I have written about Claro Walnut several times in the past but the most comprehensive background information is available here.
As regular readers will know, every year I make between 8 and 10 bowls, usually around the 7″ size or so, that I give to my sister to give away to her staff and board at Christmas. Often I get a very early start on this process and so I have done this year, completing the Christmas bowl set in April.
Christmas Claro Bowls 2021
This year I decided to use Claro Walnut that was actually sourced from Chico, California, where my sister lives and works. I thought that would make a special connection when gift giving beyond just the beauty of the objects. Claro Walnut is consistently one of my favorite woods to work with. It cuts very fast and most important very clean, so the rough cut bowls require very little sanding to finish. I timed myself and I could finish an interior in about 15 minutes and that includes all cutting and sanding. I don’t think any particular bowl took more than an hour to make and while some of that is due to experience a lot has to be said for the quality of the wood too.
The Claro Walnut that I used ran a very impressive range of colors with several of the blanks having large amounts of whitish sapwood in addition to the colored heartwood which to my eye provides a very pleasing level of contrast and interest. I very much like working with blanks that include sapwood although I do understand that for some turners the inclusion of sapwood is a hard no go. The heartwood colors in this batch, which were all cut from one piece of lumber that was 8″ x 2″ x 6′, varied considerably from the traditional dark brown to lighter colors that include pink, red, and even green.
I cut these Claro Walnut bowls to be stackable as well although I have not photographed them in that format.
This was a very fun and relatively simple project that I enjoyed as I always do when working with Claro Walnut. I hope my sister’s staff enjoys this years submission and gifts.
All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck, while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. Final finish is Shellawax.