There’s a bit of a story with this bowl. I “finished” it about a year ago and set it aside. I would come back to it every so often, pick it up, look at it, feel it in my hands and know it wasn’t right. It felt too bulky, the flutes looked off. I would put it down again, promising myself to give it some attention later on.
That went on until the holidays were over and I finally made good on that promise. I redid the flutes, which greatly improved both the look and feel of this bowl. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of the bowl before this update, only the finished product.
Interior flutes are tricky – nothing short of David Pye’s fluting machine will yield a perfect result. For some examples of perfection, see the sublime work from Jeff Miller here.
I will add making my own fluting machine to my already too-long-to-ever-get-done list of things to do. In the meantime, I am satisfied with the results I got using hand and eye and a No. 6 gouge.
A little bit of texturing on the underside finished the job, nicely bracketed by a touch of sapwood. Now there are just a few little beetle holes left, but I can’t do anything about that, and besides, they add character to the piece. 😉
This bowl is just under 8″ in diameter and 3″ tall. A nice little fruit bowl.
