Oak bowl with brass in-filling

[Les Symonds]

This is a lump of oak recovered from a local wood after a storm earlier this year. I rough turned it 4 months ago and have been drying it in shavings ever since; its weight having stabilised 4 or 5 weeks ago. I had to coat the whole thing with Rentokil wood hardener, as it's nearly all sapwood, much of which was a soft as a pear. Even before drying it had numerous splits and cracks, so I've filled them all with epoxy resin and brass powder.















Overall size is a little over 11" x 4" and it's had two coats of cellulose sealer and a first coat of beeswax/carnauba mix. I'll endorse the bottom of the bowl and build the wax up over the next few days, but aim to keep it to a satin finish.

C&C always welcome....Les

[Graham]

Well saved. That is a spectacular looking bowl.

[georg]

     Les  you have made a cracking (no pun intended ) job of turning the soft sapwood keeping it in shape while sanding.
             A visually striking piece
             Tony and Di
           
             

[Bryan Milham]

I agree, it is a striking looking bowl. You've certainly learnt to 'see the curve'.

I have the same problem with brass powder mixed into epoxy, it goes that 'off' colour, small cracks filled with brass them a drip of CA and it stays nice and shiny though. Anybody got an answer to the epoxy problem?

[edbanger]

Great job Les 

Ed

[TWiG]

Nice bit of wood Les , It would appear to be from a tree that has been dead for some time as the sapwood has gone soft in a spalted  sort of way .   It is good that you have an eye to spot such pieces , that is very similar to the way I think/ work and often get some superb wood from the most undesirable / ugly lump of wood in most peoples eyes . Why is  the foot of your bowl so large, for what is essentially an aesthetic piece of work   ie  most probably not going to be used for practical purposes ..  was this intentional in the design of the form ?  

[Les Symonds]

Why is  the foot of your bowl so large, for what is essentially an aesthetic piece of work   ie  most probably not going to be used for practical purposes ..  was this intentional in the design of the form ?  

Yes, this was intentional....I wanted to recreate the look of the old salt-glaze clay pots that could be found in every kitchen, before the advent of plastics. As it happens, I don't think that I could have safely got away with a smaller foot. Much of the material in the base was so soft that my 4"/10cm jaws were the only ones that would hold the bowl.....even then, the side wall of the mortice into which my chuck was fixed, started to sheer off when I shaped the bowl. I'm quite sure that any smaller jaws would have been a disaster.

Les

[edbanger]

Les I really like the foot and the way it marries up with the rim. I think that what set's the piece off

Ed

   

[Graham]

Les I really like the foot and the way it marries up with the rim. I think that what set's the piece off
Ed
 

So do I, it matches the top rim so, like a good book, you have a beginning, a middle and an end.   

[Eric Harvey]

Great bowl,nicely shaped and finished,cracks nicely filled,I had the same problem with resin/epoxy,so just build layers of superglue and brass/copper/ally/bronze now,I find this works best and you can layer the clolours of metal to to give a different effect,cheers,

Eric.

[edbanger]

I had an idea about the epoxy/brass powdered thing and just tried it and it seems to work I think that you just have to keep adding brass powder till you have a putty in effect more powder than resin let it go rock hard and then sand it.

Ed

[Les Symonds]

OK....I'll give that a try. Thanks Ed.
Les

[woodndesign]

Les, the wood as usual from you is stunning, as is your eye for detail with the form, if not well proportioned (3rds), it's well balanced and both beads complement each other and make the piece. I like it. Well done.

There is a large glass bowl here with the same type of bead foot, it has given me the idea to turn something like it, it's only to find a piece of timber to give the right proportions that I need, look as yours and time.

Cheers  Dewi

[bodrighywood]

I don't use epoxy, just ca glue in order o get a metallic finish. Fill the cracks a bit at a time as the car glue doesn't seep right into the powder if it is too deep andyou will have untreated powder in the bottom of the crack.

Pete

[Les Symonds]

I don't use epoxy, just ca glue in order o get a metallic finish. Fill the cracks a bit at a time as the car glue doesn't seep right into the powder if it is too deep andyou will have untreated powder in the bottom of the crack.

Pete

Thanks for the advise, Pete...will give it a go.
Les