Nice bowl update :)

[Antics]

So I had my old bowl for years.. probably around 20 years now honestly. I mean it's metal and all, and I know most folks are into glass these days, but it's that sentimental value, since it was my first piece, so I've hung on to it all these years.

But I was looking at it the other day when cleaning it up, and man it just looks like crap. Ying yang is just way out of date, the acrylic is yellowing, it's printed on paper, and there's resin stains on the paper from previous cleanings.

So it was time to update it. I had a longer rod in the garage, and I always have miscellaneous wood and materials on hand, so I grabbed some Oak (or what I believe to be oak) and I got started.

I started with drilling out a 3/8" hole in the block, then rough sawn/sawed (sp?) the excess off, then started in with my trusty razor blade. Anyways, I'll spare you the long story and get into the pictures!

My bowl in original form:

Then block of wood after I started with the razor blade and realized "Oh I better take pictures"

After a little time, I was down the this:

Starting to take shape:

Even better now, rod inserted with knurled nuts as a guide for thickness:

All the way up until now was done just with a razor blade:

Assembled after I broke a small piece off:

The sanding stage started with 60, 80, 120, then 320:

And completed:

I'm not sure if I'm going to leave it natural, or stain it. But I'm happy with it so far. Thanks for looking!

 

[Kvrzorz]

It's so beautiful!! I think it looks great as it is but it would certainly look good stained!! Have you considered painting a design on it or something? Also have you named it?? Congrats on a beautiful piece! c:

 

[PeytonManning]

I would stain it, try to preserve it before the resin stains it for ya.

 

[Antics]

I used a natural beeswax finish for now, and put a high polish on it (Although it needs to be redone as the wood has absorbed much of the wax now)

Here's a picture how that turned out:

I have not named it though lol. It's always been referred to as "my bowl". I also haven't named my truck or my cars either. They usually just get titles. "The 85", "The wagon", "The truck" etc..

I'm still considering a stain, but I don't want it to end up too dark so it hides the grain. I got really lucky with the piece of wood I selected, and it shows a nice grain pattern on 2 sides. I have plenty more wood to redo it as well, which I actually might do, and have one to stain and see how it turns out, and leave the other natural in case the staining fails.

 

[420 Motoco]

Nice job Antics! The natural beeswax is awesome! I also love working with wood. What is really nice about a finish like beeswax a simple steel wool and another application of beeswax, its new again. The extension keeps the 'touch' out of the way. Very nice!