Today’s bowls are Black Walnut and Spalted Red Gum.
Black Walnut is one of my favorite woods, and in fact, my entire house cabinetry is made from Black Walnut. Usually, in my experience, Black Walnut turns cleanly and requires little sanding, but this blank proved difficult in that respect and I ended up spending more time sanding than I did actually turning. That is always frustrating but I think the end result justifies what it took to get there.
Black Walnut 9 x 3.5
Any spalted wood will be soft and this spalted Red Gum is no exception. It cut easily and sanded easily but spalted wood doesn’t tend to take a finish very well. And if you are wondering why a wood called Red Gum is so white, remember that the spalting occurs in the whitish sapwood. The heartwood of Red Gum is a quite dark red and it is from the heartwood that the common name derives.
Spalted Red Gum 9 x 3
All major cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe, although I do use Robert Sorby bowl gouges for light final passes before sanding. 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.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!