This is the largest Cherry bowl I have ever made at 11.5″ x 4″. It ties for size with the Rainbow Poplar made just a few days ago.
Cherry remains one of my all time favorite domestic woods in terms of its ease to work with on the lathe. I would add Hard Maple, Almond, Myrtle, Mesquite, and Claro Walnut to that list of favorite North American woods. Cherry has a wonderful color and not infrequently interesting grain figure. This piece has the added bonus of segments of sapwood, which is yellow, on two sides of the rim, although it is hard to see in photographs.
Large Cherry Bowl Interior
As usual, the Cherry turned nicely with little end grain tearing. The with grain areas cut as smooth as if they had been sanded. Sanding the exterior was relatively painless but the interior took a bit more effort but nothing compared to a coarse open grained wood like Ash, Sassafras, or Kentucky Coffeetree.
I put a bit more into the finish this time. Usually I just use a coat of Watco Danish Oil in Cherry, which I did, but instead of just stopping there I waited a day for the Danish Oil to set and then applied a thin layer of Staples Crystal Clear Paste Wax, which driest for about an hour and is then buffed off. I love the depth of the color, and the absorbed protection, of the Danish Oil but it doesn’t add a sheen or any surface layer protection, both of which the wax contributes. It takes a great deal more time to finish a bowl this way but I thought it was worth the extra effort as an experiment. The jury is out as to whether I will use this double method again.
Large Cherry Bowl Side View
If you have the chance to work with Cherry please take it. For a relatively soft wood Cherry is an exceptional turning wood that every turner should experience at least once.
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 Cherry Watco Danish Oil with a top coat of Staples Crystal Clear Paste Wax.
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!