I recently made some relatively small bowls from some left over Red Oak that was used for making a beautiful Murphy Bed and library table, the same table used in the photographs. In some sense, this otherwise waste wood was recycled into something useful and at least somewhat attractive.
First Bowl:
This bowl measures 5.5″ x 1.75″.
Red Oak Bowl Interior Slanted View
Red Oak Bowl Reverse
This first bowl was easy to make and it took about an hour to complete. I don’t find Red Oak to be the best turning wood in the world since it is fairly brittle, very rough and open pore grain and it has essentially no natural luster. It is a great wood for a great many things, but I don’t think that turning is one of them. Nonetheless, I am satisfied with the finished product and look forward to making more with the remaining left over Red Oak material.
Red Oak Bowl Interior
The Red Oak bowl was turned using Easy Wood Tools on a Robust American Beauty lathe. All sanding was completed using Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. The blank was held in a 35mm Nova Chuck and reversed using a Nova Cole Jaws set. The final finish is ShellaWax.
Second Bowl:
This second Red Oak bowl is very much the same as the first. It measures the same and it was made with all of the same tools, supplies, and finish.
Red Oak 2 Interior Slanted
Red Oak Number 2 Interior
Red Oak Number 2 Reverse
Third Bowl:
All production and finishing means remain the same. What distinguishes this bowl is a small imperfection present in the blank that I chose to leave behind to remind me of its imperfection.
Red Oak Number 3 Interior
Third Red Oak Bowl Reverse
Third Red Oak Bowl Interior Slanted