A nice piece of ash - made into a bowl

Apple wood bowls

 One of my hobbies (some would say obsessions) is wood turning.  In particular I like to make bowls from trees cut in my neighborhood or from logs that my friends bring me.  I sell some of these bowls in local craft galleries, and give others as gifts.  The bowls above came from an old apple tree that blew down in a storm back in the spring and I have been mining the wood for months.  Fruit wood tends to be very attractive and colorful.

 Here's a time-lapse video showing the process I use to make a small bowl from Apple wood (click the image to see it on YouTube):

Making a bowl from fresh-cut apple wood

 A few months ago a crew working for the utility company came through the area cutting trees back from the power lines and my friend and neighbor John noticed that they had cut down a substantial ash tree that was around 14 inch diameter at the base.  He "rescued"  the trunk and cut it up so that he and I could make bowls from it.  He offered me a piece that he had cut into a cylinder for me as a "bowl blank".  I got to work on it this weekend and it took me around three hours on the lathe to make into a nice salad bowl that measures around 9 inch diameter.  It is fairly hefty at over 1 lb. 6 oz., and the grain pattern is quite lovely.  It is finished with mineral oil that needs to be reapplied as the wood dries out.

9" diameter Ash bowl

I always sign each piece and identify the wood it was made from.

 It is surprising the amount of shavings that come from a single bowl like this, there was enough to fill up 3 - 5 gallon buckets.  I let it dry on my work shop floor for a while and then store it for use as kindling for my wood stove.

gallons of wood shavings from a single bowl

If anyone wants this beautiful bowl - or one like it, I sell them for $7/inch diameter - so a 5" bowl = $35.  Email me if you're interested.