<b><font color="#3333FF"><font size=+2>Hello Everyone</font></font></b>,
<P>Here are some picture of a big ole' Spalted Maple salad bowl I've turned on a commission I received from a co-worker. He intends to present it as a wedding present.
<P>The wood came from another co-worker's downed Silver Maple Tree. This tree turned out to have more nails in it than a gymnasium floor! After ruining (1) chainsaw chain, and (2) bandsaw blades, I invested in a <B><I><font color="#CC0000">"Little Wizard" Metal Detector</font></B></I>. So far that is one tool that has paid for itself 3 times over.
<P>Due to the size, I really don't see myself turning many of these bowls. In order to break even, I have to charge more than any of my current customers are willing to pay. It is only because this is a "pre-paid" commission that I even attempted this. That, and I really wanted to turn a big bowl!
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<P><img SRC="http://www2.freepichosting.com/Images/74321/0.jpg" ALT="Spalted Maple Salad Bowl with Walnut rim" HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=2>
<P><img SRC="http://www2.freepichosting.com/Images/74321/1.jpg" ALT="Spalted Maple Salad Bowl with Walnut rim" HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=2>
<P><img SRC="http://www2.freepichosting.com/Images/74321/2.jpg" ALT="Spalted Maple Salad Bowl with Walnut rim" HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=2>
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<P>If you've turned silver maple before, you know it can be pretty bland. But this tree yielded up some of the most spectacularly spalted blanks I've ever come across. While the color and figure of the wood was great to view, I wanted to "frame" it with something in a contrasting color. So I chose some black walnut I had. The rim is a made up of (12) 15 deg segments that I cut using my shop built mitre sled. This shop built tool really saved me a lot of time and aggravation with getting the segments to fit up perfectly. <I><SMALL<B>(As soon as the dust settles from a couple projects I have going on, I plan on writing a short article on highlighting it's construction)</I></SMALL</B>
<P>Before I applied the ring, I trued up the rim of the maple blank using a scraper and then a sanding stick. A trick I've learned is to then let the bowl sit for a couple of days and see if it moves. If so, I true up the rim again and let it sit another couple of days. This reduces <i>(not eliminates, mind you)</i> the possibility of the bowl going somewhat oval. Using very dry blanks also goes a long ways towards reducing deformation. I let the maple blanks for this bowl sit for about 6 months before even attempting this.
<P><img SRC="http://www2.freepichosting.com/Images/74321/3.jpg" ALT="Bowl blank on lathe" HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=2>
<P>Above you can see a picture of the big maple blank when I first rough turned it.
<P>The bowl measures 13 1/2"OD x 3 1/2" high, and sports a 4" dia base. I sanded this to 1200 grit, and then applied (2) coats of <b><font color="#006600">Woodcraft's Urethane Oil</B></I></font>
<P>Thanks for viewing.
<p><font color="#000099"><b><i>See ya around,</font></b></i>
<p><img SRC="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/djgreco/dgreco.jpg" ALT="My ugly mug" HSPACE=1 VSPACE=1 BORDER=1 height=129 width=100>
<p><b><font color="#000066"><font size=+1>Dominic</font></font></b>
