Square bowl

[Les Symonds]

Had a go at turning something out of a 9" square piece of recycled mahogany.....in an earlier life it was the left-hand end of a mantle-shelf. Finished size is about 300mm corner-to-corner and 40mm deep.







It was quite intimidating, watching the corners flying around and the thinner I turned it the more difficult it became to get a finish off the tool because it started to flex a little, so much of the finish is down to sanding. At the moment it has one coat of sanding sealer and one of soft wax.
All comments appreciated

[arcos]

Nice.

I don't think that I have the skills/nerve to attempt a square anything at the moment!!!

A question...

I notice that the depth of the piece changes a little, thinning toward the corners. Is this as it always is? Is it possible to maintain an equal depth of wood throughout the piece?

[thebowlerhattedturner]

Hi Gwyntog,
               a very nice square bowl. If you did another one try glueing a sacrificial piece on each side and you can then turn a round bowl and then remove the sacrificial timber afterwards, it certainly saves your knuckles.
Good effort, well done.
Regards
John BHT

[woody]

For a first attempt that is very good I look forward to seeing more as your skill level improves as noticed Arcos the wall thickens next time just pay a little more attention to this and the flow try to keep that continuous and you would have cracked it well done it is better than my first one many moons ago

[Les Symonds]

Thanks for the remarks.

Arcos.....the thickness at the edge is, as you say, a little uneven. When I finished working at with my bowl-gouge, it was almost the same thickness along the edge, but it was starting to flex a bit under the pressure of the tool, so I finished it off with lots of sanding. to be honest, I lost my nerve and am not yet good enough at sharpening my tools anyway. I realise now that the amount of sanding was probably excessive and has thinned out the corners a bit too much.
Having said all that, I watched a video on Youtube of a guy making a very similar bowl, and his edge was just as uneven.
Les

[Bryan Milham]

For a first attempt it gets my vote (probably for a 2nd or even 3rd attempt as well).

All the advice you need has been offered, now it's only practice!

Mahogany is no favourite of mine, I find it far too dusty a wood especially old very dry stuff.

[woodndesign]

Les, good of you to have a go, very nice result and you have learnt as you've said by your mistakes, get the best finish possible off the tool, the less sanding you need to do the better, fewer grits used the less material removed, it not a concern here, but on spindle work it can wreck fine details you've work hard on turning.

Cheers  David

[Les Symonds]

I've just viewed a video on square bowl turning, by Carl Jacobson on YouTube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbWpJyt50Mw and have to say that I'm not impressed. His tool-work ends at a very early stage, with the edges of the bowl looking quite ragged, then he relies solely on sanding for a finish, which shows in the finished piece, as there's a lot of rounding off of corners. Also, his edge thickness seems all wrong. Apart from being uneven, it's left quite thick and seems out of proportion with the overall size of the bowl. If anything, it acts as a good example of the sort of basic mistakes that it's easy to make with a bowl like this and serves to confirm all the advise that I've been given on this forum.

p.s. if anyone watches the video, skip the first 5 minutes because that's all about turning a piece of plastic - not sure why it's there!

Les

[Bryan Milham]

Gwyntog,

Take anything by Jacobson with a pinch of salt, I tried a couple of his YouTube videos as he seems to be setting himself up as some sort of on-line turning guru.

I've seen him use a Spindle Roughing Gouge to rough out a bowl, turn a slim form and then say he 'likes to start sanding with 60 grit' to name just 2. As you've noted he lacks tool control or finish. I get annoyed at his antics and refuse to watch anything more by him.

[thebowlerhattedturner]

Ah Bryan,
              you beat me to it!!
Anything you see on you tube related to turning should be treated with caution. Some of the techniques shown are a bit iffy.
Regards
John BHT

[woodndesign]

Gwyntog,

Take anything by Jacobson with a pinch of salt, I tried a couple of his YouTube videos as he seems to be setting himself up as some sort of on-line turning guru.

I've seen him use a Spindle Roughing Gouge to rough out a bowl, turn a slim form and then say he 'likes to start sanding with 60 grit' to name just 2. As you've noted he lacks tool control or finish. I get annoyed at his antics and refuse to watch anything more by him.

I've yet to watch the video and it is that not all are good, was it someone Daisy, she got flagged an removed, more should be too.

As I'd mentioned above about sanding and in the words of Les Thorne ...  "best sandable finish"  I'd say aim for 120 .. that for some tools finishes could still be to much, should sanding mark the wood the tool work is bl@&~y well good and less sanding the better, I've turned loads of pine an it's taken only a burnish with a handful of shavings, job done, it's been too good for painting.

David