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A couple of the other vendors at the ren faire, upon hearing that I was making wood bowls, asked if I'd make some.
I'm still trying to figure out what makes a "head bowl" a head bowl, aside from a depression of some arbitrary size and shape so as to make it easier to keep on a gypsy's head.
I pulled out a big chunk of wood and cranked up the chainsaw in order to cut blanks. The first smaller bowl, requested as a stew bowl for eating out of came off the log as a pair of 7" cubes, one of which turned into a large (~16-24oz capacity) chili bowl, which has been sanded to 150 grit and then varnished (to act as a sanding sealer)and is awaiting further sanding.
Then I started roughing out the gypsy head bowl from an 8" cube, cut down to an octagon with the chain saw. The first step was to use the chain saw and then the power planer to get it more into balance so that I could start up the lathe without vibrating everything off the table. I've now got an 8" cylinder in the lathe, but can't do anything else until Wednesday because I need a new drive belt for the lathe, as the old one's pretty well shot.
I'm sure that part of my problem is that I'm working near the maximum size of the lathe, and I'm turning the blocks to round, as opposed to the more common practice of using a bandsaw (which I don't have). Nobody carries the right belt in stock, and Delta doesn't give the industry-standard belt size numbers, so I'm currently waiting for one from Sears Parts, as they were a couple bucks cheaper than everyone else, and will have it to me on Tuesday.
If anyone needs large volumes of maple turnings, let me know.
I'm still trying to figure out what makes a "head bowl" a head bowl, aside from a depression of some arbitrary size and shape so as to make it easier to keep on a gypsy's head.
I pulled out a big chunk of wood and cranked up the chainsaw in order to cut blanks. The first smaller bowl, requested as a stew bowl for eating out of came off the log as a pair of 7" cubes, one of which turned into a large (~16-24oz capacity) chili bowl, which has been sanded to 150 grit and then varnished (to act as a sanding sealer)and is awaiting further sanding.
Then I started roughing out the gypsy head bowl from an 8" cube, cut down to an octagon with the chain saw. The first step was to use the chain saw and then the power planer to get it more into balance so that I could start up the lathe without vibrating everything off the table. I've now got an 8" cylinder in the lathe, but can't do anything else until Wednesday because I need a new drive belt for the lathe, as the old one's pretty well shot.
I'm sure that part of my problem is that I'm working near the maximum size of the lathe, and I'm turning the blocks to round, as opposed to the more common practice of using a bandsaw (which I don't have). Nobody carries the right belt in stock, and Delta doesn't give the industry-standard belt size numbers, so I'm currently waiting for one from Sears Parts, as they were a couple bucks cheaper than everyone else, and will have it to me on Tuesday.
If anyone needs large volumes of maple turnings, let me know.
