# Black locust bowl



## duncsuss (Jun 14, 2014)

About a year ago, Dave Paine (a member on WoodworkingTalk) sent me a block of black locust. I rough turned it while it was still nice and wet, then set it aside in a paper bag to dry out.

It was ready to finish turn several months ago, but I only got around to it in May. What had started out as "a bit on the hard side" dried into something "a bit on the granite side" -- plus it had a nasty way of tearing off long splinters as the end grain turned around. I tried several different tools, all freshly sharpened: shear scraping, pull cutting, carbide tools, the lot ... sprayed with shellac, oiled it ... nothing seemed to fix it, so I ended up treating it with a lot of 60 grit.

I found it interesting that the inside gave me much less hassle -- or maybe I'd finally figured out how to deal with it.

Anyway ... I gave it several coats of Watco Danish Oil (till it built up a film) and let it cure for a week. Today I buffed it with tripoli / white diamond / carnauba wax.

My thanks for the opportunity to turn this piece go Dave -- it wasn't easy, but I enjoyed the challenge and have learned some new techniques.

_edit: forgot to mention the dimensions: 9" diameter, 4" high_

Reactions: Like 9 | EyeCandy! 5 | Way Cool 1


----------



## Sprung (Jun 14, 2014)

Very well done, Duncan!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## Mike1950 (Jun 15, 2014)

NICE bowl

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## Johnturner (Jun 15, 2014)

Duncan
Very Nice.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## Norm192 (Jun 15, 2014)

NICE!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## NYWoodturner (Jun 15, 2014)

Wow - Great bowl Duncan. I love the color it turned and you did a great job on the finish. 
I think the lesson in the way the inside turned vs the outside is that outside you turn foot to rim. Inside you turn rim to foot. You are approaching the grain from opposite directions. One works and one doesn't. You run into the same thing with a hand plane. Some woods its not an issue, but locust has that big bold grain that makes it more pronounced.


----------



## duncsuss (Jun 15, 2014)

NYWoodturner said:


> Wow - Great bowl Duncan. I love the color it turned and you did a great job on the finish.
> I think the lesson in the way the inside turned vs the outside is that outside you turn foot to rim. Inside you turn rim to foot. You are approaching the grain from opposite directions. One works and one doesn't. You run into the same thing with a hand plane. Some woods its not an issue, but locust has that big bold grain that makes it more pronounced.


Thanks!

I forgot to mention that -- direction of cut was also something I changed multiple times on the outside. My "pull cuts" were with the handle way down low, using the long side edge of the fingernail grind -- trying to present the cutting edge close to 45 degrees and taking the lightest of cuts. That did better than all the other cuts I tried, but it still caught splinters when it was cutting parallel to the grain direction (effectively pushing the chisel edge straight into the grain).

Smaller splinters, but still ...


----------



## Blueglass (Jun 15, 2014)

I found it very splintery making a drum shell as well. All said and done though it came out pretty enough and sounds great so I would do it again. I think the bowl looks great.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## ironman123 (Jun 15, 2014)

Very nice bowl.

Ray

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## woodintyuuu (Jun 16, 2014)

very very sweet bowl!! that said I belive the absolute hardest thing to make is a perfect bowl, as previously mentioned in this thread: finish grain oreintation, finish, and a bunch of intangables, comprise the quest for the perfect bowl, ,the curve ,and the foot. Duncan the level of skill demonstrated to make this bowl is getting quite
nicely refined IMNSHO. I just know it when i see it and this bowl has IT. Thanks I love a nice bowl. All that said critique of a turning this magnificent, requires
thought and tact, niether which im known for so here goes. The dimple in the center of the base, where your signature is is significant enough to detract from your 
signature, lots of ways to fix that though, second the area around the foot could use small bit of attention. Again this level of critique indicates my admiration for the rest of the whole and i hope is recieved as praise no critisisim.  cl that bowl is so nice if i had the opportunity to trade for it i would

Reactions: Like 1 | Sincere 1


----------



## duncsuss (Jun 16, 2014)

Thanks -- I appreciate your comments Cliff, by the time I was working on the foot I just wanted it finished  (Plus, flash photography with a macro lens shows up many imperfections that aren't easy to spot by eye under normal lighting.)

I'll take another pass at it and report back.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## David Hill (Jun 16, 2014)

Nice bowl! The grained woods do present a challenge at times.
I'd leave it as is--no sense tempting fate with a big hang or coming off the jaws. Like you said--the camera "sees" things we'd normally pass up.


----------



## duncsuss (Jun 16, 2014)

David Hill said:


> Nice bowl! The grained woods do present a challenge at times.
> I'd leave it as is--no sense tempting fate with a big hang or coming off the jaws. Like you said--the camera "sees" things we'd normally pass up.


Thanks David ... just between you and me, I wasn't planning to put it back on the lathe. 

(Any changes at this point would be gentle sanding and re-applying the finish.)

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## duncsuss (Jun 20, 2014)

woodintyuuu said:


> that bowl is so nice if i had the opportunity to trade for it i would



Cliff, sometimes it takes a long time for a message to seep through my skull to the point where I hear it ... I'm most certainly willing to talk about a trade. Do we need to start a new thread for that?


----------



## woodintyuuu (Jun 21, 2014)

I'm on road till next week but yes absolutely. . Thanks cl

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Schroedc (Jun 21, 2014)

I wonder if the experience will be the same with some Honey locust I was given. I only hope I can do as nice a job on it as you did with that piece!


----------



## duncsuss (Jun 21, 2014)

Schroedc said:


> I wonder if the experience will be the same with some Honey locust I was given. I only hope I can do as nice a job on it as you did with that piece!


Colin - thanks.

The chances are high that it will be very similar. At the turning club meeting just a couple of days ago, one of the members brought a piece she'd made from honey locust for the show & tell. It looked beautiful, and she was glad she turned it, but she doesn't plan to do it again in the near future ... 

I hope it turns smoothly for you

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Nature Man (Jun 21, 2014)

I have a couple black locust bowl blanks, and you've inspired me to raise their priority in my wood stash. Great woodturner in my locale told me that black locust was one of his 3 favorite woods to turn -- others were mimosa and black walnut. In any event, very nice bowl! Chuck

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------

