Trying a different type of bowl

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Guys
I have been watching Pallins work for some time and like the contrast that he brings to his work with different woods. So the idea for this came from seeing what he has done on his projects. .

Think it's time to start making wood chips fly again so am going to have a crack at a different sort of bowl or shallow dish. It will be about the size of a small dinner plate and will be comprised of hollowed out and raised segents. The raised segments will be made of Kahikatea which is a very white fine grained wood. I had hoped to make the base of walnut but not sure if I have a piece big enough.

Think the method will be to turn the bowl and carve the deep segments then turn the lighter wood to the same profile as the bowl body.

Then cut the light coloured wood segents out and inlet then a little way into the bowl wall to take out any minor variations then carve them to the raised section shape.

If all goes to plan it should end up looking like a flower petal pattern but with a wave like appearance all around the bowl.

Think it will be pretty trickyand fiddly to get right but hey what's life without a challenge.

[sappy]

what's life without a challenge.

Hmm..relaxing? This is going to be a lot of work, but another beauty!

[woodburner807]

Nice idea, Glenn, and looking forward to the process and finished work.

[joepaulbutler]

Well, my curiosity is brimming over∙∙∙∙

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Guys
Well have kicked the ball rolling. Decided I needed some depth to the piece so cut out 2 dinner plate size pieces of fancy Claro Walnut.

Seeing as how I'm using some of the best patterned wood I have I decided this should be a bit special. so the plan is to aim for simple in style and not too fancy but with elements to add elegance to the piece. This is one of the main reasons for the extra depth.

Sanded the two faces to be joined dead flat on a flatbed, Wiped it down with a damp cloth ro remove all dust then glued it with tightbond original glue. Used the 4 heaviest clamps toward the centre of the piece and wiped off the glue.

Then thought that to get the glue join even tighter to minimise its visibility when turned and finished that more clamps wouldn't hurt.

Threw every clamp I had on it and the glue you see in the photos is all from the second clamping. I didn't think that I would shift that much glue with the second set of clamps. Went around all the clamps tightening them all down evenly 3 times to be sure the join was tight as I could get it.

Just goes to show you can never throw too many clamps on a job.

The wood has fancy patterns on one side of the piece so when gluing them I turned one piece around 180 degrees.

When the bowl is turned the pattern on one side will be fancy cutting down into plain and on the other side, it will go from plain cutting down into fancy which should make for some interesting grain patterns.

The contrasting white sections can be fitted to cover some of the less interesting grain. The object being to make it slightly different to view from different angles to add interest to the piece.

Haven't decided which light coloured wood to use yet. Am looking for something with great grain patterns to compliment the walnut.

[joepaulbutler]

A Porcupine∙∙∙∙that is indeed lots of clamps. Your bowl should be interesting

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Guys
Got the bowl turning part done. Not without difficulty. I had forgotten just how difficult the fancy grain Claro can be to work, Had to re-sharpen the tool a lot as the wood made it go blunt very quickly. Not very good quality tools but they do get the job done if one persists.

The wood was prone to breaking out very small pieces even with super sharp tool and taking a very small bite at the wood. Got there in the end witha lot of sanding.

There is a samll mark showing at the join of the 2 pieces but this can be tidied up in the carving and in laying.

Now the fun part starts!!!! Will be a day or two bwfore I can have another crack at it I think. Has been cold or wet most days should have a fine day tomorrow so off to do some avian photography.

[joepaulbutler]

Am I to assume the glue joint is at the bottom of the bowl? The grain is going to really make this bowl very eye-catching. Hope your day away was enjoyable.

[woodburner807]

Nice going, Glenn, and the grain is eye popping.

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Joe
Yes the glue line is about half way down the wall of the bowl. This should make for some interesting grain patterns as I cut down into the bottom layer to create the scallops. It will also be very difficult to carve and get right so that I have a uniformity around the whole bowl body. Not 100% sure if the "look" will be quite right. If not I can silver wire inlay the join line all the way around the join line which would make it look like the bottom half was an insert and meant to be there.

Am leaning toward some fancy veneer inlay around the edge of the bowl to define the rim a little. This is very much a design as you go project. I may also do a centre inlay on the bottom of the bowl so that it ballances with the rim. Well that is where the thought is going at the moment.

Hi Bill
Thanks mate. Have to agree Claro does produce some seriously gorgeous grain. This piece was an offcut from a guitar back. Now that was a marathon effort. It took 40 hours with mallet and gouge to shape the back. Man that wood is hard!!!!! The grain will just burst forth when finish is applied.

[Merle Rice]

Hi Glenn, another Beautiful piece of Work from the Bowl Man . Interesting to watch it show the Grain . Merle

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Guys
Well after a 2 week visit from my brother and going down country to see my dad for his 87th birthday We are now in covid lockdown again so I'm back on the tools. The hand has been good since the steroid shot went in so am now putting it to the test.

Made a profile of the bowl then cut 6 pieces to that profile.

Next step is to cut them to shape, shape them and fit them to the bowl. Am thinking of a pyrography pattern on the white wood. Then I can carve the scallops in the bowl wall. Is going to be pretty tricky to get it right I think.

[joepaulbutler]

we'll be looking forward to your progress reports

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Guys
Cut the bits to shape with the bandsaw then trimmed to shape with the knife then a final sand to shape.

Used chalk to mark the highspots on the bits as I sanded them down to the bowl wall profile.

I laid the finished pieces in the bowl to give you some idea of what it is going to look like. The next step is to carve the same shape into the wall of the bowl to scallop the wallnut. This will be a bit of a mission and will take a couple of days to get right I think.

[Merle Rice]

Hi Glenn , got your Imagination working I see . Nice Interesting look. Lookin forward in seeing the Finish Piece . Merle