My woodturning journey pretty much skipped over bowls. I started with three pens and four bowls followed by an advanced class at the Campbell School in inlaid platters from Stephen Hatcher. (I'm a big believer in jumping in the deep end on everything) Since then I've stuck to hollowed forms, platters and some translucent Norfolk Island vases. A few months ago a lady whose husband can no longer turn, gave me some bowl blanks that her husband had prepared a long time ago. Making the bowls was fun and my wife liked them more than most of the rest of what I've been doing. Then two woodturning friends asked me to join them in cutting some silver maple from a tree cut down by a tree service. Had never used a chainsaw before and thought it would be a good experience. Again, had a lot of fun just making bowls. Watched some videos and read reviews about the different coring systems and decided on the One Way Easy Core, though I probably would have been happy with any of the others. This is my first coring attempt and my career 12th, 13th and 14th bowls. The blank was roughly 12" X 6" and very green. The coring could not have been easier, it was quick, the bowls are smooth and it happened without a single hitch. I decided to experiment a little and squeezed out a third bowl. They were then soaked overnight in a LDD mix. The final bowls are 11 7/8", 9 1/4" and 7 3/8".They are now drying and haven't moved or checked. I've used the LDD method many times before after reading about it on the fantastic Ron Kent site. The only difficult thing about the coring system is the price -YIKES! Because of the price I limited myself to the #1 and #2 knives.
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