Butternut bowls

[Thom Sturgill]

At a recent 'Art in Wood' event I picked up a piece of dry butternut that was about 8" x 16" by 3 1/2" and cut two bowl blanks from it. The pith had been maybe 1/2"-3/4" from the surface and well centered on the blanks. As an experiment I turned a bowl in each orientation (pith at top and pith at bottom).

For those who have never turned butternut, this stuff tears out as bad as any punky, spalted wood I have ever turned. I definitely had to break out the 80 grit gouge! Like well spalted wood, the appearance made it worth while or the second bowl would not have been turned.
DSC_2136.jpgDSC_2135.jpgDSC_2134.jpg
Turned pith at top, notice the rays inside the bowl and the pattern in the bottom. Middle picture shows some of the chatoyance the wood displays.

[Thom Sturgill]

This is the second bowl, turned pith down. Sorry but I had a bit of focus problems on these.
DSC_2129.jpgDSC_2132.jpgDSC_2130.jpgDSC_2131.jpg

Notice the totally different grain pattern. Rays are not as pronounced on the inside and I got just a bit of sap wood showing. Still good chatoyance. This was turned with a recess that has not been removed, though I may still put it in a vacuum chuck and remove the signs of the recess.

Both bowls are finished with Walnut oil on the inside for a nice satin finish and lacquer on the outside. This bowl was lacquer over lacquer sanding sealer and the other was lacquer over shellac over walnut oil used during sanding. The pictures do not show the bases well. This one has a slight recurve while the other does not.

[Prashun Patel]

That is some stunning grain in the first one. I like both!

I'm trying to hone my photography skills and have a question: On the 2nd bowl, did you minimize the depth of field on purpose to highlight the front?

[Paul Williams]

Great job with really nice looking wood. You have the orientation just right to display the grain. I agree about the tear out issue with butternut. I have a bunch of 4 inch thick kiln dried butternut that has been in my garage for 20 years. It is easy to work, but the tear out is ridiculous. Back when I was carving decorative decoys we could get 4 by 6 to 9 inch by 8 feet butternut from a local kiln operation for $25.

[Mike Goetzke]

Thom - these butternut bowls are beautiful. I really like the grain/rays on the first one with the beading. What tool did you use for the beading? (I haven't had the guts yet to try beading on a bowl)


Thanks,

Mike

[Thom Sturgill]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'll try to answer your questions:

Mike, I used one of Dave's beading tools and a lot of sanding! I really like his beaders.

Prashun, no it was actually a focusing issue. I try to focus mid-bowl but I think my eye just picked up the rim. I shot these indoors, but usually use morning sunlight outside. These pictures were lighted with an LED Ottlight my D-I-L has. I use GIMP to crop and set white levels. I had to go back and scale most of these to get SMC to allow me to upload them.

Paul, that's what I paid for this billet.

[Roger Chandler]

Nice work on both Thom! The first one......the grain highlights remind me of sun rays shining through clouds.........this is just a beauty of a bowl! Looks like your efforts are rewarded. I have never had the chance to turn butternut, but since seeing these, if I ever get a chance at a good piece, I will surely take it!

[Reed Gray]

I only got a few pieces of Butternut once. The spiderweb type grain pattern in the first pieces is typical of branches. I loved it. Oh yes, it does turn fuzzy no matter what you do.

robo hippy

[John Keeton]

Nice bowls, Thom!!

I love turning butternut - such a warm color with an oil finish. I have found that using a shearing approach with a sharp scraper really helps get a good surface on it.

[Jon Nuckles]

Nice forms and beautiful grain patterns. I never knew butternut looked this good. The results are worth some extra sanding, and I HATE sanding!

[Thom Sturgill]

... The results are worth some extra sanding, and I HATE sanding!

Amen to that.

[Thom Sturgill]

Nice bowls, Thom!!

I love turning butternut - such a warm color with an oil finish. I have found that using a shearing approach with a sharp scraper really helps get a good surface on it.

I think I tried every trick in the book. Shear cutting with my D-Way gouge (freshly sharpened) did get the best surface, but even that left enough tear-out to need heavy sanding. I generally pride myself on being able to get a clean cut.

[Eric Gourieux]

That's beautiful wood and you did a great job with the turnings. I like the beads. D-way beading tools are great tools

[David Delo]

Like your results with the pith on top a tad better but both are just beautiful. Certainly worth the time for these 2 pieces. Nice work Thom.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Thom, grain orientation in the top one is most appealing to me but both are great looking bowls. Never turned any and just now found out it was in the walnut family and sometimes referred to as white walnut.