Turning green wood into bowls. Slow down the drying process by placing the completed bowl in a two paper bags. Too often green turned bowls dry so rapidly they crack. This is part 1 of a 2 part series on bowl turning. Just for fun go to your local lumber yard and ask one of the salesmen for a walnut bowl blank 12 x 12 x 12 and notice the perplexed look on his face.
The bowl is made of tulip poplar wood. You may view the finished bowl. Turning green wood bowls conclusion. Method one hope and a prayer.
Sam prepares of bowl blank from a log and turns the outside of the bowl. Every green bowl will distort as it driesi think this adds character. Lets learn how to turn a small live edge bowl from a fallen branch. Take a piece of green wood and turn it into a finish shaped bowl or a rough turned bowl.
Work from the open air into the wood for the first 1 in. From a section of log to the green bowl ready for drying and the finishing process. I specialize in turning burls and many people have asked me for advice on how to best do this. Set the turned bowl aside.
Massive amounts of experiential knowledge are gained when turning green wood bowls. Every burl is different so there is not a simple formula. Turning green wood bowls is also a lot of fun and an added bonus is that the wood for these projects is usually free so its a lot easier to justify plenty of practice. See photo 11 tip.
The second lure to turning green wood is that the size of the bowl is not limited to what is available in the lumber yard. Turning skills specific to each tree species become engrained into our hand eye and tool coordination.