For family gifts this year we made some bowls out of Oregon Walnut, red Padauk, and European Beech. It was a fun project and we hope the recipients enjoy them. They look great in the “group shot”:
The following pics show some of the steps along the way. As usual, you can click on one of the thumbnails below to see a full-size image.
Walnut blanks after being rough-cut to size and then template-routed to final shape
Boards for top two layers – European Beech (top middle of photo) and Padauk (bottom middle)
Sanding Walnut blanks to remove initial milling marks
Shaped and sanded Walnut blanks, ready for glue-up to Beech and Padauk layers
Walnut offcuts
Rough-cutting Padauk sections
Stack of Padauk rough-cut blanks waiting for glue-up
Newly glued-up 3-layer blanks, still in the clamps while the glue dries
Newly glued-up 3-layer blanks awaiting routing
Making top two glued-on layers even with the Walnut blank with a flush-trim router bit
3-layer blanks after top two layers have been trimmed with a router flush-trim bit
Sanding exterior of 3-layer blanks to even out all three layers and remove machining marks
3-layer blanks after router-trimming Padauk and Beech layers
Using the drill press first saves wear and tear on the router bit, and is faster
removing the bulk of interior material on the drill press
Bowl blank installed in fixture, ready for final shaping of interior with plunge router
Shop vac attachment on router gets most of the chips, but some still manage to escape
Bowl blank in fixture; first level of routing completed
Bowl/tray router bit used to for final shaping of interiors
First level of bowl routing on interior of blanks completed
Routing last level of interior, including bowl bottom, after adding extension to router bit
Extension added to router shaft so that last level of interior bowl routing can be done
Rounding over the edges on the router table
Machine sanding of interior side walls
The Sanding Duo, hard at work
Beth and RuairĂ hand-sanding corners and edges
With edges rounded, machining of the bowls is complete
Final hand sanding of completed bowl; after this they are ready for finishing
Big pile of wood chips underneath drill press
Finish ingredients – 3 parts each of Varnish and Mineral Spirits plus 1 part Boiled Linseed Oil
Dear Barry, Beth, Ruiari, and Erin,
Thank you for the beautiful bowls that you lovingly made for Christmas presents this year. They are truly a gift of time and skill on you part. How lucky I am to be a recipient of one of these works of art. I look forward to seeing all or some of you sometime this year. Happy 2011.
Love,
Diane
Dear Barry, Beth, Ruiari, and Erin,
Thank you for the beautiful bowls that you lovingly made for Christmas presents this year. They are truly a gift of time and skill on you part. How lucky I am to be a recipient of one of these works of art. I look forward to seeing all or some of you sometime this year. Happy 2011.
Love,
Diane
Chapeau O’Mahony Family. The bowls turned out amazing. Now if only some of the Fahrner/O’Mahony skill would rub off on the Kaczmarek clan.
See you all soon.