Bowl #5 White Oak (I think)

[Tim Brooks]

Here is a bowl turned from a very large chunk of what I believe is white oak (some believe it could be sweet gum) I have no idea. A friend of mine delivered a few weeks ago and I posted a picture of it on this forum.

I really enjoyed turning this one. I had to duck twice to avoid injury. It missed both times and it didn't happen a third because I made the foot a little deeper.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice job keeping all the bark on Tim! Good looking wood - don't think it's Oak though. Looks like it has some real nice curl to it! Your bowls are looking better - keep turning!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Tim that is a great looking bowl. I don't think it is oak. Keep'em coming.

[Allen Neighbors]

Tim, I have about 5 or 6 small pieces of wood in my reefer that are labeled "Oak". That said... I turned a piece of it yesterday or the day before, and it turned out to be Sweet Gum.
I turned and sold about 15-20 bowls from a very large Sweet Gum tree last year. I'm the one who labeled the wood in my reefer. That was just a couple of weeks ago, when I was labelling some other real oak. But it doesn't have the rays that are present in oak, and it looks exactly like your bowl. Which, by the way, is a pretty nice bowl. You did a bang-up job keeping the bark intact. And you're also lucky to have dodged the very large bullet... so to speak.

[Jim Becker]

Tim....question for you. Did you have your blank mounted using a tenon or with a recess? I ask because of your comments about the piece taking flight a couple of times. If a tenon, be sure that there is a shoulder for the top of the jaws to rest on. If a recess, make sure it's both deep enough and profiled correctly for your chuck jaws...but frankly, I recommend you do not use a recess for this kind of project. Platters, yes...there is plenty of wood to support the jaw tension...but on bowls and vessels, there is a lot less wood outside of the jaws. A tenon is generally safer. If you feel you need more material to use a tenon without compromising the depth of your turning, glue on a sacrificial waste block, put the combined blank/waste block between centers and turn a round tenon to work with. You can shape your exterior at the same time your preparing your tenon. (Tenon/bottom goes towards the tailstock when you are between centers for this operation)

[Tim Brooks]

Tim....question for you. Did you have your blank mounted using a tenon or with a recess? I ask because of your comments about the piece taking flight a couple of times. If a tenon, be sure that there is a shoulder for the top of the jaws to rest on. If a recess, make sure it's both deep enough and profiled correctly for your chuck jaws...but frankly, I recommend you do not use a recess for this kind of project. Platters, yes...there is plenty of wood to support the jaw tension...but on bowls and vessels, there is a lot less wood outside of the jaws. A tenon is generally safer. If you feel you need more material to use a tenon without compromising the depth of your turning, glue on a sacrificial waste block, put the combined blank/waste block between centers and turn a round tenon to work with. You can shape your exterior at the same time your preparing your tenon. (Tenon/bottom goes towards the tailstock when you are between centers for this operation)

Jim,
Thank you so much for the advice. I did turn this one with a recess. My concern about using a tenon is finishing the bottom. I do not have a way to turn the bowl back around to finish off the bottom. I suppose I could make the tenon long enough to part the bowl away from it when I am finished. I'll have to give that a try next time.

[Tom Sherman]

A very nice bowl Tim, I have to agree that the wood does not look like Oak to me either.

[curtis rosche]

if it is white oak thats just a cap true white oak burl is really really dark color

[Tim Brooks]

Here are some pictures of the wood before I cut it up.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=76543

[curtis rosche]

what did it smell like kinda like vinigar?

[Jack Mincey]

Looks great. I turned a few sourwood bowls last year, and they looked a great deal like this wood, bark and all. When I cut the burls off I thought they where black gum, but when I went back to the tree with leaves on it I so that it was sourwood.
Jack