I finished this 6″ W x 4.5″ H bowl today. It’s Goncalvo Alves, a heavy and very dense tropical hardwood. I’m happy with the result, although turning it was a lengthy and tedious process. This small bowl weighs 4~5 pounds, at least double what black walnut would weigh. I bought the bowl blank 20 years ago and today I would choose native hardwoods exclusively. Like all my bowls thus far, it’s finished with pure beeswax. (Click on any image to enlarge)
I’m fascinated by the color, shape and texture of things that are literally at my feet and all around me every day. I’m also struck by the fact that the natural world creates, as it were, these tableaux effortlessly and flawlessly and they always surpass in beauty the best art work humans are capable of . . . although some artists do come close. All images © Max Vollmer (Click on any image to enlarge)
In the case of this bowl , what I really had to do was stand back and let the gorgeous figure in the walnut reveal itself. (Click on any image to enlarge)
Dedicated to my great friend, Debbie Dennison . . . painter, printmaker, woodcarver, silversmith, and more . . . who hails from “south of I-10,” Gulfport, Mississippi to be exact.
Black walnut is an easy wood to turn and takes a beautiful polish on bare wood. This bowl was finished with my food-safe, 100% pure beeswax and mineral oil finish. (Click on any image to enlarge)
Cottonwood is a very soft wood and for that reason it is not traditionally thought of as material for turning bowls. However, this morning I drove past a couple of guys who had just cut down a dead cottonwood tree in a front yard and I asked for and was given one of the rounds to cut up and try to turn. Although dead, the tree had been standing out in the weather and was relatively wet, making it difficult to cut cleanly with turning tools. Sanding was slow as well. But a pleasing shape can still be realized with a little patience. This bowl is 5″ deep and a little over 6″ across.
Today, I am starting in earnest on the design for my 6′ tall cherry dresser with 4 graduated drawers below and 2 raised panel doors at the top which will open up to 4 pull-out bin-drawers. To be made with knot-free, wide plank, black cherry lumber from Pocahontas County, West Virginia, that I’ve been air drying for over 30 years. (Click on any image to enlarge)
I turned this 7 inch diameter, 2.5 inch deep bowl from a piece of Oregon Big Leaf Maple originally cut for firewood. (Click on any image to enlarge)
This is a mock-up of a small display of work I created for sale. The woods used for the weed pots/vases include Claro walnut, white oak, black cherry, wenge, sugar maple, and paduak. The bowls include white oak, Claro walnut, black cherry and paduak.