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Thread: 30,40, or so year old roughed bowls

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Northern Utah
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    4,426

    30,40, or so year old roughed bowls

    Last weekend I got a call from a guy, kind of a friend of a friend type deal. He said he had a box of rough turned bowls and wondered if I was interested in them. I drove to his house and he told me the story behind them. His father had been a woodturner years ago. He had a stroke in the early 90's and died a few years later. The guys daughter was married to a guy that was a wood worker and he took all his stuff, including these bowls. He never did anything on the lathe and they think he either gave the lathe away, junked it, or something but no one knows where it is anymore. Then this guy died a while back. So the guy I know, who is the brother-inlaw to the last owner of the bowls was helping clean out his place and came across all these bowls. They aren't very big, 6-12", and there are a bunch of wooden discs about 4-6" diameter and about an inch thick. Most are marked with a date, day and month, but some also have a year ranging from 84 to 86. Some look like they've been sealed with wax and some look and smell like they've been rubbed with heavy grease. They were all roughed using an assortment of face plates and various screw hole patterns in them. The guy took me into his house and showed me some of the finished work his father had done. It was incredible stuff. Mostly utility things like candy dishes and small lidded boxes. There was a cookie jar thing that had been segmented and made to fit a tin cookie can inside of it. (They gave me a cookie from it too). But the segmenting pattern was like nothing I've seen anywhere else. Then they had two large segmented table lamps that were really nice. All the joints were perfect and they had some interesting designs that I haven't seen either. All his work was finished with felt on the bottoms, I'm guessing to cover the screw holes, and had a really nice finish that gave the wood a nice dark patina. Probably just real genuine aged wood. It was just cool to see this old work and wonder about the guy that did it.
    So now I have a box of roughed blanks and a bunch of discs to try do something half as nice as what he had done with them. The wood is hard to tell what variety it is because of the coating on it but it's pretty well preserved. I turned one of the smaller bowls just to see what the wood might be. I'm pretty sure it's apricot but it has a darker and richer color than the fresh apricot I've worked with before. I tried making a lid for it from one of the discs that I think is also apricot but it just didn't turn out as well as I would like. The grain doesn't line up and then I let the buffing wheel grab it out of my hand and it got chipped anyway. But If you haven't nodded off yet from my long winded story, here's some pics.....

    l stephens bowls 1.jpgl stephens bowls 2.jpgApricot bowl 1.jpgApricot lidded bowl 1.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Goodland, Kansas
    Posts
    22,605
    Not sure what the wood is Curt but that is a great looking lidded bowl. Congrats on the big box of bowl blanks. That should keep ya busy for a while.
    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.



  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Pineville, KY
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    250
    If they all turn out like the one you finished, they will be beauties. I think the one you turned looks great. I'd be tickled to have turned it.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Yorktown, VA
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    2,754
    Great story Kurt and really nice lidded bowl. Looks like the grain lines up pretty good to me. I hope my blanks find someone like you when the time comes.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Vadnais Heights, MN
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    That's a great story, Curt. I love wood with a history like this. Looks great so far!
    Doug Swanson

    Where are John Keeton and Steve Schlumpf anyway?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Escondido, CA
    Posts
    6,224
    I agree. Great history and congratulations on all you are going to do.
    Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2010
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    Stockbridge, Ga.
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    857
    Cool story Curt. Nice looking lidded bowl as well.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Fort Pierce, Florida
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    3,498
    I'm with Ted, it may just be the side you pictured, but I think the grain lines up nicely,
    Retired - when every day is Saturday (unless it's Sunday).

  9. #9
    Great story Curt. I've been looking at your work since 2008, and think that the legacy of these bowls is in fine hands. Love the apricot lidded bowl, and look forward to seeing the rest.
    When all is said and done--more is usually said than done.

  10. #10
    Great story. I'm with Ted and like he said I sure hope my family finds someone like you to take my rough turning when I go . . . .
    Pete


    * It's better to be a lion for a day than a sheep for life - Sister Elizabeth Kenny *
    I think this equates nicely to wood turning as well . . . . .

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    Western Maryland
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    5,548
    You might want to let that wood sit and dry a while. May still be wet/green...

    Very cool, Curt. Though, my favorite thing to turn is green wood and doing rough outs... Glad to see these didn't get thrown away.
    I drink, therefore I am.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Northern Ohio
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    524
    Sure is a nice story. The wood looks like Red Elm.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    Fredericksburg, TX
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    2,576
    Good story, good wood. I'm looking forward to the next chapter and more finish pieces. Your talent taking the rough forward will be the final test.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Pendleton, KY
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    That's a GREAT story. I even read it to my wife. I agree, they are in good hands.

    Did you just get lucky, or did you intentionally pick 2 pieces that match? I know you said that the grain doesn't line up, but it appears to be a match

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Western Maryland
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    Curt, I just took a closer look and see one of the segmented pieces. I see what you mean about segmenting in a different way. Looks like it is a segmentation made of...triangles. Then, the outside is cut on the band saw. It is more of a continuous segmentation with 45 degree angled wood up against straight grain, rather than 22 1/2 degree angles up against 22 1/2 degree angles. Wonder if it is any more or less stable that way...
    I drink, therefore I am.

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