WWA Info Exchange

[Ice Pirate]

I came across a large timber of willow I'd bought a few years ago so that I could practice Re-Sawing on my bandsaw. With my new BS, it makes Re-Sawing a breeze so this board has just been collecting dust. Willow is really cheap, and this board that I had was about 40"x 7" x 8/4, so I cut it up into 7" square bowl blanks, 4 with a few inches left over. Two of these I went ahead and cut round on the BS and started practicing wth it.

My first bowl, about a year and a half ago, was also done with this same stick of willow, but I really didn't have the right chucks to do this then, and the results were less than stellar.

The coin in the center was glued in place to cover the through hole.

Then, in September, I turned this little bowl from Coyote wood and had much more success.


Saturday, I tried a much bigger one from the Willow and it came out pretty good.




Then I tried to get sexy and put a nice flare on one yesterday. However, while trying to smooth out the transision between the flat bottom and the near vertical side, my gouge, gouged and the bowl was ruined.

Oh well, just to make it a learing experience, I took the remnance to the BS and ripped it into to see the cross section.


As it turns out, the top edge where I flared it to the outside was so thin it never would have stood up to being chucked into the Cole Jaws, and the bottom was still heavier than I wanted.

Thanks for looking and if you can see anything else that I didn't pick up on, please feel free to let me know.

Thanks,
_________________
Frank
WWACOAUX#1
"Slow is Fast, Fast is slow"
"I love the smell of Sawdust in the morning, it smells like, victory."
WWA'ers I've met: Popeye, Ed Avery, Stephen Wolf

[Paul Gauthier]

Wow Frank those willow bowls look great. Are you talkin Weeping Willow or some other type. ???
_________________
Paul G

" Life experiences are like quarters. You lose both when you sit on the couch."
"Frustration is a natural part of woodworking"

[Ice Pirate]

Thanks Paul. I'm guessing weeping willow. I came across this stick of willow at Frank Paxton's lumber here in Denver a few years ago. It was cheap and called willow. It stinks when you work it, and it's a soft hardwood like poplar, but other than that, I really don't know much about it.
_________________
Frank
WWACOAUX#1
"Slow is Fast, Fast is slow"
"I love the smell of Sawdust in the morning, it smells like, victory."
WWA'ers I've met: Popeye, Ed Avery, Stephen Wolf

[Mango]

Great work beautiful wood
_________________
Mango
The land some where in the middle
20 47 00N -156 26 00W

[DennisS]

That must be some kind of willow other than the weeping variety we have here in the Puget Sound region. What little of it I've tried turning seems to be about 90% water (when green) and dried it's a lot lighter. Did you stain these? The color is really nice - not like anything I've seen from willow around here. Plus once bone dry it's so light it doesn't make a very impressive piece. How heavy are yours in comparison to stuff like cherry or ...?
_________________
Studies have shown that having a dog keeps the doctor away. Especially a large dog.

If Barbie's so popular, why do we have to buy her friends?

Cheers - Dennis

[forestgirl]

Beautiful bowls! I'm curious too about the finish on the willow. Looks great.

[Ice Pirate]

Thanks guys,

The finish is Maloof's oil/wax that I put on heavy and let it soak in for about 5 min, then wipe off. I do this about 2 to 3 times with about 15 minutes between, then I lay on more wax and buff. Not the greatest finish, but it is fast.

This willow is extremely dry and extemely light, the block when starting weighed less than a pound, and finish only a couple of ounces. Really light, and I got it down very thin.
_________________
Frank
WWACOAUX#1
"Slow is Fast, Fast is slow"
"I love the smell of Sawdust in the morning, it smells like, victory."
WWA'ers I've met: Popeye, Ed Avery, Stephen Wolf