Today’s bowls are a study in contrasts. Mulberry is quite hard and it cuts very clean so little sanding effort is required. Mulberry also has a distinctive yellow-green color that makes it interesting to look at as well as being easy to work with. Mulberry is one of my favorite woods with which to work.
Mulberry 9 x 2
Box Elder is quite soft and it doesn’t cut cleanly at all so a good deal of effort goes into sanding down to a smooth finish. Box Elder would be quite boring to look at if it wasn’t for the heavy fungal staining both red and black that gives this piece so much interest. Box Elder is not one of my favorite woods but I do enjoy the strong coloration in some examples of the wood. This piece has particularly strong and vibrant coloration.
Box Elder Interior 9 x 3
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.
Box Elder Reverse 9 x 3
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!