# Maple Bowl



## Barb (May 4, 2019)

I bought these maple burl blanks from @Gary Schuler a couple of months back and wanted to post what I did. This bowl was done a day after I completely destroyed a stabilized spalted birch bowl blank I attempted to turn but I didn't having the right tools. Needless to say, I went to a local store and bought a set and I'm happy with the results. This is also the first bowl I've ever made after taking a beginning turners course.



 

 

 

This next set of pics is another one of his blanks that I stabilized emerald green and cast with translucent turquoise with a touch of metallic copper. I've learned my lesson and won't attempt this one until I've done a few more bowls.

Reactions: Like 4 | EyeCandy! 1 | Way Cool 4


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## Gdurfey (May 4, 2019)

Good job Barbara. You did good in class. Know how you feel, my class earlier this year has really increased my confidence and excited me.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## ironman123 (May 4, 2019)

Nice bowl in the top 3 pictures.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (May 4, 2019)

Looking good Barb! That's a cool looking blank too....

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 2


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## Karl_TN (May 4, 2019)

Great start on all of it. Can't wait to see how casted blank turns out.


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## Barb (May 4, 2019)

Gdurfey said:


> Good job Barbara. You did good in class. Know how you feel, my class earlier this year has really increased my confidence and excited me.



Thank you. It's made me excited as well to try new things. Now I just need to get a bigger lathe lol.


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## Barb (May 4, 2019)

Karl_TN said:


> Great start on all of it. Can't wait to see how casted blank turns out.


Thank you. I'll post it once I get it done.


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## ripjack13 (May 4, 2019)

Awesome Barb, nicely done.
I hope you have great luck with that other blank. It looks to have some nice potential.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## rocky1 (May 4, 2019)

Awesome job on the bowl up top Barb. How big is it?? 

Blank looks interesting as everyone has stated. Having turned a couple hybrid bowl blanks, without problems, I have to ask... What kind of problems did you encounter with the other blank?

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Nature Man (May 5, 2019)

Wood selection is superior! Very nice first bowl! Can't believe you are doing such complex stabilizing already! Congrats! Chuck

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## T. Ben (May 5, 2019)

Great looking bowl,will be waiting for a pic of the other one when it’s done.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Barb (May 5, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> Awesome job on the bowl up top Barb. How big is it??
> 
> Blank looks interesting as everyone has stated. Having turned a couple hybrid bowl blanks, without problems, I have to ask... What kind of problems did you encounter with the other blank?


It's 6 3/4".

The other bowl was double dyed and very hard so when I was almost done as you can see in the pic, I snagged the side with a round carbide tool I was using and pretty much shattered it. I wasn't able to find all the pieces so I glued up what I did find. I'm now calling it my Frankenstein bowl and I f I ever find the rest, I'll finish it. This was also before I removed my tailstock which kept getting in the way of my tool.

Reactions: Sincere 3


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## rocky1 (May 5, 2019)

Not a big fan of carbides myself, I find they are often too aggressive, especially on hybrids where there resin can be a little softer. But, grain orientation on that piece was likely a bigger contributor to it's failure than anything Barb. Hard wood, end grain orientation, and carbide catch... Yep, that's a recipe for disaster. Would have been a truly cool bowl too.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Barb (May 5, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> Not a big fan of carbides myself, I find they are often too aggressive, especially on hybrids where there resin can be a little softer. But, grain orientation on that piece was likely a bigger contributor to it's failure than anything Barb. Hard wood, end grain orientation, and carbide catch... Yep, that's a recipe for disaster. Would have been a truly cool bowl too.


It was just a piece of firewood that was in the backyard but I was more bummed about the time and effort I put into stabilizing it. After that happened, I decided that I would at least rough cut a bowl before stabilizing, if it needs it, so I don't waste so much product.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Nature Man (May 5, 2019)

I've lost at least 3 bowls (not stabilized) and it is hard to take! Last one was a Black Cherry bowl from a round from a friend in Pennsylvania. Was going to be inspirational until it popped! Just have to keep pressing on! Chuck


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## Barb (May 5, 2019)

Nature Man said:


> I've lost at least 3 bowls (not stabilized) and it is hard to take! Last one was a Black Cherry bowl from a round from a friend in Pennsylvania. Was going to be inspirational until it popped! Just have to keep pressing on! Chuck


I totally get it and thank you. :)

Reactions: Like 1


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## David Hill (May 5, 2019)

Great first bowl---waaaay better than my first.
Confidence will build quickly==you'll see.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## T. Ben (May 6, 2019)

Bummer,I’ve had a couple of explosions,I don’t know if it would help but it does on acrylics,look into the negative rake carbides.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## GS-76 (May 6, 2019)

Barb, very nicely done. You are on your way. Glad you liked the blanks. Gary

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## rocky1 (May 6, 2019)

So which way you going to try and turn the hybrid bowl Barb? Resin up or Resin down?


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## Barb (May 6, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> So which way you going to try and turn the hybrid bowl Barb? Resin up or Resin down?


Resin up so hopefully more of it will show.


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## rocky1 (May 7, 2019)

More of it will show, but... There's more stress turning it that way, and less contact surface to hold it. Therefore it's going to be more prone to fail.

