As of 7 PM last night I started a new bowl project.  Out of Elm.  Seems that if I have the stock pile of material I can turn out a bowl in about 24 hours so it seems.  This one how ever is taking a bit longer.  I've gotten the side walls MUCH thinner than normal as well as the interior bottom of the bowl is much thinner.  I would compare Elm wood almost identical to Myrtle wood the way it turns.  I mean the carbide tips just cut through it like butter.  The process is going well.  Its been shaped and sanded on the outside and now hollowed out on the inside sanding yet to happen.  In the process of recording as well.

Awesome!

 

Elm can have some spectacular color combinations

 

Yea I really like the Zebra stripes on this one...

Id say this bowl is just about finished...  Its cleaning up quite nicely I think.

Ok Andrew here I go again. Your shapes are looking good. Outside is a nice curve and well finished. Now lets look at the inside I do not see any tearout and that is a real step up. Inside sanding you have to do something besides just sanding with paper and the lathe spinning. This type sanding leave scratches, circular scratches. You need either a rotary sander (power sander ) or a inertial sander (something like this The Turner Turbo Wonder Inertia Sander) . What happens with rotary sanding is it leaves swirl marks and as you get to finer paper these swirls blend and disappear to the human eye.

Finished... Finally... @Gerald yea I'm still looking into purchasing something like that.  I'm actually considering a power sander at some point.  I just gotta wait a bit on that.

Also small side note on the rotary sander... I do have a 2 inch disc and papers for it that are on a drill attachment... how ever it likes to wobble when running so I'll have to work out how to get past that issue.  I'll give that a go on the next bowl and see if it comes out better.  Heres the video....

 

Edited September 10, 20205 yr by AndrewB

This may help....while turning pens, I learned to rub the sandpaper with the grain.  It is amazing how those lines that go around a project just disappear.  

 

Yes, elm and mahogany turn wonderfully.  I love the ease of cutting them.  

 

Sorry, I also meant to say that I agree with Gerald.  

Edited September 11, 20205 yr by FlGatorwood

try to power sand with the lathe off. The bowl will spin some because of the drill rotation.