Bowl made from cherry

[FourOaksCrafts]

This is a small 8 inch diameter bowl made from cherry. I used Danish oil to finish it. I gave this one to my wife to take to school and use as a candy bowl.

 

[Skie_M]

I was about to ask why you would want to make the bowl that thick ....


Then I saw the part about "school ..... candy bowl" .... yeah, that's gonna hit the floor a few times.

 

[FourOaksCrafts]

I was about to ask why you would want to make the bowl that thick ....


Then I saw the part about "school ..... candy bowl" .... yeah, that's gonna hit the floor a few times.

Too be honest, I'm fairly new to bowl turning, and was probably just not sure how thin to go. Is there a rule of thumb to gauge bowl thickness with diameter? Also, I noticed that after I turned this one, the bowl expanded just a smidgen in one direction, making it slightly oval. I talked to some others and they said that happens fairly often.

 

[JimB]

There's really no rule for wall thickness. You can make the walls thick like you did or extremely thin, in the 1/16 inch range and light will come through.

The oval shape is because the wood wasn't dry when you turned it and as it dried it warped a bit. If you don't want it to warp you need to either start with dry wood or you can rough turn the wet bowl leaving the walls thick, let it sit for some time (months) and then remount it on the lathe and finish turning it.

BTW, some bowl turners deliberately let the bowls warp. You can even use clamps to shape the warping.

 

[Cwalker935]

A professional turner taught me to turn the bowls thin so as to relieve some of the stresses that cause cracking. The bowls will warp and have imperfect shapes. I like the rustic/aged look that this gives and the woods natural contribution to its final shape that this gives. It also suits me because I do not have the necessary patience for rough turning and waiting until later to do the finish turning. Thinner walls can be a challenge since the spinning wood will start to distort as the walls get thinner.

It is really a matter of personal preference and depends on the look that you are going for. Turning the bowl to a rough shape and putting in wood shavings to dry is a tried and true process that many prefer.

Your bowl is well done and the finish looks great. The thicker walls look good to me. Great job!

 

[FourOaksCrafts]

Thanks for the advice everyone! This is a great forum! Very helpful people here.

 

[TellicoTurning]

A professional turner taught me to turn the bowls thin so as to relieve some of the stresses that cause cracking. The bowls will warp and have imperfect shapes. I like the rustic/aged look that this gives and the woods natural contribution to its final shape that this gives. It also suits me because I do not have the necessary patience for rough turning and waiting until later to do the finish turning. Thinner walls can be a challenge since the spinning wood will start to distort as the walls get thinner.

It is really a matter of personal preference and depends on the look that you are going for. Turning the bowl to a rough shape and putting in wood shavings to dry is a tried and true process that many prefer.

Your bowl is well done and the finish looks great. The thicker walls look good to me. Great job!

I read somewhere when I first started turning bowls... and I think it was Bill Grumbine that said it, but don't quote me (or him) ... the turner said turn a bowl as thin as you can and get it out of your system, then turn practical bowls... also said turn green and let it warp.

I've had wood that measured pretty dry that still warped after it was turned, so I figure that wood will do whatever wood wants to do, and just don't worry about it.