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Thread: I like lychee

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    Chevy Chase, Maryland
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    2,484

    I like lychee

    When I was a kid, my family would occassionally go to a local chinese restaurant that at the end of the meal would bring a out a bowl of lychee nuts. I thought these were the greatest thing ever - so sweet and exotic. I've since had fresh ones, and still love that fruit to this day.

    I took a flier on a lychee blank on eBay, having no idea what the wood was like, but the price was right (maybe because no one else knew either)? I appreciate the fruit so much, that I was very curious about the wood. Turns out to be beautiful stuff. Dense, but easy to work. As is my want, I just turned a simple bowl - about 7.5" x 2.5" and finished with oil and wax.

    Thanks for looking.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Enid, Oklahoma
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    6,741
    Nice looking bowl. I like the bead detail at the rim.

    I've turned a little bit of that, and my experience mirrors yours... It's a hard, dense wood that turns nicely and holds detail well. It also polishes beautifully as you demonstrated very well. I only wish I could have gotten blanks as large as that one.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Evansville, IN
    Posts
    1,188
    I to like lychee. I have nothing bigger than pen blanks though.

    Nice looking bowl.
    "To me, there's nothing freer than a bird, you know, just flying wherever he wants to go. And, I don't know, that's what this country is all about, being free. I think everyone wants to be a free bird." - Ronnie Van Zant

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Green Valley, AZ, USA
    Posts
    433
    Nice bowl. Most of the Lychee I have is very plain grained compared to the grain in your bowl. I'll have to take a closer look at my stash and see if some livelier grain isn't hiding in there somewhere.

  5. #5
    Beautiful Sean!! So, is this an imported blank, or does this tree grow in the states? I have eaten a bunch of lychees, too, but never gave thought to the wood.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    torrance, Ca
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    2,072
    beautiful wood. Nice job.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Evansville, IN
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Keeton View Post
    Beautiful Sean!! So, is this an imported blank, or does this tree grow in the states? I have eaten a bunch of lychees, too, but never gave thought to the wood.
    John,

    I get my lychee from Hawaii. The lychee is native to low elevations of the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien in southern China.
    "To me, there's nothing freer than a bird, you know, just flying wherever he wants to go. And, I don't know, that's what this country is all about, being free. I think everyone wants to be a free bird." - Ronnie Van Zant

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Manistique, Michigan
    Posts
    1,367
    Nice looking wood and nice looking bowl. I have a several roughed out that I was going to try a rim like you have on this bowl. It really looks good.
    Thank you,

    Rich Aldrich

    65 miles SE of Steve Schlumpf.

    "To a pessimist, the glass is half empty; to an optimist, the glass is half full; to an engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be." Unknown author



  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Eau claire, Wisconsin
    Posts
    3,084

    Very beautiful wood!

    Sean, I agree it is very nice looking wood and the color and grain is great! I will have to look for some to purchase some day also.

    Nice bowl an the finish suits the wood very well.

    Jeff
    To turn or not to turn that is the question: ........Of course the answer is...........TURN ,TURN,TURN!!!!
    Anyone "Fool" can know, The important thing is to Understand................Albert Einstein
    To follow blindly, is to never become a leader............................................ .....Unknown

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Phoenix, AZ
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    1,417
    I like that bowl and color. When I see a bowl like that, I think, "I'd use that". Then I remember reading about how they drank wine from bowls in Greece and Rome, and think, "I'd wear a toga while using it too." Or at least I'd put grapes in it!

    The Lychee does grow decently in the states, I had neighbors with 3 lychee trees that grew fantastic in Del Rio TX. Also, a relative has a lychee tree in San Diego that grows well and produces great fruit. I would not have thought tropical fruits would do well in TX, but then you drive 5 miles across the border into Mexico and there are banana trees and oranges, lemons, limes growing everywhere. I've found that quite often the trees that "will grow" in a particular area have as much to do with established cultural norms as the climate really. For instance, who would think S. American and Indian rosewood would be growing all over Phoenix, but there it is, everywhere, along with eucalyptus and mesquite.
    Thread on "How do I pickup/move XXX Saw?" http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=597898

    Compilation of "Which Band Saw to buy?" threads http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...028#post692028

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Raised in the US (elementary in Lawrence, graduated in Boulder). Now in Israel.
    Posts
    667
    Respect the fruit, now respect the wood. Well done!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Honolulu, Hawaii
    Posts
    99

    Great looking bowl!

    Sean,

    Really nice looking bowl, Sean! I love lychee also, and just bought a bag of it for $20. When I was a kid, neighbors would trade mangoes for lychee and other fruit. But now it's much harder to come by.

    As for the wood, I recently picked up some stumps from a gentleman who had to chop down his tree. I have yet to turn a bowl from it, though. I only hope the wood in my stash looks as good as yours!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Fort Pierce, Florida
    Posts
    3,498
    Nice bowl Sean, and the wood displays beautifully. Never had any lychee, I'll have to try some.
    I really like the rim detail, Well executed.
    Retired - when every day is Saturday (unless it's Sunday).

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Goodland, Kansas
    Posts
    22,605
    Really a great looking bowl and really nice wood.
    Bernie

    Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

    To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.



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