A short video showing some finishing techniques I use. Enjoy!

Thanks to some really good neighbors, I got my hands on a nice large mesquite log this weekend. I had been wanting to turning some larger bowls but have had a hard time lately finding some quality wood.

Yesterday I broke out the chainsaw and cut a couple of large bowl blanks from the log. I then prepared one for turning by removing the bark, flattening the top and attaching a 6 inch faceplate. Here I am just beginning to shape the profile of the bowl.

My lathe is 7 inches over center, which means with the headstock parallel to the bed I can only turn a bowl blank that is less than 14 inches in diameter. Fortunately the headstock on my lathe swivels 90 degrees out, which allows me to mount a much larger piece of wood, like the one I’m working on here.

Once I turned the diameter below 14 inches I rotated the headstock back parallel to the lathe bed.

The wood was very wet, so I hollowed it out to about 1 inch thick and set it aside to dry for a few weeks. When it is dry I will turn it down thinner, finish it and post a picture.

Several people have asked me to post more photos of wood turning in action. So here is a basic series on how I turn a mesquite bowl.
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THE WOOD BLANK. This is a mesquite wood blank, cut from a large log and carefully sized with a chainsaw. This piece is around 8″ square, give or take the accuracy of cutting with a chainsaw. Mounting a square block on a lathe works just fine as long as the blank is balanced well.
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MOUNTING THE BLANK. I removed most of the bark to prepare a good surface for mounting the blank on the lathe. I flattened the top with a hammer and wood chisel, then attached a faceplate with wood screws.
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TURNING THE PROFILE. This is where I decide what kind of shape the bowl will have. For this one I have chosen to go with tapered sides and a flat bottom, leaving the natural edge on top. You can see the wood is very wet. It came from a mesquite that was cut down only a few weeks ago.
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THE FINISHED PROFILE. The light colored sapwood around the rim of this bowl is nice.
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MOUNTING ON THE CHUCK. Here is the finished bottom prepared with a slot for the expansion chuck. Time for hollowing! The bowl is light colored in this picture because the surface has started to dry. The tung oil finishing process will return the rich color and grain texture.
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BEGINNING HOLLOWING CUTS. I’m using a 3/8″ bowl gouge.
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SERIOUS HOLLOWING. Now we’re really gettin’ after it! Hollowing wet mesquite is SOOO much easier than cutting into a hard, dry piece.
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CHECKING THICKNESS. Measuring the bowl for uniform thickness is essential, especially for a bowl with a flat bottom. I once turned the bottom out of a bowl because I didn’t measure the thickness.

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FINISHING. Now that the bowl is turned to size it will sit in my shop for a few weeks to dry out. Then I will chuck it up again, sand to 600 grit and finish with tung oil and a good buffing. I’ll post a picture of it when it is complete.