A couple of natural edged bowls, both having a similar colour and colouring technique, but differing widely after that.
Both made from Ash (but totally separate bits, i.e. they came from different trees) the first was made from a small log as can be seen by the fact that the pith remains, it was intended as an exercise in executing a continuous curve with a small flare at the base, this was based on one of Richard Raffan's example pieces in his design book, it was a lot harder than I imagined, the reason being, if I made a small error in the sweep up to the natural edge, it meant that the whole shape had to change slightly to bring it back into line, plus it would have been very easy to remove to much and end up with top too narrow, I got about three passes to get it right, which I think I did, I am happy with it at any rate.
The next bowl is the spalted Ash with the mottled pattern I mentioned in Paul J's thread about Ash. I really like the way the colour has interacted with it. The primary thing that is very different with this bowl though is the finish, it is Shellac, the main difficulty with using Shellac on colour is that because it is also spirit based it will dissolve the colour and move it about, plus the rubber can get colour which can also be very problematic. Instead of a rubber though I used a small brush to apply the sanding sealer, then after it dried, a coat of heavy shellac (about a 2lb cut) this dries to a hard, but uneven finish which can then be sanded back to a smooth surface with 320 grit, just enough to remove the high spots, after that I was able to use the rubber with no colour problems. As a finish I find shellac has less of a plastic look and can be a little easier to buff glossy.
The foot on the bowl is reduce (about 2.5 mm) in response to the last discussion on bowl feet!
Colour was a thin mix of green blue and purple thinned with spirit, to give a lighter and more neutral colour.
I found both bowls tricky to photograph, and the first one has a rather grainy appearance.
Spalted Ash.
Both made from Ash (but totally separate bits, i.e. they came from different trees) the first was made from a small log as can be seen by the fact that the pith remains, it was intended as an exercise in executing a continuous curve with a small flare at the base, this was based on one of Richard Raffan's example pieces in his design book, it was a lot harder than I imagined, the reason being, if I made a small error in the sweep up to the natural edge, it meant that the whole shape had to change slightly to bring it back into line, plus it would have been very easy to remove to much and end up with top too narrow, I got about three passes to get it right, which I think I did, I am happy with it at any rate.
The next bowl is the spalted Ash with the mottled pattern I mentioned in Paul J's thread about Ash. I really like the way the colour has interacted with it. The primary thing that is very different with this bowl though is the finish, it is Shellac, the main difficulty with using Shellac on colour is that because it is also spirit based it will dissolve the colour and move it about, plus the rubber can get colour which can also be very problematic. Instead of a rubber though I used a small brush to apply the sanding sealer, then after it dried, a coat of heavy shellac (about a 2lb cut) this dries to a hard, but uneven finish which can then be sanded back to a smooth surface with 320 grit, just enough to remove the high spots, after that I was able to use the rubber with no colour problems. As a finish I find shellac has less of a plastic look and can be a little easier to buff glossy.
The foot on the bowl is reduce (about 2.5 mm) in response to the last discussion on bowl feet!
Colour was a thin mix of green blue and purple thinned with spirit, to give a lighter and more neutral colour.
I found both bowls tricky to photograph, and the first one has a rather grainy appearance.
Spalted Ash.
