Going away bowls: TimberStrand and LVL

[Keith Palmer]

Been away from the lathe for a while doing house repairs over the summer. It sure felt good to do some turning!

While waiting to apply the finish to peppermills #112 & 113 I was asked by my boss to turn a couple of bowls as going away gifts for his boss. I chose to turn them from products he worked on developing during his career at Weyerhaeuser. The first bowl came from a TimberStrand iBrace that we tested in our lab. The bowl is 11″ wide x 3.5″ deep and 7/16″ wall thickness and finished with walnut oil/carnauba wax. The second bowl was made from laminated pieces of LVL (laminated veneer lumber). It is 9.5″ wide x 5.5″ deep and 3/8″ wall thickness. I am not real happy with the tearout on this bowl, but since LVL is a construction grade product the veneers have some bad checking and voids not leaving much support for a good cut. I hope to practice more and get a better cut on this material. I finished this bowl with satin wipe-on polyurethane. I wanted the note and signature on the bottom to look more professional so I found a local laser engraver. I really love how the engraving turned out on the bottoms.

Let me know what you think!

[Jamie Oren]

very cool bowls. cool use of different materials.

[Russ Boyd]

Really unique pieces. That ought to be a great reminder of his career. Nice job with a tough product.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Real nice work Keith! The LVL orientation is pretty cool! Brian must have been thrilled to get these! I am sure all your efforts were appreciated!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice pieces Keith. I am sure he will appreciate and cherish them.

[Steve Knowlton]

Kieth, awesome bowls. I have turned 2 bowls out of timberstrand. I use the Truss cord at work. It is very hard to turn and get a good surface. My other problem was gatting enough glue wehn gluing together the layers. Keep up the Great work.

[alex carey]

nice bowls, love the timberstrand.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Beautiful works of art. Love the patterns.

[curtis rosche]

i did a couple peices like them. for the tear out, i left the bowl a little thicker than normal, like 1/8'' per side, then filled in any voids or tear out with epoxy, then made a finishing cut, worked alot better.

[Eugene Wigley]

Great job Keith. That was a good idea to use a material that he helped develope. I'm sure he will enjoy them.

[Cyril Griesbach]

Excellent job with the beam material. I have some and I've worked with it but I think I'll give it to someone I don't like.

[Keith Palmer]

i did a couple peices like them. for the tear out, i left the bowl a little thicker than normal, like 1/8'' per side, then filled in any voids or tear out with epoxy, then made a finishing cut, worked alot better.

Curtis,

Great idea! Any recommendations on epoxy to use?

Thanks,
Keith

[curtis rosche]

i used the 2 part stuff that sets in like 5minutes, it was like $2 at the store. i used clear, i guess you could use other colors. it also helps if you finish the outside before you do the inside. if you noticed, the walls on the bowl flew alot. so turn the outside and finish it, which depending on the finish will add a little more strength. then turn the inside.