Learning from the best.

Getting in the shop for a while during the snowmagedon allowed me to do some experimenting.  We had Warren Carpenter at our November meeting making us think about and showing us how to turn natural edge bowls that add some interest to the design.  I started with a crotch piece of wood.  I was told it is cherry, and it has some cherry qualities,  but I have some doubts.  I need to have it checked.    I took the log and put it on a small faceplate and used some techniques that I learned in the demo.  First I thought about keeping the "branches" as part of the design, and second I learned that when roughing the base tenon, make 2 levels, one to hold the wood and one to make the base.  This allowed me to hold the wood, turn the bowl and have a smaller base than the chuck.  

I was very happy when I finished it and put my salad bowl finish on it, not that I think that it will have salad or much food in it at all but I do like the finish and it will take some moisture without bothering it.  I have showed this off to my coworkers, top picture at my posterous page, but out meeting was canceled so I had to wait until the March MCW meeting.  Turns out that David Ellsworth was the guest demonstrator and he critiqued the show and tell table.  He walked around the table and picked up hollow forms and bowls and described many design features and places for improvement.  He walked back around the table picking up more pieces and went right around my heart bowl in the middle of the table.  He finally picked it up and called it a "sweet bowl"!  He described how the base could be curved ever so slightly because a curved piece fights against the sharp line of the base.  It may take me a couple of months to let this info soak into that thick skull of mine and find the time to put metal to wood, but I hope I can improve my design.