Shallow Oak Bowl....with a feather.

[Les Symonds]

This was a 2"-thick, board-end from a batch of locally grown oak that I bought recently and through the grime I could see signs of a feather visible on one side of the board, but not at all on the other. The obvious solution was to set the feather onto the bottom of the bowl and to avoid losing any of that special figure, I cut a very shallow recess for my 4" jaws, rather than form a tenon and then turn it away later. There turned out to be an awkward little split on what was going to be the rim, so I cut the rim back and sloped it inwards and upwards, cutting the split area away completely.

Any sort of ripple/quilting in the grain is always very difficult to photograph because you really need the bowl to move to appreciate the change of light, so I took two shots of the inside at different angles just to show how much the light and the reflections change.

I was told recently, by a fellow professional turner, that one should never, never allow the natural features of the grain dictate the form. I disagree!

Size is 11" x 2", 27.5cm x 5cm and it's finished with microcrystaline wax.

C&C always welcome....Les

[Les Symonds]

....and a close-up shot of the underside!

[Duncan A]

Very nice, simple, clean lines with maximum wood beauty. I agree with your disagree!
Duncan

[seventhdevil]

I was told recently, by a fellow professional turner, that one should never, never allow the natural features of the grain dictate the form. I disagree!

what a load of balls. well done for treating that statement as such.

beautiful result too.

[Tony_a]

With featured grain like this I feel that we are working the wood to show the gran to best effect and you have done that. A nice piece Les.

Tony

[edbanger]

I'm with you Les the timber dictates what we do with it.

Lovely bowl 

All the best

Ed

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Nice bowl Les, the simple design shows the grain at its best. However I understand what the fellow professional was saying.  Sometimes you may have a piece with lovely detail that you wish to show off at its best but in the normal production of turnings surely it is shape and form over wood detail or colour? Sensibly you wouldn't turn an egg cup from a nicely figured piece of wood but if you did it would be a gorgeous egg cup that would sell the minute it went on the shelf.

[Mike313]

Beautiful piece of wood and you've done it justice. Lovely piece of work.

[Bryan Milham]

Les, the line of this are so simple, so clean an so right, great work.

[Nick Simpson]

Beautiful piece as we would expect Les.
The form works really well and shows the grain patterns to great effect.
I agree that the 'impose yourself on the wood' business is just the sort dogma which suppresses creativity. It separates the mechanic from the artist who shows us how work with nature.

Well done as usual
Kind Regards
Nick

[andy44]

Very nice Les
All the best
Andy

[fuzzyturns]

Firstly, yes this is a very nice bowl, agreed.
Secondly, on the subject of allowing the grain to dictate: I think it all comes down to what you are trying to achieve. If you're a production turner making salad bowls by the dozen or even more, like Glenn Lucas, then you cannot afford to pay much attention to the grain. Output is what counts, and your customers (high-end retailers like David Mellor or Harrods) will not pay you extra for nice grain. OTOH, if you make single items, and you do it for the joy of it, and you can get these items into outlets that appreciate the extra effort, then absolutely the grain has a big part in the making of each bowl.

[Nick Simpson]

Of course, context is everything.
However the ratio of production turners to Club and hobby turners is very small. The bowl or other turned item which shows harmony between form and grain is the one to sell first at a craft sale or welcomed as a gift.
Dogmatic statements by experienced turners, as quoted by Les, stifle creativity and prevent learning and development.
My tuppence worth
Nick