Scrap Wood Project The Pine and Cedar Yarn Bowl continued

Hi Everyone,

Ok, back to work.

Ive taken off the clamps and we have a large, well, humungous block of wood to turn.  Since it is so large and long Im going to use a 6" face plate to attach it to the lathe:

Ive used 2 1/2" long  #10 wood screws to attach the plate to the turning blank:

And here it is on the lathe. Note the position of the tool rest foot and the use of the tailstock:

Since this is a large blank and its a little off center, Im going to turn it slowly until its trued up and lighter in weight. Ill start this at 300 rpm:

In this photo you can see that Ive drawn a circle on the face of the foot of the bowl. To begin with Im going to remove all the wood between the upper edge of the rim and this line:

This is a photo about 25 minutes into the turn. Its beginning to take shape:

Now, before I get to far into this I need to stop and drill a hole into the side of the bowl. This hole will serve as an exit for the yarn in the bowl. To cut the hole Ive used a 1 1/4" Forstner bit for this and Ill drill two holes on opposite sides of the bowl:

Here is this photo Ive marked the spot where Im going to drill the hole. Its approximately half way between the base and the rim:

As I am going to leave the walls of this bowl rather thick, Ive drilled down about 1" into the blank:

Now to work on the bottom of the bowl for a few minutes. Ive drawn a 6" diameter circle on the bottom. This will enable me to accurately place the faceplate when I turn it over later on:

Ive gotten a lot of shaping done at this point and Ive used a skew to partially smooth down the sides of the bowl. I learned how to use a skew by using it with the point pointing downward, which is the opposite way you usually see them used. I find I have better control over it and I dont get many catches this way:

The skew is generally used for very fine cutting on the surface of bowls and other things and you should generally be producing what turner Nick Cook calls "angel hair shavings" or in other words, very fine shavings like you can see in this photograph:

Ive also begun creating a rim on the bowl. Visually I think this will make the bowl look a little more detailed:

Now in this photo I have removed the tailstock and Im going to create the foot:

In this photograph Ive created a depression for the faceplate and flattened it so the faceplate will sit flat on the underside:

Now after this was done, I did a little rough sanding and here is what the bowl looks like at present:

Tomorrow, well sand it smooth and get it ready to finish. Ill use wipe on polyurethane for that. When the outside finishing is complete,  well flip it over and hollow it out.

See you tomorrow,

VW