The Johnson Blog

Ramblings of a geek with a few hobbies…

Tag: bowls

  • Logs to Bowls

    Earlier this year I was given several logs from which to make bowls. This includes several varieties: cherry; walnut; bradford pear; honey locust; and others.

    I don’t have a sophisticated setup, and have never processed logs on my own so it was a learning experience.

    I ended up with far too much waste, but I did also end up with a good set of bowl blanks which I then took the time to rough turn on the lathe to cut down some of the weight and help the drying process.

    After the initial roughing out, I weighed each blank and placed them into a paper bag with some of their shavings. Every 4-6 weeks I re-weighed and recorded the info on the bag. Once I see the weight loss has stabilized, I know they’re ready to be finally turned into bowls.

    Now I have a good stash to make it through the winter.

  • Lidded Bowl

    Lidded Bowl

    Furthering my effort to chronicle my projects and progress with a woodworking lathe, here’s my latest creation. My first bowl with a lid.

    Using Kent Weakley’s great tutorials and videos at https://turnawoodbowl.com, this was a breeze. Since I really only have small stock available, the results are quite a bit smaller than I’ve seen elsewhere but I’m still learning the basics.

    This one is made out of two pieces of spalted maple.

  • Next Up – Some Bowls!

    Next Up – Some Bowls!

    As mentioned in New Shop Addition, I have started learning how to use a lathe. In the past couple weeks I have started learning how to do faceplate turning, as opposed to spindle turning used in making pens.

    For now I’ve concentrated on bowls and small dishes. We’ll see where it progresses, but right now I’m happy with what I’ve been able to do thus far and I’m learning something new each and every time.

    Here are a few of my latest.

    I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of these!
    Starting at the top and going clockwise: ash, cherry, and elm.

    I tried my hand at a thin platter/tray, made out of maple.