Natural Edge Cutting Boards

More prep work for the upcoming Market Day event on the 18th has me finishing up some really nice looking natural edge cutting boards. Wood species include ambrosia maple, butternut, cherry, hard maple and more. I'll have lots of different sizes and prices of boards there....along with bowls, vases, jewelry, bottle stoppers, cheese knives and much more...see you there!

Finally Some Lathe Time!

Last night I unburied the lathe and rough turned a couple of elm bowls and a form that I hope will become a plant stand. First time spinning wood since Dec. 23rd, and man did I miss it! To start, I had some problems, but after a few minutes of miscues it came back to me. I have a large pile of logs to get after this winter, so I hope to do some more roughing tonight and cut up some more blanks for the weekend and next week.

Not sure how, but I forgot how much fun woodturning is...can't wait to get back to it!

Walnut Wedding Present

One of the people that introduced me to LOML over 16 years ago got hitched himself this summer in a family only ceremony. Another friend had a party this past weekend to celebrate the nuptials with friends and this bowl was our gift for the new couple. Their house which they have been redoing has beautiful dark woodwork so I thought a walnut bowl would be a good fit.

It's 11" X 5" with a Danish oil finish that was buffed. A couple of small cracks add some character along with some great figure....anyone else see a Christmas tree? I've got the other half of this crotch walnut blank that I will make another bowl out of. Probably a Christmas present for someone.

Thicker is Better

I've been spending quite a bit of time looking at European turner's websites lately. Many tend to turn thick sided bowls and vases. Because of all the pictures I've looked at I've grown to like the look and decided to try it myself. Many turners believe the thinner the walls the better and more skilled the turner is. In my opinion, a thicker wall makes the piece look more natural. Below are a few of the thicker bowls I made recently.

After posting this, I saw a discussion about the thickness of wood turnings on SawMill Creek, an online woodworking forum, and I started a similar on Family Woodworking, the best online woodworking forum!

Maple 13"wide and 6" tall

Maple 11" wide and 5" tall

Three elm bowls 7-8" wide and 3-4" tall