Little Apple Wood Bowl

[Magicdave]

I gave bowl making a wee go. It's only 6" long by 3" wide, approx.

It's made from a 25' - 30' branch I cut from my sisters apple tree a few weeks back.

The wood was split with a meat cleaver, the bowl roughed with a spoon knife and the over all shape roughed out with an axe. The bowl was then cleaned up to the best of my ability with the spoon knife (I'm getting better but I'm not so great with them yet) and the rest cleaned up with a Sloyd knife.

I sanded it with 40 grit to remove all the tool marks and finish off the shaping/symmetry. Then with 80 and 100 grit. Then I coated it in dark tan shoe polish, let it dry and rubbed most of it off with mineral oil, leaving the grain enhanced with the polish. I then worked it with 100 and 240 grit before soaking it in tea for half an hour, this gave me more colour and raised the grain. After drying it was back to the 100 and 240 grit to remove most of the colour before finally being finished off with 400 then 2000 grit and a final coat of mineral oil.

I really need to get some 60, 800(ish) and 1200(ish) grit paper.

[David_JAFO]

hello,
Nice piece of work there fella.
Regards
David

[Magicdave]

Thank you very much David. I'm really working on my convex bowl carving, I really need to cut down on the sanding time.

[Dreward]

Lovely piece....you've maintained the symmetry well considering it's been done by hand...engineer's eye, perhaps....

[Magicdave]

Lovely piece....you've maintained the symmetry well considering it's been done by hand...engineer's eye, perhaps....

Thanks, the symmetry isn't quite as close as I'd like, but only from removing tool marks at a certain place. It isn't evident if it is sitting, only really if you pick it up and take a look. Which everyone does, but no one notices.

engineer's eye, perhaps

This is something I've been finding strange lately, and I'm working hard on fixing. if you show me something and guesstimate it to be around 1 to 2mm, I'lle tell you within .1mm, depending on what it is, perhaps even within .05mm.

But standing below, and looking up t a tree, even judging trunk/branch sizes, I'm shot to bits. I've started carrying a measuring tape into the forest with me just to drill it in to my head, guess first then measure.

[Dreward]

That's from working with close tolerances....the first door I ever hung I tried to fit it to 0.005"...!

[Magicdave]

That's from working with close tolerances

It sure is.

the first door I ever hung I tried to fit it to 0.005

Nice, I'm sure it was an enjoyable waist of a day, or 3?

[Dreward]

I'd better not start talking about straight, flat or square....especially with wood...it makes any engineer go cock-eyed...it did with me......

[Dreward]

A possible tip on cutting down sanding time is to get hold of a small block plane and set it to a fine cut...use it to take the tool marks out where possible, it will speed up preparation for sanding and leave a surface that requires less sanding....another, is to make various flat plate hand scrapers to suit the form your creating that then can be used to take fine shavings off the surface in preparation, again, for sanding.....

[OakAshandThorn]

Very elegant .