A Couple Natural Edge Fiddle maple Bowls

[Bob Bergstrom]

I brought home some rounds of fiddled hard maple from northern Wisconsin this summer. I turned the outside , reversed it onto a chuck and cored a smaller bowl from the blank before hollowing out the larger bowl. Turned the walls downn to 5/16" and finished the bottom. Put both into the microwave starting with half power for 30 seconds and working up to 2 minutes at full power. After each cycle I left the door closeed to allow the bowl to absorb some moisture back before opening the door and letting it set inside the microwave. When it had cooled enough to handle I removed it and let it cool completely. When little to no moisture was in evidence on the turnstile plate I decided it was sufficiently dry. Finish sanded them on a vacuum chuck and sanded the bottoms flat. Larger bowl is 13"x11". Oil and lacquer finish.
Did a demo last week on the choosing and setting up a half round and how to cut it cleanly.
Heres the YouTube URL.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4bYWW4rXaYQ or search Windy City Woodturners.
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[daryl moses]

Very nice. Love the figure in that wood!!

[David Delo]

Couple great looking bowls Bob and nice work on the video.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Thanks Dave, I am usually behind the camera, but I love teachin, so I am fortunate able to do one or the other. When I first started cutting natural edge bowls, I spent more time sanding out the tool marks than it took to turn it. There is a learning curve to learning not to push into the wings when cutting them. The 40/40 grind has really helped me in making those cuts cleaninly.

[Robert Hayward]

Nice looking bowls. That dark natural edge really enhances the eye appeal.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Nice looking bowls. That dark natural edge really enhances the eye appeal.

Because of the super glue on the bark, painting the bark edge hides the glue and does a nice job of framing the bowl.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful work Bob! Love the wood, the form and your finish really makes all that curl pop! Thanks for sharing!