First bowl

[TFrench]

Finally, after far too long, I've produced something worthwhile from my lathe! First thing I feel OK with posting on here anyway... It's a chunk of oak from my uncle's porch. I let it dry out for a while, roughed out the blank on the bandsaw and stuck it on a faceplate. Got the outside turned and left it for a week or two as I knew I was getting a chuck for my birthday. Unfortunately the insert that came with it was garbage, I had so much wobble on it (and my beginners technique) it caught, smashed the foot, jumped out of the chuck and was unceremoniously dumped in the burn bin, along with much swearing. Fast forward a few weeks, the chuck is refunded and I’m the new owner of a nova chuck. Round two! With improved technique and much less wobble from the chuck it was a much more pleasant experience. Not perfect, but I’m happy for a first attempt ( specially as it was rescued from the rubbish bin)




I’ve also been given a few yew logs so I cut them into blanks and roughed out a couple of chunky bowls. We’ll see how they dry out…

 

[Dalboy]

A good first bowl after the wobbly start. A little torn grain but that will improve as you progress. As for the yew bowl a good way to dry them quicker but I would seal the outside only then store in a dry place where air can circulate around it

 

[TFrench]

Thanks Dalboy. That was going to be my next question - drying. There's so much conflicting information out there! I've got them bagged up with shavings at the moment to be safe. I've sealed the endgrain of the square blanks with old emulsion - will that be OK to seal these as well or do you use something else?