I was so encouraged by the previous bowl, that I grabbed a similar chunk of maple and cut it up. The piece on the left was certain to make another awesome bowl!
… or maybe not. The punkiness was incredible.
Despite the mess in the previous photo, i was able to stabilize the wood and get a good exterior. Unfortunately, the bottom cracked when I tried to flip it. It may still be salvageable, but I have to soul search before I invest more time on it.
So in the meantime, I turned a scrap into something simple, as much of a reminder to me that I CAN do this as anything else.
Then, to remember what it’s like to turn GOOD wood, I also made this simple bowl, with bark inclusion, out of a different maple. Solid, dry maple turns like a dream. This is only about 3 inches diameter. I have it in the kitchen to toss my rings in when I do dishes.
Today, I returned to the green wood I brought back from NH. I had a chunk of beech that was longer than it was wide. So I was left with this slice of log. these bowls will be 2.5 – 3″ dia.
My first attempt, on the left, was not a success…. obvs. In the 10 minutes I took to watch a video on sanding green wood, the thing dried and warped so much, there was no way I would get something usable. I learned my lesson and did better, (on the right).
I even got the walls thin enough that light shines through. A first for me! They could be thinner, but that was as much as I dared. It’s tucked away in a paper bag to slow final drying. Fingers crossed …
