Bowl.

    Since we do not have television and are not able to watch the Superbowl tomorrow night, I felt it only appropriate to take the opportunity to create a bowl of my own. I've got to admit that this was not entirely my idea, nor was it an innocent suggestion made by my husband. You see, he knew that once I started this bowl, I would want to see it through to completion -  giving him plenty of uninterrupted time to work on his projects in the shop.

  One of Justin's most recent additions to his wood collection is this piece of catalpa. He selected this piece for me to start with  because the wood is still green, making it easier to shape.

    After a few practice rounds, too big of cuts, and wanting to give up, I competed the outside of the bowl! I felt like I had just accomplished something magnificent, a true work of art - then I remembered I still had a long way to go.

  Carving out the inside of the bowl was, believe it or not, more frustrating than I could have possibly imagined. Justin kept walking over to check out my creation, each time, trying to be helpful of course, pointing out more bumps and lumps that I couldn't seem to make disappear. Eventually my redheaded temper came out and I told him to leave me alone until I deemed this beauty worthy of his inspection.  

    After the center was finished, this project was smooth sailing! All that was left was to sand, oil, and wax. Sanding was to make the bowl smooth!

Smooth!

Oiling the bowl was to darken the wood and give it a shinier appearance.

I oiled the bowl three times, and then waxed the outside in order to protect it and to give it a little more shine than the oil alone.

Once the inside and outside were both finished, it was time to take the bowl off the lathe.

The stub on the bottom of the bowl is left so it can be clamped to the lathe while hollowing out the inside. I didn't want it on my finished product, so Justin used a handsaw to cut most of it off, and then a hand plane to smooth it out.

Ta-Da! My first bowl!



   From log to table ornament in approximately 1.5 hours! Woo-hoo!