A Change Bowl

 

Here is a small "change" bowl I made this week end. It measures 5 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches high. A "change bowl" is kept on a gentleman's bureau to keep the contents of his pockets when emptied at the end of the day; change, keys, etc.. The base is made from White Oak and the side of the bow is a layer of segmented sections; the lighter colored wood is Poplar and the thinner darker wood is Mahogany. What is interesting about this bowl is the treatment of the interior of the bowl: I made a kind of stain which was used in colonial times in the US. It is made by dissolving iron in a vinegar solution. When that is applied to wood which contains a lot of acid, like Oak and Mahogany, it turns the wood very dark; in the case of Oak it goes black. As you can see here, it is very black indeed. It darkened all the wood on the interior. No further finishing was done to this bowl. 

Spalted Maple Bowl w/Eye

 Yet another spalted Maple wood bowl. This one is 8 inches in diameter and 2.75 inches high. I wet sanded it with mineral oil then burnished it with wood shavings. That small knot in the exact center of the bottom of the bowl doesn't come out through the outside of the bottom of the bowl. It wasn't visible until I cut down to the bottom of the bowl on my lathe. From some viewing angles the knot looks like an eye. This block of wood was from near the outside of a large log which had a lot to do with determining the curve of the bowl shape.

Small Sycamore Bowl

Here's a simple Sycamore wood bowl measuring 4 inches in diameter and 2.25 inches high. It's been wet sanded with mineral oil and burnished with its own wood shavings. Sycamore is a nice wood to turn; lovely fine grain. A hard wood but cuts nicely on the lathe. This wood is from a neighbor's tree when it was pruned a couple of years ago. I like the beauty in this simple shape, the quiet dignity of it's humble, unpretentious utility.

8 Inch Spalted Maple Bowl

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Here's another 8 inch heavily spalted Maple wood bowl. It measures 8 inches in diameter and 2.75 inches high. There are some small knots and a little bit of figuring in the grain, though difficult to see through the spalted areas. This was wet sanded with mineral oil up to 400 grit, then burnished with it's own shavings to give it a satin finish.

Spalted Maple Bowl

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 Here is yet another spalted Maple wood bowl. This is from a tree that was in my backyard. I've several more bowl blanks of this wood, so you'll be seeing more of these bowls in the coming year. This one measures 2.5 inches high and 8 inches in diameter. It was wet sanded with mineral oil up to 400 grit sandpaper. The bowl was then burnished with its own shavings to polish it. This one has a knot in the bottom of the bowl, with some nice figuring in the grain around the dense knot wood. More photos below.

Small Footed Walnut Box

 

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Here's a Walnut wood box measuring 2 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches high. The knob is a amber glass sphere on the loose fitting lid. It has a 3-footed base. The wood was wet-sanded with mineral oil. 

Small Walnut Wood Canister

 

This is a Walnut wood canister with a glass knob on the lid. It measures 2.25 inches in diameter and 4 inches high. It was wet sanded with mineral oil and finished with the same oil. Unfortunately I've some marks left by the jaws of the lathe chuck on the edge of the lid and near the top of the canister. This was due to my inexperience and mistake in the sequencing of the wood turning process. They're too deep to sand out. Lesson learned. Move on. Still, a nice little walnut box. Thanks Ned Lycett for the wood. I've more from him so there will be more items made from this wood.