Cherry Bowl Blank

[Baxter Smith]

Several weeks ago, I asked for suggestions on what to do with a large cherry bowl blank. All your suggestions were good ones! After spending a couple of weeks in Maine, I was anxious to get it on the lathe.
I wasn’t sure I could handle mounting or turning a bowl as deep as the blank so decided to take a 3 inch slab off the top. (And I hated to turn so much into just shavings)
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Weighed in at #105 when I screwed on the faceplate.
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By the time I had the outside done it was down to #60.

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The shine is from lemon juice used to remove iron stains fromthe chuck and my hands.
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It ended up at #10 and just fit into a large double layer paper leaf bag. I will dry the slab as is. For what I am not sure. Maybe just to stare at.
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Comments and suggestions always welcome and appreciated!

[Steve Mawson]

Like what you have there and it is BIG! What turning rpm?

[Tim Rinehart]

Baxter, that is a wonderful looking big bowl. The beads are a nice subtle touch, and the thickness looks appropriate to the diameter. One of these days I'll try hanging something off the end of my lathe as well.

[Ted Calver]

You did that blank proud Baxter. I'll be curious to see how much it moves.

[David Brightwell]

Beautiful shape.

[David Brightwell]

Beautiful shape you went with.

[Roger Chandler]

Love the curly grain in that cherry.......that is a beauty Baxter!

[philip labre]

Gorgeous bowl Baxter! Also, I think I need to steal your outboard stand design.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Bax,
Did you wet sand that bowl to 220 or so before setting it aside to dry? After it warps it will be a bugger to sand. Do you expect it to shrink almost 1 1/2" across the grain?
It looks really sweet and mountains of cherry couldn't be more pretty.
faust

[Baxter Smith]

...........What turning rpm?

I don't remember exactly what I started and ended with Steve. I am guessing it was between 200 and 400.

........Did you wet sand that bowl to 220 or so before setting it aside to dry? .............Do you expect it to shrink almost 1 1/2" across the grain?

I did sand it to 220 Faust......after starting with 80. It seemed like 99% of the inside and outside cut cleanly. It was just that other 1% . I figured spending a couple hours sanding now would save me a lot of time down the road. I am sure it will move a lot. Hopefully I left enough of a foot to be able to flatten out when the time comes.

[Peter Blair]

Wow! Great looking bowl Baxter.

[Cheryl A. Prince]

Great looking bowl Baxter. When it is dry how will you reverse chuck it to do the bottom? I outboard turned some large bowls out of black walnut (22" to 26") and am not sure that my vacuum chuck is powerful enough (it's a holdfast and draws about 12 to 14 inches of mercury?) to hold it to finish the backside and bottom. I have a 3520b with the bed extension. I have the vaccuum connected to a small pancake compressor. Would it draw more if I connected it to a larger compressor? If you or anyone else has any suggestions I'd appreciate it.

[Steve Doerr]

Great looking bowl. I bet that took a lot of time for you to do. I too like the beads that you have at the rim. It is hard to tell what the final size is, could you give us the dimensions?
Like Philip, I like your outboard stand. Could we see some pictures that would show us more details?
Thanks,
Steve

[Bob Rotche]

Wow! That is a serious bowl! You know the saying, "Go big or go home"? You get to stay out awhile longer...

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a great looking big bowl Baxter. Really nice looking cherry.