Here's a few pics of some recent maple bowls. First pic is the log these bowls came from. As you can see there were branches jutting out from many different angles so I came out with some irregular shaped blanks.Maple Log 1.jpg
Finished these blanks up the other day. A couple firsts for me in that I just finished them with 4 coats of Howard Butcher Block Conditioner. I'm more of a Watco + Buff guy but don't really care for that scenario on maple. Like it for cherry and walnut but I just don't care for the results on maple. The other first was using one of Reed's platforms to put a 40/40 grind on a 1/2" Sorby gouge. Have been using a Wolverine system with Doug Thompson's instructions for 60 degree grind and that works very well for me on the inside of the bowl but no matter what I do on the outside, I can never get an absolute tear-out free surface. First try gave me a good smooth surface but had a bunch of lines in it. Think I had a little bump in the transition between the nose and the wing. Back to the grinder for clean up. Second try was just perfect from the bottom all the way to the top. Very pleased with the results. Went to Ashley Harwood's demo last month and saw what she did on some red oak with that grind, so I finally gave it a try.
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These are from the same log. The tornado bowl is watco + beall but the other 2 were finished with a couple coats of water based sanding sealer and then beall buffed. Don't know how they will hold up over time but I kind of like the color results.
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