Brianp
Established Member
Curious to see what you guys might think of my work. Comments appreciated!
Cherry bowl...
Beech
Oak
Cherry bowl...
Beech
Oak
Some of my work
- Thread starter Brianp
- Start date
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Nippychippy
Established Member
I am newbie to but looks great
finneyb
Established Member
Brian
Nice finish.
For me the bowls sit too heavily on the bottom - bowls look better if they ' float ' rather than 'sit'.
It takes time and practice to get it, and even then it doesn't come every time. The problem is that the on the lathe the bowl is vertical and it is difficult to image what it will look like horizontal.
The bowl below is an example of what I mean, of course different bowl shapes do it differently, but I think they need to 'float'.
Take nothing away from the bowls they look good.
Brian
Nice finish.
For me the bowls sit too heavily on the bottom - bowls look better if they ' float ' rather than 'sit'.
It takes time and practice to get it, and even then it doesn't come every time. The problem is that the on the lathe the bowl is vertical and it is difficult to image what it will look like horizontal.
The bowl below is an example of what I mean, of course different bowl shapes do it differently, but I think they need to 'float'.
Take nothing away from the bowls they look good.
Brian
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Bodrighy
Established Member
Finishe etc look good to me. The natural edged bowl might look a bit better if it were a bit thinner but that isn't easy to achieve on this type of bowl where you are turning air. To achieve Brian's 'floating' look, curve the base of the bowl in and create a foot, solid or a ring, about a third in from the outside. Straight edges rarely look right on bowls and they are much harder to achieve anyway with face work. Bottom line your workmanship looks good, only critique seems to be the design factors which are always subjective.
Pete
Pete
Paul.J
Established Member
Nice chunky bowls Brian which look to be nicely finished.
Design will come with experience as you get used to the tools and gain more confidence,so keep em coming and take on board the advice given.
I think you have your Beech and Cherry mixed up though??
Design will come with experience as you get used to the tools and gain more confidence,so keep em coming and take on board the advice given.
I think you have your Beech and Cherry mixed up though??
Brianp
Established Member
Thanks for all the comments folks, it's nice to have such positive feedback - stuart.c, I've been turning since about February this year so still consider myself at the bottom of the ladder! I can see what you are saying about the shape, but the top bowl "spoke" to me as that shape, I loved the knot in it and was afraid if I'd gone for a less straight side that you wouldn't have been seeing such a nice feature. Also it was a small piece to start with and wouldn't have been big enough to hold 10 paperclips if I'd gone for a more traditional bowl shape! 
Interesting comment on the "floating" shape, finneyb, I think I'll try that one soon.
Onwards and upwards!
Interesting comment on the "floating" shape, finneyb, I think I'll try that one soon.
Onwards and upwards!
fred55
Established Member
These all look like professional jobs to me - I've only attempted one turning so far and it made a lovely saw dust covering for the rabbit hutch - I don't think silver birch is a good wood for turning but its very absorbent for the rabbit floor. I particularly like the top one with some of the bark left on, until I saw that I would have shaved / planned it away.
For first or new efforts these are good, but you want to know how to progress, to make future bowls look even better.
The natural edged bowl: The great bowl turner, Richard Raffan, Say's of bowl design,
"great grain and patterns will carry a bowl for only a short while, a bowl lives or dies then by it's shape more than any other factor"
this is somewhat paraphrased but does have the principle of his intent, that is, really spend time getting the shape right, because any features will look after themselves after that, they will genuinely enhance the piece rather than be something desperately trying to rescue it.
A more rounded continuous curve with perhaps a small foot looks good on NE bowls, and a particular point to pay attention to is the wall thickness, not that it has to be thin necessarily, but it should be constant at least till you are past the edge, this means you are striving to get a constant width to the edge, now, as the edge is in different places, the tendency as you cut the inside is make the bowl shape and end up, as you have here, with a wider wall at the lower sections, this detracts from the bowls appearance. To avoid that, when you begin to hollow the bowl, decide on a wall thickness, say 7mm not too thin as that can lead to more problems at this stage.
At this stage I usually hollow the bowl out till there is about an inch of material left, this is sufficient to provide support to the wall as you start to cut it thinner.
The begin to cut the waste away from the outer section till you get the wall thickness showing on the highest parts of the edge, looking at the outside of the bowl as it spins to "see" the curve you want to follow.
When you have cut in about an inch. stop the lathe, check the wall thickness, if it is constant, move in a little further and repeat, if it if a little wide you may see a ridge inside to mark the position, otherwise point your gouge at it (but away from the wood some) and start the lathe again, make small cuts till you get the wall even. Follow this step by step all the way the end of the natural edge, then complete the hollowing.
Couple of points: If you make a deeper bit too thin, live with it, trying to go back will be worse and you will end up with a thin uncontrollable wall that chatters and becomes impossible to get right. Hence the need to take it slow, a step at a time.
Don't worry too much about minor ridges, these can be sanded out later.
A scraper can also be used to refine a little, do it it as you move in rather than after to avoid chatter.
This is how I hake natural edges bowls anyway, I am not an expert by any means and others will have differing approaches, but I know what it's like when you want to progress, you are after information. I hope this helps a little.
The natural edged bowl: The great bowl turner, Richard Raffan, Say's of bowl design,
"great grain and patterns will carry a bowl for only a short while, a bowl lives or dies then by it's shape more than any other factor"
this is somewhat paraphrased but does have the principle of his intent, that is, really spend time getting the shape right, because any features will look after themselves after that, they will genuinely enhance the piece rather than be something desperately trying to rescue it.
A more rounded continuous curve with perhaps a small foot looks good on NE bowls, and a particular point to pay attention to is the wall thickness, not that it has to be thin necessarily, but it should be constant at least till you are past the edge, this means you are striving to get a constant width to the edge, now, as the edge is in different places, the tendency as you cut the inside is make the bowl shape and end up, as you have here, with a wider wall at the lower sections, this detracts from the bowls appearance. To avoid that, when you begin to hollow the bowl, decide on a wall thickness, say 7mm not too thin as that can lead to more problems at this stage.
At this stage I usually hollow the bowl out till there is about an inch of material left, this is sufficient to provide support to the wall as you start to cut it thinner.
The begin to cut the waste away from the outer section till you get the wall thickness showing on the highest parts of the edge, looking at the outside of the bowl as it spins to "see" the curve you want to follow.
When you have cut in about an inch. stop the lathe, check the wall thickness, if it is constant, move in a little further and repeat, if it if a little wide you may see a ridge inside to mark the position, otherwise point your gouge at it (but away from the wood some) and start the lathe again, make small cuts till you get the wall even. Follow this step by step all the way the end of the natural edge, then complete the hollowing.
Couple of points: If you make a deeper bit too thin, live with it, trying to go back will be worse and you will end up with a thin uncontrollable wall that chatters and becomes impossible to get right. Hence the need to take it slow, a step at a time.
Don't worry too much about minor ridges, these can be sanded out later.
A scraper can also be used to refine a little, do it it as you move in rather than after to avoid chatter.
This is how I hake natural edges bowls anyway, I am not an expert by any means and others will have differing approaches, but I know what it's like when you want to progress, you are after information. I hope this helps a little.
EnErY
Established Member
Nice chunky bowls Brian look well turned keep em coming I find a design of your own is sometimes satisfying also if your happy that's half the battle there is no rule on shape etc
Regards
Bill
Regards
Bill
