Reclaimed oak bowl

[Les Symonds]

This reclaimed piece of oak came from some old mill buildings near my home, and it's got it all - burr, weathering, splitting and iron-staining, so it wasn't very nice to turn, but is certainly nice to look at. It's just under 6" diameter and just over 6" tall. I left the wall of the bowl quite thick because I didn't want it to shatter on me, so it's much thicker than I usually turn to, but it suits the timber











Comments and criticisms always welcome...Les



p.s. ... I don't think that my black, archivist's pen is going to be much use for endorsing the bottom of this bowl!

[bodrighywood]

Lovely piece Les, one trick with wood like this is to shape and finish the outside then wrap in a good cover of cling film. If it does go on you it doesn't fly all over the place. Still best to leave thicker as you have done though as it will still move and warp after finishing and anyway, looks better IMHO.

Pete

[TWiG]

There is a lot going on in that 6 x 6 bit of oak !  I really like the form you have achieved , the thickness is not out of proportion  at all ( in my opinion )  but most of all well done for having the vision to spot it amongst old timbers !!  There is so much lovely character wood out there that is just unrecognised by most people and  considered rubbish !!  I have a load of rough old oak myself at the moment that needs to be " roughed out " but it is unpleasant work and I have a pile of other more pleasant woods that I always am drawn to first .... Terry ...

[georg]

     You have got yourself a fine piece of oak there Les full of character and agree with leaving the walls thick.
     Very unsure about the foot..... maybe its a tad pronounced.... though as always its personal choice.
      Tony Di
     

[ken rodgers]

Hi Les,
Love it,you did a good job on turning this one.
Oak is my favourite wood it never ceases to amaze in its burrs/grain patterns and colour
Regards,
Ken.

[Les Symonds]

      Very unsure about the foot..... maybe its a tad pronounced....
     

.....that's an interesting point, and one that was picked up immediately on the US forum of Woodturnres Unlimited. My thinking was that a little foot would lift the bowl to give the impression of the curve flowing all the way underneath it. I'm tempted to remount it and either make the foot much shorter, or perhaps do away with it altogether. There'd be no problem with the finish on the bowl, as it's just got one coat of Danish Oil because I don't like a high finish on natural pieces like this.

Does anyone else care to add to the thoughts expressed so far about the foot?....be blunt, please....I won't be offended!

Les

[Bryan Milham]

Hi Lez,

let me guess, dry, dusty and chewed the edge off your tools something awful!

But worth all the hard work, it stands out well, I especially like the very slight taper up the length of the height, make it look just that little bit more structured than a straight side would heve.

Excellent job.

[Les Symonds]

let me guess, dry, dusty and chewed the edge off your tools something awful!

Go to the top of the class, Bryan, 100% correct, so far. There was, however, one other problem. I used my Simon Hope end-grain straight hollowing tool, which is ideal for this sort of job, but which I still struggle with to get a good clean line down the inside of the wall. I ended up with a curved tool-rest inside the bowl and a hefty curved scraper to get a good 'line' down the wall, but that was just too scary because it snagged twice (yep, I didn't learn first time) and then the tool got thrown back at me. At that point, I swapped it for a much lighter sheer-scraper mounted into my chatter-tool body, which worked brilliantly.
One other dilemma was what had caused that iron-stain. When I was cutting up the lump of burr - which came as an 8ft length of 6x6 - my chainsaw touched base with a flipping great iron gate hinge, completely embedded in the wood.
SO THIS BOWL OWES ME.....it had better sell well, and soon!

Les

[woodndesign]

Metal detector on list for Christmas.. must for reclaimed timber. Had hit barbed wire & staples deep in timber logging Elm years back when they had to be felled due to D.E.D ...  ..

This has made the most delightful of pieces for the very detail of the Oak itself.. It has kept drawing me back, as mentioned before the foot, I'm not sure, is it that it's void of detail due to the black, less than the 3rd of the diameter and/or overly too tall ... does the overall thicken/weight dwarf the foot, how can one call the exact reason, it's as much not seeing the piece first hand, difficult to really make an observation as always from a picture.

Cheers  Dewi

[bodrighywood]

See iron stain in old oak and proceed with caution....but you realise that now don't you? Same applies if you are turning or cutting up yew and see purple, usually barbed wire or nails.

Pete

[woodndesign]

See iron stain in old oak and proceed with caution....but you realise that now don't you? Same applies if you are turning or cutting up yew and see purple, usually barbed wire or nails.

Pete

Interesting point you mentioning purple, I've just commented the same having found it with Elm .. had this by chance been caused by wire/nails/staples or similar.

Cheers  David

[edbanger]

loving the oak bowl 

I think that with Tony & Di on the foot I'm not a fan

Ed

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Hi Les,
           very nicely turned and the wood has lots of character. The thickness for this type of work is right to in MHO. I quite like the foot but would prefer it if it was a bit shorter and parallel.
   Otherwise a really nice piece.

[Graham]

A very nice piece Les. It is amazing how an old bit of wood can be refreshed by taking the 'skin' off, wish it worked for me.

[Bryan Milham]

Les,

I've no idea without a photo about the bit of hinge but I have seen some wonderful bit's turned with lumps of old metal sticking out of them,

Time to look closely at the lump thats left over then!