I have a piece of black walnut that has pretty much dried out. I
picked it up the other day and it was really light weight - much more
than when I first got it.
As to the subject of the post, I wanna turn a natural edge bowl.
Looking over several of the fine websites I've found on this newsgroup
I have a fair idea how to proceed. One item that I know will require
care is the intermittent cuts that will be made as the 'wings' of the
bowl flash past. Advice I have read here will be followed- to whit:
put a contrasting piece of coloured paper behind so you can see a bit
better what is going on. My question relates to keeping the bark on.
My plan is to begin the shaping and once I get to the point where I
start the actual hollowing of the bowl to put some super glue on the
bark that I intend on keeping. This is in the hope that the glue will
both penetrate as well as helping the bark stay put. Comments?

"Kevin" wrote: I have a piece of black walnut that has pretty much dried
out.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It would have been better to turn it before it dried. Bark separation is
caused by drying shrinkage. If there are open gaps between the bark and the
wood, theymay be hard to control with C/A glue. Too late for that now.
But, since the wood seems to be pretty dry, there is no penalty for waiting
even longer.

If this is your first experience at turning natural edge bowls, you are sure
to make some mistakes, and learn a lot from those mistakes. I suggest you
lay that nice piece of walnut aside, and do your learning on something less
touchy. Use a piece of wood that has just been cut, and where the bark is
well bonded.

When you do get ready to turn the walnut, be prepared to have some of the
bark fly off. Keep some scraps of bark handy, so you can repair these
places. You don't necessarily have to put back the same piece that flew
off, as long as you are careful in fitting things into place. If things
really do fly apart, consider stripping off the rest of the bark--you'll
still have a natural-edge bowl that can be quite attractive without the
bark.

Since you're new to this, I want to point out something I learned the hard
way. UNIFORM WALL THICKNESS is far more critical on natural edge bowls.
Any variation in thickness will show up as variations in the width of the
edge.

Go to it, and keep us posted. WEAR A FACE SHIELD.

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"Kevin" wrote: I have a piece of black walnut that has pretty much dried
out.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It would have been better to turn it before it dried. Bark separation is
caused by drying shrinkage. If there are open gaps between the bark and
the wood, theymay be hard to control with C/A glue. Too late for that
now. But, since the wood seems to be pretty dry, there is no penalty for
waiting even longer.

He speaks the truth. You can still give it the college try by starting to
stuff CA in as you approach the outside rim dimensions. Thin first, so that
it runs into unseen places, then a tad of thick and dust or chips of
sub-bark into places where it's pulled away. If you're like me, and sell
the things, you'll want to soak CA into the bark to keep it from breaking
away much as it's handled.


Since you're new to this, I want to point out something I learned the hard
way. UNIFORM WALL THICKNESS is far more critical on natural edge bowls.
Any variation in thickness will show up as variations in the width of the
edge.

Go to it, and keep us posted. WEAR A FACE SHIELD.

The uniform wall thickness isn't all it seems. What appear to be
"variations in the width of the edge" are often just a result of the
changing angle as you deepen the bowl. If you chase it as a visual cue
only, you'll end up with some pretty thin stuff down low. Never was a
critical thing to get the walls of a turning thin or even uniform, so do
what looks and feels right.

Generally speaking, if you've got nice thick bark like willow or elm you can
cut through at a steep angle and get good display. Thinner stuff like
cherry or some maples wants to be cut a bit broader to show the bark off.

If it doesn't stay, you can clean it up and blacken the edge, wire brush it,
or even (shudder) color it. Stuff like spalt generally will keep you from
holding bark no matter how you try.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...tmate-Dish.jpg

Don't think that barkside up is the only way to do an interrupted edge.
Sometimes the unnatural edge of a split can be attractive, too.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...rofile-Oil.jpg

"George" wrote: (clip) The uniform wall thickness isn't all it seems. What
appear to be "variations in the width of the edge" are often just a result
of the changing angle as you deepen the bowl. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm talking about something different, and I think it is important. It is
possible to turn finished edge bowls that are not of uniform thickness, and
they will still look pretty good. An accomplished turner may pick up the
variations by feeling the inside and outside together. If you do as some
teachers suggest, and saw the bowl in half vertically, you will see the
variations in thickness.

A natural edge bowl gemerally has two high lobes and two low sides. The
edge passes from the high to the low points, so differences in thickness
appear as differences in the width of the edge, just as they do when you saw
a bowl in half. To a beginner this can be a challenge. You can't just
clean it up by taking a cut. And it DOES affect the esthetics.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(clip)Never was a critical thing to get the walls of a turning thin or even
uniform, so do what looks and feels right.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
George, since you sell your bowls, I have to assume that you are getting
good results doing "what looks and feels right." To a person with less
experience than you, things don't always come out as expected or desired.
My comment was made with the belief that problems encountered while learning
can be handled better if they are understood--and a timely explanation can
be beneficial.