Salad bowl out of cherry wood Discussion and Plans

Hi Everyone,

Im trying to clear out my turning schedule and so today Im going to begin a salad bowl out of a solid block of cherry.

Cherry is a common domestic hardwood here in the US and most of the cherry that people see is in the form of kitchen cabinets, furniture, and wooden chests. Its usually stained a dark red but cherrys natural color varies from a golden pink to deeper brownish pinks. Its a closed cell wood and its very easy to turn, especially if the wood is unseasoned. The one big problem with cherry is finishing it-it can be difficult to sand out scratches and if you dont you will be able to readily see them in the finished piece.

This bowl came from a wood supplier down in Florida and it was in absolutely perfect shape when it arrived. Im making this bowl for a dear friend of mine who lives in Alabama and who long ago asked me for a salad bowl in a red-colored wood. I had the opportunity to acquire this bowl blank and I did so with this friends request in mind.

So here we go:

Here is a photo of the bowl blank. Its 10 inches in diameter by 4 inches thick:

Since this blank is made from unseasoned wood, its very heavy so until the weight of the bowl blank is reduced by turning, Ill turn it between centers for safetys sake:

Here you can see the long strips of cherry wood coming off the surface of the bowl. This is a characteristic of unseasoned wood:

Here we are about 5 minuted into the turning:

This is about 15 minutes into the turning. If you look closely there are two lines on the bottom of the bowl. Im going to be removing that so the bowl will have a foot:

Here you can see the foot taking shape:

This is a side view of the bowl. It has a squarish-shape. Im going to turn the bowl so it is more rounded so Im going to turn the surface in a line from the rim (left) to the foot (right):

Here is the bowl about 10 minutes later:

This is the underside of the bowl. Ive cut a tenon into the bottom-this is where the bowl will be attached to the lathe when I turn it over for hollowing:

Here is the bowl with a completed foot and sides-note the pink color. Time to turn it over for hollowing:

Now Ive flipped the bowl blank over and Im going to hollow it out.  This photo shows the center being removed. I do that to establish the depth of the bowl and to make cutting the center easier  to do:

Here are two photos of the bowl:

Now since this is unseasoned wood, it is really, really damp. Ive had it spraying me with water all day long and it has a very sweet scent to it. But this also means the fibers can tear and if you look carefully at this closeup shot you can see some of the fibers have torn-they look shaggy.  This bowl is going to go straight into the drying bag for month and well take another look at it at the end of July.

As for the basswood platter from yesterday-I have it 3 coats of lacquer and then buffed it and it came out great. Unfortunately the center fibers tore while turning so rather than leave a jagged hole in the center I inlaid a piece of jade into the center. Here is a photo of the completed piece:

Im going to experiment with this piece so you will be seeing it again soon.

My next posting discusses a bowl that I turned about 3 weeks ago and its developed some bad cracking. So join me for part two shortly.

VW

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The TV console out of red cedar and construction brackets Comment

Hi Everyone,

For those of you who have been following the TV console project, Ive deleted my previous two postings about it and Ill explain why: it turned out that I made a lot of mistakes with it and had to completely re-do the whole thing. Here is a photo of the first effort several days ago:

It looked terrible. The parts didnt fit, the top didnt lay flat on the frame, I screwed up the bottom shelf and tried to improvise a solution. It didnt work.

So the next day I took it apart and completely disassembled it. I cut the legs down by 5 inches and very carefully with assorted wood working clamps and a square, completely re-assembled it. I also replaced the improvised shelf and went and purchased more lumber for the top and re-did that from the original plan I was going to start out with.

Here it is now:

Discussion and Further Plans

I still think the concept of construction brackets for use in household furniture is a good one and Im going to attempt another console next week. Here are some caveats however before I do this again:

Wood-the cedar looks really nice but its just too soft for furniture use. It dents and tears easily and if this were a regular table, it would not hold up to daily wear and tear. So next time Ill use pine or poplar. Also, no more construction grade lumber. Its not seasoned so when you get it home, within a day or two it will begin to twist and crack. Its also too rough. Next time Ill use a higher quality wood.

Brackets: the brackets work well. I primed and painted these and they dont look half bad. It does give the piece a more finished look. But next time Ill use smaller brackets so theyre not so prominent in the design.

Assembly-the devil is always in the details and very much so with the assembly.  The brackets have to fit the lumber very snugly in order for this entire system to work properly and all the part to fit together correctly. Its imperative that you proceed slowly and carefully and clamp the brackets to the 2x4s before you screw them together. Also check the squareness with a carpenters square as you proceed. This will give you a much nicer appearing piece at the end and the parts will fit together better.

Design-You cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear-remember, this is fundamentally a dressed up construction piece. You can make it look nicer by taking your time and carefully considering just how this will fit inside your home and what it will look like along with all your other furniture. Its never going to be fine furniture no matter what you do. My furniture is a little more rustic in appearance so this will fit in but its going to reside in my bedroom with a tv, a dvd player, lots of other stuff, and a cat or two on it and for this its adequate. 

I am going to make another console as I really need some furniture at the moment and Ill carefully post about that. That will probably happen next week so stay tuned.

Now, I need to turn my attention to the fall art show so thats what well look at next.

More later,

VW

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