Resin down isn't all bad, if you think the shape of your bowl through and use it to show off the resin to it's fullest extent. This black Locust bowl on top is cool in that the resin is translucent enough light shines through the bottom when you pick it up. Both are however, turned so resin fill is obvious inside the bowl as well.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1 | Way Cool 3


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## Barb (May 7, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> More of it will show, but... There's more stress turning it that way, and less contact surface to hold it. Therefore it's going to be more prone to fail.
> 
> Resin down isn't all bad, if you think the shape of your bowl through and use it to show off the resin to it's fullest extent. This black Locust bowl on top is cool in that the resin is translucent enough light shines through the bottom when you pick it up. Both are however, turned so resin fill is obvious inside the bowl as well.
> 
> ...


That’s a good point and I had wondered about whether or not it would be strong enough to hold. Those are some awesome looking bowls too!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## rocky1 (May 7, 2019)

Top one is about 5 1/2" diameter, the bottom one is a little over 2". Both fun turns, using otherwise worthless wood. 

Both looked much like the piece you pictured above before turning. Just something to think about before you venture into the other piece.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Barb (May 7, 2019)

This is what I've done so far. I'm hoping to be able to finish it tomorrow but I wanted to post a pic in case it all went south lol

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1 | Funny 2 | Way Cool 1


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## rocky1 (May 7, 2019)

Looking fantastic Barb! 

Keep the faith, it's all gonna turn out beautiful!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## T. Ben (May 8, 2019)

That looks great!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Diver Temple (May 8, 2019)

That's a great looking combo of colors. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Barb (May 9, 2019)

Well here's the finished piece. I still need to put a couple more coats of Danish oil on but for the most part it's done. I decided late in the game to make it lidded since it was a fairly deep piece for such a small diameter. I cast the leftover resin from the original pour into some pen blanks and that's what I used for the finial.

Reactions: Like 1 | EyeCandy! 1 | Way Cool 4


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## rocky1 (May 9, 2019)

Damn gurl you killed that one! 

Very nice piece! Beautiful turn in all respects!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## T. Ben (May 9, 2019)

That is an awesome bowl!! Very nice job.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## TimR (May 9, 2019)

Wowzer, very nice!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Barb (May 10, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> More of it will show, but... There's more stress turning it that way, and less contact surface to hold it. Therefore it's going to be more prone to fail.
> 
> Resin down isn't all bad, if you think the shape of your bowl through and use it to show off the resin to it's fullest extent. This black Locust bowl on top is cool in that the resin is translucent enough light shines through the bottom when you pick it up. Both are however, turned so resin fill is obvious inside the bowl as well.
> 
> ...


What finish did you use on your bowls? I'm not digging the Danish finish I used but my mom likes it and that's who it's going to. But I'd like my future bowls to be a bit shinier. I sanded up to 3k grit so it feels good but still too dull for my taste.


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## rocky1 (May 10, 2019)

Both of those were finished with CA Barb. The Cherry burl, just because it was tiny and CA shows cherry burl off really nice. 

The black locust because I had to glue much of it together as I turned, resin didn't fill all of the cracks and voids in the piece, it was seriously ugly. 



 




Min-Wax Polycrylic is a much better option than CA, it just takes longer to set to a point where you can buff it out. You can hand sand and polish after 24 hours or so, buffing wheel on lathe or grinder, you need to wait a week or so to let it harden more. 

Most salad bowl finishes will be shinier than Danish oil as well. There again however, it can take days before the finish is set hard enough to sand between coats, and to final polish. So you can't be in a rush to finish it.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## GS-76 (May 10, 2019)

Looks pretty darn nice to me. Good job Barb.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Gdurfey (May 10, 2019)

Wow!!!!!!!!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Barb (May 10, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> Both of those were finished with CA Barb. The Cherry burl, just because it was tiny and CA shows cherry burl off really nice.
> 
> The black locust because I had to glue much of it together as I turned, resin didn't fill all of the cracks and voids in the piece, it was seriously ugly.
> 
> ...


Thanks Rocky. I'll get some of that polycrylic and give it a shot. My biggest problem is my lack of patience sometimes. Once I'm done on the lathe, I want to be done but it'll be worth the wait to get the finish I want.

Reactions: +Karma 1


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## rocky1 (May 10, 2019)

It has a milky appearance going on Barb. It's a latex polyurethane, good stuff, Smooths out nicely, excellent shine, cleans up easily with tap water. First coat or two will dry relatively quick. The more you build the slower it dries. Put 3-4 coats on give it a day or two, then wet sand with BLO and 1000 - 3000 grit, and polish with Novus 2 or other plastic polish, it'll come out like glass.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Informative 1 | Useful 1


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## Barb (May 10, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> It has a milky appearance going on Barb. It's a latex polyurethane, good stuff, Smooths out nicely, excellent shine, cleans up easily with tap water. First coat or two will dry relatively quick. The more you build the slower it dries. Put 3-4 coats on give it a day or two, then wet sand with BLO and 1000 - 3000 grit, and polish with Novus 2 or other plastic polish, it'll come out like glass.


Awesome! Thank you :)


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## duncsuss (May 10, 2019)

One feature of Polycrylic that I like is it doesn't change the colours nearly as much as oil-based polyurethanes. Not really a problem with darker woods, but I like pale woods to remain pale when I put a finish on them.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1 | Useful 1


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## SeanPEvans (May 18, 2019)

Barb said:


> I bought these maple burl blanks from @Gary Schuler a couple of months back and wanted to post what I did. This bowl was done a day after I completely destroyed a stabilized spalted birch bowl blank I attempted to turn but I didn't having the right tools. Needless to say, I went to a local store and bought a set and I'm happy with the results. This is also the first bowl I've ever made after taking a beginning turners course.
> 
> View attachment 165652 View attachment 165653 View attachment 165654
> 
> ...


That’s your first bowl!? Very impressive

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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