on the larger corers Neil, guess I will have to lash out on a set next time I get a big tree to cut up.
    It has been about 25 years since I had a decent crack at turning a heap of large bowls, back then they seemed to move pretty quickly but that was then. I have no idea how they will go this time around. I went and checked out all the likely galleries in town last week to see what else was on offer and there was little in the way of large bowls.

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