Project #5 - Natural Edge Firewood Bowl Completed

This was what the bowl looked like before final sanding and varnishing.

The firewood bowl almost finished

  After varnishing... the finished product!

The varnished natural edge firewood bowl

 You can see the grain has shown up nicely with the varnish

Underside of the natural edge firewood bowl, showing the grain of the wood

Project #3 - Calabash bowl from Blue Gum log (Part 3)

After doing some further hollowing out of the bowl and some sanding, this is what the piece now looks like.

The inside of the bowl, showing the knots

The outside of the bowl

The drying cracks

Some more drying cracks

I am still deciding on how to deal with the cracks, whether to leave them, or fill them in with something.

Project #2 - Meranti Bowl Completed

It has been quite a while since I finished the lathe work on this project, but I finally got to varnishing the Meranti bowl.

This is what the bowl looked like before final sanding and varnishing

The almost finished Meranti Bowl

After varnishing... the finished product!

Completed and varnished Meranti bowl

 The finger joint that I mentioned in my first post about this bowl has turned out very nicely in the completed bowl.

The finger joint in the completed bowl

Project #5 - Natural Edge Firewood Bowl (Part 2)

After shaping the outside in Part 1, I flipped the bowl around, and started working on hollowing out the inside of the bowl.

Bowl ready for the inside to be hollowed out

I shaped the bottom of the stand of the bowl with a slight upward shape, so that the bowl effectively sits on the rim of the stand.

You can see the slight indentation on the bottom

From the bottom of the bowl, you can see the nice grain of the wood

The bottom of the finished bowl

The bowl is almost finished. Just needs some final sanding and varnishing

The firewood bowl almost finished

You can see the bark from the log around the rim of the bowl. The darker bark provides a nice contrast against the lighter wood of the bowl.

Project #5 - Natural Edge Firewood Bowl (Part 1)

I had seen an interesting style of bowl recently, and I thought I would give it a try. It required that the piece of wood that I use must still have its bark.

I found a piece of wood in our stack of firewood, so I am not sure what type of wood it was. It came from a tree in our garden somewhere that we had trimmed back a while ago.

The piece of firewood that I selected

In the picture above, you can see the patch where I have removed a strip of the bark. I had to trim the wood down in size a little, and then mount it on the lathe.

Piece of wood mounted on the lathe

I turned the outside shape first.

The bowl is starting to take shape

Project #3 - Calabash bowl from Blue Gum log (Part 2)

I have started to hollow out the inside of the calabash.

Hollowed out inside of Blue Gum calabash

Because this came from a branch, it has many interesting cracks and knots.

Big knot from an offshoot branch

Cracks from the wood being dried out

Knot from the other side

Project #1 - Pine Bowl Completed

This was what the bowl looked like before final sanding and varnishing.

The almost finished Pine Bowl

After varnishing... the finished product!

The completed Pine Bowl!

The completed Pine Bowl - Different Angle

The completed Pine Bowl - Other side of the bowl

Project #3 - Calabash bowl from Blue Gum log (Part 1)

We recently felled a Blue Gum tree that was growing in our garden. After letting the wood dry out for a while, I found a log that I thought I would make a nice Calabash style bowl.

Log of Blue Gum

Once the log was selected, I needed to debark it and cut it level so that it could be turned on the lathe.

The log after being debarked

After some work on the lathe, the outside is taking a nice shape.

Outside shaping of the Calabash

Now comes time to hollow out the inside.

Project #2 - Turning the Meranti Bowl (Part 2)

After some final shaping and sanding, it was time to start carving out the inside of the bowl.

Sanded outside of bowl

After sanding, you can see the beautiful grains of the wood. I have left the little stand at the bottom so that I can attach the bowl to the lathe without ruining the shaping that I have already completed.

Bowl ready to be turned on the inside

I have attached the bottom of the bowl, and now it is time to start carving out the inside.

Inside of bowl carved out

The inside has been carved out, and it is time to remove it from the lathe by cutting off the small stand.

The almost finished Meranti Bowl!

Just needs a little more sanding, and then some varnish to be complete!

Project #2 - Turning the Meranti Bowl (Part 1)

I cut the block of wood into a square, and then used a jigsaw to cut off the corners to make it slightly easier to turn.

Block with corners cut off

Once I had taken off the edges and turned it into a barrel, it was time to begin shaping the bowl.

Barreled block

Shaping the outside of the bowl

You can see the finger joint that I have incorporated in the bowl.

Project #1 - Pine Bowl

For my first project, I decided to make a bowl.

I found a large beam that used to be in our roof, and chopped off a block of it. This beam was made of pine wood. It was not SA pine, but rather a pine from overseas that would have been imported back in the day when the house was built.

The block of wood from the end

The grain in the wood after cutting it through

After cutting and sanding, this is what the bowl now looks like...

The almost finished Pine Bowl!

Now it is time to add the varnish to give it a nice finish!