Topping Off The Experiment

Not being one to leave well enough alone, I decided to make a top for the experimental finger bowel. Actually making a top let me try a few different skills where I need improvement: matching woods and turning to a fixed diameter.

I chose to make the top out of Peruvian Walnut because I thought it would contrast well, and I really like turning it. I have previously turned a bracelet using the wood and it seems very forgiving. It produces beautiful thick chocolate shavings and the fibers tend to bend rather than break if you accidentally catch the piece with your chisel.

To mount the top I used a face plate with a center screw. I drilled the hole all the way through the blank so I could flip the piece over to turn the other side once I was done turning the lid to the inside radius of the bowl. The blank wasn’t perfectly centered when I remounted it, but I planned on making the edge of the lid overhang the bowl to cover up the slight change in center.

To cover up the through-hole in the top, I turned a ball attached to a 1/4″ shaft out of a 1/2″ red oak dowel. I then re-drilled the hole in the top to fit the shaft. It fit so snugly that I didn’t glue it in. I think that once I have a few more small projects done, I’ll finish them with Minwax tung oil, which strangely doesn’t actually contain tung oil — just like girl scout cookies don’t contain real girl scouts I suppose.