My mom has been doing a bit of Swedish death cleaning and every time I visit, I’m handed another box of housewares and heirlooms that she wants to pass on to me. Always an avid garage sale shopper, she gave me one recent box that contained a worn wooden bowl that must have been a recent purchase because I’d never seen it before. Looking it over, I saw some potential for reworking it into something new.
This bowl had many problems in its current state. The finish was peach-colored and obscuring the grain where it wasn’t flaking off. There were several marks from burn spots, food stains and a base with screw holes. It must have once had some kind of pedestal.
It was actually the pedestal base that prompted me to consider reworking it. That large bit of wood trimmed up a little would give me a solid tenon with which I could mount it on the lathe. It’s not always possible to rework a bowl, but this one had thick enough walls and was close enough to round.
The center screw hole made mounting easy and the first thing I did was trim back the pedestal and make a tenon. Then, I flipped it around to get started on reshaping. I knew that overall, I couldn’t drastically change the shape, but I wanted to cut back the rim to make it a more open bowl.
When making any bowl, I always cut the outside first. It’s the best way to maintain stability in the piece while it’s spinning on the lathe. This bowl was a little bit out of round, which is not unexpected. Wood has its own internal structure that is variable. It can move and flex as you work it and throughout its life. This quality can vary depending on the species and where in the log the bowl was situated.
I cut the outside to completely remove the old surface and then cut back the rim. Last step was the interior of the bowl, which for me, is the trickiest part to get smooth.
This wood was soft, which means that I needed to keep my tools sharp and hand sand where needed. At first, I thought the wood was maple, but after removing its outer layer, I now suspect birch.
After finishing the interior, I wanted to add something to further separate it from where it started. Inspired by floral designs in handmade pottery, I wanted to try something similar. The specific botanical pattern came from a cyanotype that I had made years ago of a plant from my garden.
I penciled it onto the surface and started burning it in. The extra pencil marks were removed with a sanding pad and then I was ready to remove the tenon, finalizing the base of the bowl.
The last step was to sign the bottom and finish it with oil and wax.
I’m happy with how this has turned out. It would be fun to know what it originally looked like to compare it to where it is now. Hopefully this new look will wear well into the future. In any case, another reworking would be much more difficult.
Next month, I’ll be selling my woodworking at the Bartlett Arboretum’s Honey Festival on September 10. I will also have botanical blueprints on view at South Street Jazz this Fall.
To see what I’m working on day to day, I post quick updates to Substack Notes and BeReal as acornwoodshop, and to Instagram Stories @juliaswyers.