Huckleberry Bowl

[admin]

I got a few minutes to myself today and made a trip to the shop. I'd accumulated a decent amount of huckleberry wood and I'd laid aside once blank for a bowl. It'd been a while since I got the wood and I noticed even though the blank had the pith shaved off, I was still getting some bad checking. So, I turned it.

And here's the result. The checking went a lot deeper than I'd liked it to have; I lost maybe 20% in diameter getting down past the checking in one spot.



Finish is a simple lacquer (minwax brush on) that I applied using a cloth fad and power off. Gotta kinda brag on myself here a bit. This huck polishes up nicely! I went through the standard progression (220, 320, 400, MM to 6000) and it looks just slick. Pic doesn't do it justice at all.



I'm still learning this blasted camera. In hand, the bowl is pretty shiny. You can't see details of your reflection in it, but with more MM (burned up my high grit stuff past 6k) an idiot like me could make a mirror outta huckleberry.

Thanks for looking.

[dicklaxt]

I never knew huckleberry grew that large,we just had bushes in Michigan as I remember.

dick

[admin]

This one was a doozy. Roughly 6 inches in diameter at the stump. There's not much there for straight wood, as the tree had branches all the way to the ground. I did score a couple blanks I've get high hopes for.

The grain is actually pretty bland. You have to find a knot to find character, unlike stuff like maple where it can be all crazy.

[Doug B]

Looking good TJ! That is a cute little bowl. It's always nice when some "found wood" turns out nice like that (pun intended).

[maverick31]

that does look like a nice bowl. Especially with bland wood checks and cracks give it character. good job

[Knotty_Pine]

Dick,

Here's another piece of the huckleberry, it's destined to be a bowl in a few short weeks. It's sorta tough to get decent bowl blanks out of because there's not a lot of straight grain. Looks nice and simple on the outside, then the fibers go waxy once you're trying to split out a blank. Chainsaw is about the only way I have that works. (No bandsaw yet).



Toldja it was a big one! The wood itself is kinda soft, which is a blessing. If it were wavy grained and hard, I'm not sure I could do much with it.

[dicklaxt]

What cha mean if it were wavy grained you couldn't do much with it.I always like it that way.

dick

[Knotty_Pine]

Most of my bowl blanks get halved with a sledge and wedge, it's a little PITA to dig out the chainsaw and cord every week, lol. The wavy grain, the wedge will follow it wherever it goes.