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Dough Bowls by Woodbowl

Started by Radar67, January 27, 2008, 12:07:23 AM

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Radar67

After our trip to Moultrie this past year, Don K and I visited with several forum members on our trip home. One of those members was Woodbowl. It was after dark when we arrived at his house and he was busy getting ready for the next day's sawing job.

We had a good visit, although it was too short. One of the many things we talked about and saw was his dough bowls. He sent three home with each of us in hopes we could help him figure out how to speed up the sanding process.

I pittled with my bowls a little after we got home, but took some serious time with them the past two weekends. Sanding is one of the most tedious, time consuming, and boring processes in finishing a project. smiley_dizzy

I found the easiest and fastest way to smooth these curved surfaces was to use a metal furniture scraper. The texture was the same as a rough cut board from one of our band mills. I still have to do some light hand sanding before the first finish coat. And, they have to equalize to the indoor humidity and temps.

The Sycamore was pretty easy to bring down to a smooth surface. 9x19 inches


The Poplar was a little harder due to the small size. This one is roughly 6x11 inches. I like the small amout of spalting on the rim.


The next pictures are of a spalted sweetgum bowl. Woodbowl did some experimenting with this one by applying peanut oil on the surface. You can see from the first couple of pictures it was in pretty bad shape from the rancid oil. I tried several different products (paint thinner, mineral spirits, acetone, rubbing alcohol, and such) to remove the oil. Scraping was the only productive method of removal.  whiteflag_smiley

During the scraping process, some of the wood had gone too far to save and some of it was just plain weak. You can see from the pictures that the results made the bowl look older than it actually is. I scraped and removed wood until I got to the better layers. This will be my favorite of the three once I get the finish on them.

Bottom of the bowl 11x27 inches


Notice the black line on the inside?


It looks very different now that I have it ready to finish. I think it has a lot of character now.






Don, how are you coming with your bowls?

"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

SwampDonkey

The first one reminds me of grandmother's butter bowl. It's not as deep or thick, but it looks similar. She also had handles carved in the side. It's ancient. She used to make butter all the time in the summer to sell. Some people would buy all she could make and sell it on their own. She used a wooden butter press and wooden butter ladle to wash the butter and pack the butter in the press. You could buy butter paper that was cut to the size for a 1 pound block. Looked about like waxed paper, but finer.

That's another way to market them, maybe the Amish want a new butter bowl. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Fla._Deadheader


We were presented with one of those bowls, when the maker visited us in Sebastian.

  Olen does a real nice job with them. We didn't try to change a thing. It's a really neat item.  8) 8) 8) 8)

  The talent of some folks, AND the diversity of the products, is amazing.  8) 8) 8)
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Norm

Boy those are neat.

How about putting a couple of those in the for sale section woodbowl, I know someone that would like to own one. ;)

Don K

Terry, I haven't got that far with mine. Me and the wife worked on one  for a afternoon and it is tedious work. I used several sanding discs as they would gum up from the oil. Post a pic of the furniture scraper you have as that seems the way to go. That last bowl looks fresh made compared to what I saw when it left FL.

Don
Lucky to own a WM LT40HDD35, blessed to have a wife that encouraged me to buy it.     Now that\'s true love!
Massey Ferguson 1547 FWD with FEL  06 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4X4 Dozer Retriever Husky 359 20\" Bar  Man, life is getting good!

Radar67

Don, the scrapers are cabinet scrapers.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94937

I got mine from a tool store in TN. The link only shows three, mine were in a set of six for about the same price (Shop Fox brand).

I have seen old timers use glass for scrapers, some as crude as a broken window pane with some duct tape as a protective handle. (try that at your own risk) :o

A wire brush will take the gum off your sanding disk if brushed lightly.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

Jeff

I drew this idea up in Photo Shop of an idea I have for a bowl sander after seeing how they sand the insides of bowls at the Holland bowl factory.  It would be made out of a mower wheel and other odds and end parts and use a narrow sanding belt. Sanding the insides is the tricky part and this would let you do that.

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

metalspinner

That looks pretty clever, Jeff.  A wheel rim with an underinflated innertube on it would give even more flexibility to the setup.  The sanding strip between the wheels could be used to sand the outside of the bowl.
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

WDH

Olen sent me a pecan bowl, and I have experimented with several sanding methods.  Alas, no silver bullet yet.  That pecan is danGed hard :).
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

woodbowl

Oooo Weee Radar, those turned out purdy! You did a good job bringing the life out. You've got a lot of work in them too.  ::)  I've tried a lot of different things to "get the look" like Terry has. So far nothing but pure elbow grease and time seem to work.  :-\

Maybe in the future I will be able to put some in the for sale section Norm, it really takes lots of time to sand and finish.

Pretty nice looking sanding stick ther Jeff, now I've got something else to build.  ;)
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

Radar67

I have about three hours in each bowl (average) to get them to the finishing stage. I'll take considerable more time during finishing to get them just right. I am using tung oil (first coat applied today). I'll hand sand in between each coat (after drying for at least 24 hours). I'll end up sanding to 400 grit with probably five or six coats of oil.

