NE Plum Bowl

[arcos]

My first proper attempt at a NE bowl.

It is green plum wood with all bark intact and even managed to hold onto some of the moss!

Size is SMALL... Only about 3" at widest.

I worked hard to try and remove any tool marks from the interior with no sanding which I am quite pleased with the result. There does appear to be a possible tool mark in one of the photos but it's graining.  

Hand finished with a little beeswax/linseed 'soft paste'.

A question though in photo NE4... You can see a rough area on the left side. No matter how I tried I simply could not get rid of it. Gouge, scraper, sanding... Nothing seemed to remove this roughing of the wood! Any ideas how or even if it would be posible to remove this?

[Bryan Milham]

I would definitely be pleased with that.

You've managed to keep the moss/lichen on the bark, the bark in place and an even bark rim thickness.

Thinner walls will come with practice and confidence.

Take a pat on the back.

[woodndesign]

Plum job you've done there ..    .. sweet little piece, as for finish an your concern with NE4 it is the end grain and where twice you're cutting against the grain, so get tearout, best is resharpen before making light finishing cuts, which you would be doing as you're getting to the point of hit & miss with wood contact and air with the rim form, it's a case of tial and error.

David

[arcos]

I would definitely be pleased with that.

You've managed to keep the moss/lichen on the bark, the bark in place and an even bark rim thickness.

Thinner walls will come with practice and confidence.

Take a pat on the back.

Thanks Dragonfly!

I have a few pieces like this that I am going to see if I can thin down the walls!

[arcos]

Plum job you've done there ..    .. sweet little piece, as for finish an your concern with NE4 it is the end grain and where twice you're cutting against the grain, so get tearout, best is resharpen before making light finishing cuts, which you would be doing as you're getting to the point of hit & miss with wood contact and air with the rim form, it's a case of tial and error.

David

Thanks David!

Ah end grain 

Strange that it only occurred on one end of the bowl. The other end turned out ok with no tear out.

As mentioned earlier, I have a few pieces of this or similar size so will be practicing getting a cleaner finish and thinner walls!

[woodndesign]

You could just get tearout on one side, the view shown looks to be very course grain and this is the newer growth of timber and bark and is not only softer, but green timber as you've mentioned, this layer is made up of cork, cork canbium, phelioderm and secondary phloem (diagram for example below) and all add to the problems we can face with turning.

Hope it is helpfull.

David

[arcos]

David that was very interesting thank you!

To try and combat this I did use the new bowl gouge and also a very sharp rounded scraper that is one of my old chisels that is incredibly efficient at normally avoiding this kind of tear out.

I guess it was just lack of 'touch' on my part.

Surprised that no amount of sanding made any difference at all though.

Onwards and upwards!

[Bryan Milham]

Surprised that no amount of sanding made any difference at all though.

Ah, it takes a while to work out why you can't sand out torn grain. When you have ripples or bumps, there is a little wood above the general wood surface, easy to sand off.

Torn grain goes below the wood surface, you can't sand it down, all you can do is sand all the other wood away, to bring it to the lowest point of the damaged wood, lots of hard work and in reality you are shaping the wood with abrasive, not the tools.

[woodndesign]

Viewing NE3 there's a small twig grown out and the grain has changed direction round it so less likelihood of tearout, should of double checked first off ..

How green is green, felled a day or so, week, month and how fast will or can a small log like this start to dry out ..    ..  a guide to how dry or wet your timber could be and to the problem.

It can't be sanded as Bryan has commented, only turned until you've gone far enough to have removed it, with a scraper a square ended would be best for the outside, then you've the wavy edge to consider in using such, but you've only the rounds any way, oh the fun, could make one  .....

Another step along the learning curve.

David

[arcos]

Thanks for the info and tips guys...

The wood is GREEN! It was cut a couple of hours before I turned it.... HOWEVER, I am unsure if this particular piece is still 'living'. It was a piece still on the tree BUT no new growth and definitely no blossom!

I have it sat upon the tv at the moment and it is slowly taking a nice purple colour but retaining structure and shape!

Aha, I do possess a square scraper! It's not big, it's clever but its VERY sharp!