this one beat me up...

[Russell Eaton]

This is the Spalted Ambrosia Maple bowl that I have been working on. I turned it outboard on my 1642. It finished at just over 17 1/4" and is about6" tall. As you can tell the bowl is turned from end grain and that is the reason for the beating. I found the best results were from a round nose scraper. It was the only tool that I could get anything other than sawdust off of. It is sanded to 400 grit and has 2 coats of Walnut oil finish. It darkened a little more than I would have liked but I am proud of the bowl. I like the bigger bowls but NOT the end grain. The last picture is the home made tool rest that I used for this project. I hope you enjoy and thanks for looking. Russell

[Dale Miner]

That certainly is a LOT of end grain hollowing. I can definately see where the "beat me up" comes from. Looks like it would have been a good candidate for a large hook tool.

At least the outside turned fairly easy compared to the inside, eh?

Did you have any issue with the free standing tool rest moving about?

[Russell Eaton]

Dale when I turned the outside it was not a problem. The inside is a different story. I had to add the flat steel on one of the feet. That allowed me to stand on it and my body weight (witch is more that it should be) let me keep it in pace. I centered it on the leg so it would be easy to rest on from either side. It was quite comfortable and did a great job. The best thing about this piece was the wood was FREE. Thanks for the comment. Russell

[Chris Burgess]

WOW that is a big bowl. Very nicely done. I have never turned Ambrosia Maple, is the pith a concern? Did you CA it to hold it together or something else? Nice work in the toolrest. I am needing a part before I can turn outboard but will splurge soon. I was thinking of using one of those rolling lumber supports that you can use to catch long pieces off your tablesaw or mitersaw. Your's looks much more sturdy than that though. Nice work on both. Thanks for sharing.

[charlie knighton]

nice big bowl, big bowl, big bowl

thanks for sharing

[Russell Eaton]

Chris, the log that I turned that out of has been cut for about 5 years and stored under shelter. It was tough to turn for the start. I had a solid pith in the bowl blank and tried to center it in the bottom. It is about 3/8" off, but that is what you get. Just so you know, I have about 8 1/2 hours just in turning this bowl. Scrape for a while then sharpen and back to the lathe. It was fun but I am going to have to wait for another big blank before I do it again. Thanks for the comments.

[Roger Chandler]

End grain hollowing can be done with a pull cut [bowl gouge] from the center back to the rim. I have had good success with that method............I wonder about the long term effect of the pith being centered in this bowl..........it is a very nice bowl, however, that pith looks like it will crack up to the sides.........hope you have it stabilized well.

Nice work.......nice outboard stand as well.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice big bowl. Well done.

[John Keeton]

Russell, I think it was worth the fight!! Really a striking pattern with the radiating Ambrosia and spalting. Nice setup on that outboard rig, too!

[Jon Nuckles]

Long after the beating is forgotten, you'll still have that awesome figure to marvel at. Nice work.

[Scott Hackler]

Nice bowl. The colors in the maple are great. Thats a lot of ambrosia staining! As meantioned above, if you dare to try it again, a pull cut with the gouge left in one spot while you move the handle (ala David Ellsworth technique) works pretty decent on end grain.

[Gary Conklin]

You need to give Jeff Nicols tool a try on that endgrain.

[Greg Just]

Very nice bowl. Love the ambrosia pattern. Is your outboard setup attached to your lathe?

[bob svoboda]

Nice bowl! Really like the pattern the end grain orientation gives it.

[Scott Hussey]

Nice bowl! I'm more interested in the outboard rest. It looks like it's some angle iron welded together with an adjustable height tool rest. Did you design/fabricate this yourself? I'd be curious to hear how you did it and how(if at all) you attach it to your lathe.