I have had a piece of sycamore lying around in the workshop for a while so thought it was about time I did something with it. Apart from that, I've worked with some difficult woods over the last few weeks, so it would be nice to turn something a little more yielding under the tools.
As usual, I mostly let it develop on the lathe, rather than having some pre-conceived idea of what I wanted to produce. The only plan I had was that I wanted a large rim that might be decorated in some way. Also, I am not keen on seeing a bowl with a 'foot', so as usual I would be turning a rebate into the base, rather than a tenon.
The bowl emerged by degrees as I turned the underside into a pleasing ogee shape. Once sanded and polished, I turned it over and started on what would become the rim and the interior. I levelled the top surface first then applied the decoration, before hollowing out the bowl. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do at this point, and nearly used a paint. However, I decided to use a trio of wood stains which I finished off with a gold wax and food-quality gloss wax polish. It wasn't until I finished it that I realised it looks exactly like the corona of the sun, which coincidentally is very active at the moment, resulting in the aurora being widely visible across large parts of the northern hemisphere and which I have been trying to photograph. I wonder if in my unconscious mind I made that association in my decoration of the bowl?
Anyway, I'm pleased with the outcome and hope you, dear reader, are too. I present 'The Solar Bowl'.
Upcoming projects.
I have been commissioned (I like that!) to make two or three projects, one to be confirmed. Watch this space!
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