Thread: NE Black Bean Bowl

How big was the bean ? Phil

Originally Posted by pommyphil

How big was the bean ? Phil

Not as big as it is now .

Nice work like it

Nice bowl.Any problem with the dust? This timber has a bad reputation.
Ted

OK - not as many bites as I'd hoped so here's the rest of the story.
So it's been a Black Bean bean but now it's a Black Bean bean bowl . . . and to make matters worse it came from Babinda Boulders!! . . . which makes it a Babinda Boulders Black Bean bean bowl
Always on the lookout for anything unusual to turn so I thought the beans might be Oz's answer to Tagua Nuts Picked them up about 3 years ago and left them on the workbench - one went mouldy and disintegrated, another (pictured) fell foul to the mice or cockys and this one I turned had a crack right across it that I filled with rubberised CA before starting on it.
Turns like some sort of plastic as you can see from the shavings and doesn't need sanding - good fun but at this size the fun doesn't last long Only took it down to 2mm thick as I wasn't sure if it would be strong enough but I reckon I could take it to 1mm on the next one. Might check out the ones my little lady put in her 'Nature bowl'
Finished size - 31mm x 14mm.

Ted - zero dust! - not a problem.

So Vern, it didn't need sanding.... or with the chisel in your skilled hands it didn't require sanding? Must have been a small chisel.

Yes very tiny.

If he had sanded it there might not have been much left after going though the grits.

Originally Posted by Hardenfast

So Vern, it didn't need sanding.... or with the chisel in your skilled hands it didn't require sanding? Must have been a small chisel.

Ha! The stuff is so plastic-like that as long as you pulled the tool across it slow and steady, the finish was as good as you could want. Just used my home-made Oland style - butt of a 1/4" drill bit in the end of a 1/2" rod

Originally Posted by Christos

Yes very tiny.

If he had sanded it there might not have been much left after going though the grits.

Wanted to avoid sanding in case the pressure buckled/broke it - I reckon I've trashed more items in the sanding phase than I have in the turning of them

Very clever. Obviously a very inquisitive mind, to look at a black bean and wonder what might be revealed inside. And then to have the skills to do so. Well done.

I picked up some a while ago with similar idears but they all split on me as they were drying.
Ted