I recently finished a set of three new Katalox bowls. I’ve covered Katalox in the past, both as a pen blank and as bowls, so I won’t go into the wood details in this post.
Katalox Group
Katalox is one of the hardest of the Latin American woods and it really isn’t easy to work with. It requires patience and sharp tools. They won’t be sharp when you are done, but at least start out with them as sharp as you can get them. It unfortunately really doesn’t show in the photo, but there is a very distinct purple cast to these bowls. I was very pleased that two of the blanks had sapwood on the edges that I preserved to show contrast and because I like the look. Some wood turners would cut off the sapwood, but call me crazy since I like it.
It seems I had a harder time working with Katalox this time than I did in the past. These required more than a little sanding and because the wood gums up sandpaper in seconds you go through a lot of it. But, in the end, I think it was worth it as these bowls are pretty stunning in my opinion.
Katalox 1
This bowl measures 5.5″ x 2.5″.
Katalox 2
This bowl measures 6″ x 1.5″.
Katalox 3
This bowl measures 7″ x 2.5″.
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 as well as Abranet screens 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!