First NE

[Bernie Weishapl]

Well completed my very first NE if you can call it that. It started out that way but lost about 3/4's of the bark on a bad catch. Decide to go ahead and finish it anyway. Tried out the new Rikon with it. Worked pretty smooth. Anyway since I was missing the bark I burnt the edge. I thought it turned out pretty good. It is 7" across and 3" at the highest. Finishing it with Miniwax Tung Oil. It is Silktree from Dave Smith. Turning these are a bit different than turning bowls or boxes. Let me know what you think.

[Pete Jordan]

Looks like bark to me.
Great job! You are not going to let that Rikon go to sleep are you. I just spent an hour trying to make tops out of some boxelder firewood. It was punky and every time I got thin it just snapped off. Time for football.

[Corey Hallagan]

Nice job Bernie. I think it looks great and burning the edge to help make up for the loss of bark worked well. Congrats on the first NE!

Corey

[Dennis Peacock]

Very nice Bernie!!!! I like the edge detail you did. A most excellent 1st NE. Congrats on a NE well done.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Very nice Bernie. Guess the Rikon's runnin' pretty SMOOOOOOOOOOOTH!

Bruce

[Ernie Nyvall]

You did good burning the edge Bernie. Nice job.

As far as the form... well it's just personal preferance, but I prefer it to be more rounded to the foot. from the pic I can't really tell, but it looks to have a sharp transition from side to bottom. But hey, getting an NE completed is a good job.

[Ted Calver]

Bernie,
I think you did a mighty nice job!!

[George Conklin]

Hi Bernie,

That was quite a save on the edge.

You'll have to teach us how to turn one of those multi-layered square feet .

[Mark Pruitt]

Way to go Bernie! Good job. I've found the biggest challenge with NEs to be keeping the rim at a consistent thickness. The gouge is naturally harder to keep stable when turning the wings. NEs are fun to do!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nicely done Bernie! Aren't NEs a kick in the pants?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks for the comments. Yep Ken they are a kick. I have one more of these Silktree blanks ready to finish turning. It does have the bark.

George the square tenons, heck they are easy.

Mark they are fun to do. I learned a lot doing this one. The edges are a bit tricky. Mine are close to being the same but not quite.

Ernie by the time I realized what I did it was to late to change the bottom. I really don't like the sharp transition but overall was pretty pleased with how it turned out considering the catch I had.

Yes Bruce that Rikon is smmmoooottthhhh. I really like the way it turns. After using it this afternoon the big Cman may sit until I need something bigger than 12".

[Chris Baer]

Bernie I think you did a fantastic job with it. It is simply beautiful and I did not even notice that you lost the bark until you said it. Great Job. Keep im coming

[Barry Stratton]

Way to go Bernie! Great "save", great job on the rim. and that silkwood is some pretty stuff. Really interesting grain too, especially on the foot

Can't wait to see the next one!

[Mark Pruitt]

If you check out the video "Bowl Turning" by Del Stubbs (published by Taunton) you'll see him turn a NE where he sees the bark beginning to work its way loose and he intentionally pulls the remainder of the bark away except for one "knotty" little segment, and it adds to the "natural-ness" of the edge.

Also I think it is Bill Grumbine in his latest video who makes a comment about NEs something like "Bald CAN be beautiful."

If you're into watching videos, both of these are worth having. I've found them to be immensely helpful.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks Mark. Appreciate the info. I learn more from DVD's and video's than reading books.