Spalted curly maple bowl

[duncsuss]

Last July, a friend generously gave me a piece of spalted curly maple (the same person who gave me the black locust blank I turned a while back.)

I rough-turned a bowl and set aside in a paper bag to slowly dry out, then put it back on the lathe last weekend.

Today I finished it -- lots of beauty in this wood, I always feel that my job as a turner is to avoid screwing it up and let the wood speak for itself. Several coats of Wood Turner's Finish, lots of sanding between coats to get it as smooth as I could, then buffed with tripoli, white diamond, and some carnauba wax.

It stands about 4" tall, 8.5" diameter at the rim.

 

[GeauxGameCalls]

Beautiful!

 

[DKMD]

That's really nice! Love the curl!

 

[Nature Man]

Beautiful work, and great finish. The patterns in the wood are alluring! Really like how you labeled the bottom -- freehand with a sharpie? Chuck

 

[Fsyxxx]

Nicely done, like that you took the time to finish it well.

 

[NYWoodturner]

Beautiful bowl Duncan. You get more out of the Woodturners finish than most. You really made that curl pop. I also think you nailed the wall thickness proportionate to the diameter.

 

[gman2431]

Your work is always top notch, great job!

 

[duncsuss]

Thanks everyone

Really like how you labeled the bottom -- freehand with a sharpie? Chuck

Freehand, but burned with an Optima wood-burning pen designed for writing.

Nicely done, like that you took the time to finish it well.

Thanks. I've been ogling some of the amazing finishes that folks like Mike Jones and Barry Richardson achieve and decided it was time to up my game -- and this piece of wood really deserved the extra attention. Mike's tutorial in The Class Room really helped set me on the right path (even though I used a finish he wasn't writing about.)

Beautiful bowl Duncan. You get more out of the Woodturners finish than most. You really made that curl pop. I also think you nailed the wall thickness proportionate to the diameter.

Thanks Scott. It's the first time I tried using the finish on a bowl and I was half expecting to have to sand it off and start over. It does have the advantage of being low odor, and since I work in a closed space that's important. I love the final appearance of shellac and lacquer finishes, but get very stern looks from the management when the garage is filled with with VOCs.

 

[wyowoodwrker]

That's beautiful Duncan, as others have said you nailed the finish, wish mine looked that good, and the curl is very eye catching!

 

[barry richardson]

Pretty Bowl! looks like it will last a lifetime or 2....

 

[Tony]

That is awesome Duncan! You certainly did well by that wood, your finish is outstanding! Tony