I bought this lump of ash recovery wood from a fellow member of my woodturning club, a few years ago and it had been in dry-store ever since, so it was about time that it got used.
It was originally a hemi-spherical lump, about 20" wide and 11" deep overall, but very irregular in its shape. Its biggest challenge was that the original branch which had broken off and grown over, was still embedded in the middle of the lump, with lots of very dry, loose pieces of wood and bark in there. On top of that, it had developed a canker which just added to the myriad of holes in it.
I spent longer working on this than I have ever spent on one bowl....nearly 5 hours from start to finish. That was mainly down to its being horribly out of balance, so was turned at about 250 to 350 rpm, which caused as many problems as it solved. All sanding was done off the lathe, by hand because I really didn't want to round off too many edges.
I'm keeping the finish very basic...just a few coats of BLO, the first of which has just dried out.
The finished size came out at 17" x 7". The wall is thick and heavy, about 1" thick, which I feel suits the bowl, but which was absolutely necessary, anyway.
C&C always welcome...Les
