A Challenge for me

[bernuk1]

So far I have only turned 'shop bought' blanks,which I have bought for a specific purpose.
Yesterday,after lunch,a friend said he'd got a chunk of beech in his garage that he'd had for 10 yrs-would I like it ?

It's 43cms dia. 15cms at deepest and weighs 9kg.
It says "Bowl"   what should I look out for as I tentatively turn this ?

I have found the centre of critical mass (I think that's the term) and will be trimming to a rough circle before putting it on lathe.
Comments and advice welcome.

[Lazurus]

Is your lathe up to the job?  If it is I would start between centers to find the balance point and go from there. Have a look at Lyle JAMIESONS videos on you tube as this is how he turns every bowl he makes. Shows procedure and techniques for safe quality turning. Most of all enjoy the experience, if it doesn't work out wood does grow on trees......

[bernuk1]

Is your lathe up to the job?  If it is I would start between centers to find the balance point and go from there. Have a look at Lyle JAMIESONS videos on you tube as this is how he turns every bowl he makes. Shows procedure and techniques for safe quality turning. Most of all enjoy the experience, if it doesn't work out wood does grow on trees......

Lathe is a Record CL4-I'll be annoyed if it isn't up to it !!   Too big to put between centres at moment. So,I found balance point by balancing it on the neck of a faceplate.
I'll look at the vids you suggest-thanks.

[GBF]

Have you started using this wood yet.
I see you are at Weston Super Mare that is about 10 miles from me at Burnham on Sea.
If you would like some help with it get in touch and bring it here and I will help you sort it out.

Regards George

[bernuk1]

Have you started using this wood yet.
I see you are at Weston Super Mare that is about 10 miles from me at Burnham on Sea.
If you would like some help with it get in touch and bring it here and I will help you sort it out.

Regards George

Thanks for your kind offer George,I'll PM you.

[Tim Pettigrew]

I have recently had an almost identical challenge with this mighty trunk section of Walnut.

To see how I am dealing with this click HERE which I hope might be of help.

Tim

[GBF]

You could get a lot bigger bowl than that Tim

Regards George

[Tim Pettigrew]

Yes, I guess I could have gone a bit bigger.  What has surprised me is that in spite of it breaking all the rules inasmuch as the resulting bowl was end-grain and included the pith, it has shown no sign of splitting in spite of losing a colossal 4 Kilos of water (initial weight was 8.4 Kilos when rough turned back in July last year having been felled in March April, as against 4.4 Kilos now).  The water loss has now slowed down considerably and this last week was only 14 grams. 

I would guess that Bernuk's Beech being 10 years old will be fully dried out?

Tim

[GBF]

Today Mike (bernuk1) met the challenge of turning his large Beech Bowl as you can see from the following Pics.
I think it was a Burr as it had some beautiful figuring in it.
It was turned to round on the bandsaw secured to a faceplate and turned into a stunning approx. 13" x 5" Bowl.
It was a hard day for Mike but he persevered and this is the result
Very well done Mike.

Regards George

[Tim Pettigrew]

That's fantastic!  Well done indeed Mike.

Tim

[bernuk1]

Today Mike (bernuk1) met the challenge of turning his large Beech Bowl as you can see from the following Pics.
I think it was a Burr as it had some beautiful figuring in it.
It was turned to round on the bandsaw secured to a faceplate and turned into a stunning approx. 13" x 5" Bowl.
It was a hard day for Mike but he persevered and this is the result
Very well done Mike.

Regards George

Actually I met two challenges today-One to produce a bowl from 9kg of burr and the other to correct bad turning practices that I had taught myself over the last 5mths of my turning career.
George was very patient whilst being firm and explained the reasons and theory behind all the things I needed to change.
The day progressed at a steady pace and apart from the bowl he made time to improve the grind on my two bowl gouges and totally reshape my heavy duty scraper.
Mrs George (Sue I think,but my brain was on overload so I could be wrong) provided an excellent lunch and mugs of tea,I apologise for the amount of sugar.
All in all an excellent day giving me plenty to build on.

Thanks a lot George.

Mike

[GBF]

Thank you Mike I am pleased you enjoyed your day here.
You were right it was Susan she always makes Students welcome it is all part of the experience.

Regards George

[Les Symonds]

I'd say that Mike has overcome quite a hurdle......no, not working with George  , but getting to grips with a difficult lump of timber and not only making something out of it, but something of considerable  beauty. Those of us who watch George on Facebook will be quite used to seeing the results of his students, and this piece is right up there with the best of them. Well done to the two of you....an excellent effort of cooperation.
Les

[bernuk1]

That's fantastic!  Well done indeed Mike.

Tim

Thx Tim,I'm well pleased with the result.

Mike

[bernuk1]

I'd say that Mike has overcome quite a hurdle......no, not working with George  , but getting to grips with a difficult lump of timber and not only making something out of it, but something of considerable  beauty. Those of us who watch George on Facebook will be quite used to seeing the results of his students, and this piece is right up there with the best of them. Well done to the two of you....an excellent effort of cooperation.
Les

Thx Les,it's nice to get comments like that.

Mike