Turning Process You can create a fairly smooth piece by using sharp tools. Instead of being the base of the bowl, the outside of the tree is now the rim. The orientation of the wood for a natural edge bowl is generally the opposite of the orientation for a level rim bowl. You can buy two-prong centers, but an easy solution is to simply grind two prongs away. This makes the center drift until three prongs engage. Because the outside of the tree is uneven, a four-prong model will often only drive on one prong. The best drive center for this type of work has only two prongs. Unlike level rim bowls, when you turn a natural edge bowl, the outside of the tree is the rim for your piece. (It is the orientation of the grain that separates face from spindle work.) Chuck your blank between centers to turn your natural edge bowl. Although we are chucked between centers, this is still faceplate turning because the grain of the wood is running across the lathe and not the length of it. The best way to turn the outside of a natural edge is between centers, or on a screw chuck with a live center in the tailstock supporting the area that will be the base. Mount Your Workpiece A two-spur center is the best drive method for natural edge work because you can align both prongs to drive equally on the uneven surface. Natural edge bowls benefit artistically from a straight wall design with good heightto- width ratios, which shows off the edge and lends a modern look. If you can use a bowl gouge handily, the process is straightforward. Lack thereof results in an unnatural edge. Cutting through the uneven edges requires precise tool control. The concept of a natural edge bowl is simplicity itself however, the execution, not so much. The cyanoacrylate becomes indispensible for beginning and experienced turners alike if you attempt to turn a natural edge piece from wood harvested in the warmer months. You can somewhat combat the “bark falling off” tendency by treating it with thin cyanoacrylate “super” glue as you turn to increase the bark’s bond to the piece. While this varies regionally, here in northeastern Ohio, December to February are safe bets. This requires harvesting the tree, or the limb of the tree, in the cold months if the bark is not to fall off during drying. Natural edge bowls are best turned from green wood - the greener, the better! A common motif is to leave the bark on the natural edge. Turned green, the shape has warped to oval, but the natural edge largely hides this. Well-meant but klutzy dusting resulted in the removal of the bark from a section: proof that natural edges are more art than utility. The author turned this average-sized natural edge bowl, with bark, from white oak. Very fragile, it is art and not utilitarian in the least. He then wrapped the piece with duct tape and hollowed the inside, leaving a uniform 1/4″ wall. Rude first turned the outside between centers, then chucked the base in a four-jaw metalworking chuck. This 1985 poplar burl piece by Rude Osolnik is an exceptionally large natural edge bowl. This makes them perfect for mini and midi lathes.Īrt Over Utility: Natural Edge Bowls of Varying Size Also, smaller items sell better in craft galleries because they are priced more reasonably and fit into the buyer’s décor more easily. Part of this is that smaller diameters negate the wood shrinkage problem. Predominantly, natural edge bowls are small. Additionally, finish did not have to be as good as a traditional bowl required. They could turn unique, artistic, but above all: saleable items fast. I suspect that the above-mentioned turners latched onto various natural edge forms because they represented something new and different, but the natural edge also hid the out-of-roundness caused by the shrinkage of green wood. In the mid-20th century, many well-known woodturners, including James Prestini, Bob Stocksdale and Rude Osolnik, created natural edge bowls when they started experimenting with the traditional bowl’s form to create art to sell in craft galleries. By the 1950s, Tupperware® was well established and inexpensive glass and ceramic bowls abounded, helping to create such expectations. While a household circa 1800 expected a wooden bowl to be oval because it was turned from green wood, a similar denizen of the 20th century was put off by an oval shape.
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