That sander Jeff drew up might be the ticket Olen, or figure a way to make a contoured scraper turning on a rotating spindle to drop down at an arc. I have an idea if you want to talk about it.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

limbrat

I use a flap sanding disk on a 4.5" side grinder with a dial type dimmer switch in line to turn the speed down. Taking tool marks out with 80 grit takes minutes cleaning it up with 120 takes tens of minutes and a dust mask lots of fine dust. The disk comes with a little to square edge that gets rounded off on a piece of scrap iron till its nice and rounded. I like to drag a playing card in the bowl looking for daylight under it to pinpoint any little highs or lows. it works good on big spoons and the bowls that i hack out takes a little getting use to but just keep it moving and use a lite touch and it gets easy. still got to hand sand i use different grits wrapped around a sanding sponge.
ben

isawlogs


Jeff, mon ami , that looks like a bicycle sproket .....  you have peddles and a certain Flower in the picture too . ???  ;D
An excersize peddle bowl sander bike . If you put that on the front forks , she could also turn the handles while peddling and do the whole bowl for you .  ;D

  Those are really nice bowls , you do some nice work there Olen .  :) :)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Stump Jumper Jr

Those bowls are looking nice.   

treenail

Those bowls look great. Many years ago when I was younger, I worked for a chair manufacturer, that used a home made sander to sand the seats , where they were scooped out for sitting in. It was a smaller variation on a table stroke belt sander for sanding wide panels. Had a rolling table and you just used a weighted pad with one hand to press the sanding belt into the scoop, and then moved the sliding table back and forth for what ever was needed to cover the width. Worked great. One of the mechanics built it out of odds n ends. Only took a minute or two to completely sand a large captain's chair or similar. Would need some sort of cradle to hold the odd shape, but woodworkers tend to be inventive and thrifty.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 sawmill , Ford 4wd tractor,Grimm/Leader maple sugaring equipment, Ford F-350 12' flatbed truck

Lud

As an idea to hold a variable shape, I hypothesized a sand box with a tarp top.  Sand would match shape pressed into it and tarp/cloth/plastic sheet would keep the sand off.

I wanted to use it to "custom fit" a windsor chair bottom to somebody's butt.  It'd be cool to draw 1" grid on the plastic so a digital photo could record the variations. 8)
Simplicity mill, Ford 1957 Golden Jubilee 841 Powermaster, 40x60 bankbarn, left-handed

woodbowl

Custom fit chair bottems.   ::)   ::)  That would go over good at craft shows. Get scanned, then sanded out on the spot, take it home. Seems like there is a crowd always hanging around a booth that has action or noise going on. Even routered signs get more attention.

I wish I could take credit on the bowls, but Radar is the one that did most of the hard work, I just furnished the blank. The sanding and finishing is where the time comes in. The more it's sanded, the prettier it gets.
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

Fla._Deadheader


  smiley_idea smiley_idea smiley_idea  I just remembered sumpin.  8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

  When we were building Banjers and Fiddles, I bought an "inflatable" drum sander.

  Don't remember  ::) ::)  How the grit was attached, but, you could adjust the contour by adding-releasing air from the drum. It would be the perfect size for them Doughbowls. It chucked up in a drill motor or drill press. Would sand "Butt prints" also.

  I THINK it was from Germania.  ::) ::) ::) ::)

  Gotta check wit the chilluns, to see if it's still around.  ::) ::) ;D ;D
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Mooseherder

woodbowl was generous to give myself, DanG and burlkraft these sweetgum dough bowls for finishing when we was up at DanG's.  When he handed it to me I asked if I had to send it back when I got it done. :D
He said I could keep it.  :D
I told him I knew just the right person who will cherish it.
Worked on it for about 45 minutes until it got too hot.  I'll pick it again later.
The new owner of the dough bowl would like to keep it light in color.  Any recommendations?

woodbowl

That's gonna make a pretty one. It doesn't look like much in the rough, but when 220 grit paper starts working it down, the spalt comes alive. That particular block of wood was intentionally grouped with some others, in a wet pile of leaves for about 10 months. Sweet gum is about the prettiest wood I know of for bowls, but that's just me.  ;D
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

SwampDonkey

I see what's going on now. Woodbowl has already worked out his distribution and finishing network.  Some of them are liable to end up in Northern Maine before long. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

woodbowl

I'd just be tickled to know how everybody does their sanding and learn the quickest way to do it. Me and sanding don't get along too good.  :-\
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

Radar67

Olen, you do any thinking on that idea about the molder head with your current 4 bowl rig?
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

scsmith42

Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

woodbowl

Yea, I bought a 3 head molder wheel for a table saw several years ago, but didn't set it up.

I tried out a flapwheel drum combo that a friend had and it worked, but it was slow and holding the work piece was a challenge.
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

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