No Rest for the Weary

Had to cut the day a little short because we’ve got BASEBALL this afternoon. The series is tied one all. Let’s go Braves!

Okay, back to woodturning, I was able to finish two bowls today and have two more nearly finished. One of the bowls was a second slice off the ambrosia maple burl I found on Friday. It didn’t look that special when I first looked at it but when I got it to the lathe I could see it was going to be a nice one. By the time it was finished I was in love. It had a bark inclusion but the bark was loose and came flying out while I was turning. That’s always exciting when a piece of bark the size of a golf ball comes sailing off at 60 mph. It missed me but I felt the breeze when it went by.

The second bowl is a beautiful ribbon sapele bowl. Sapele smells spicy when you turn it. Sometimes the fine sanding dust makes my skin tingle. Some people have worse reactions. I always wear a mask when I’m sanding and I have very good room filtration. I really like the way ribbon sapele reflects the light, it kind of glows.

One of the pieces I did not finish is pictured below. It is mulberry burl and yes, that really is the natural color. It is canary yellow with very white sapwood. This bowl was made from a piece of scrap. I save every scrap of this fabulous burl. I hope to finish this one tomorrow!