It's Been a Looooooong Time Since My Last Post....

 2017.....that's how long it's been since I my last blog post. Should I be embarrassed? Naw! I've been posting on Facebook instead.

This project, however, requires a blog post. 

Why, you ask?

Because it's the start of a series of posts in which juniper bowls are being created from a previous project that kind of went bust (more on that later).

Anyway, in May, 2016 Scott Shaeffer was kind enough to mill a juniper log for me. The thinking was that the center cut would make a beautiful fireplace mantle for some friends of mine. 

Choosing the log was the easy part especially since Scott had the forklift needed to pick it up and place it on the sawmill without having to heft it ourselves.

This was a very straight juniper log....something one does not usually see in juniper.

The reddish/purplish heartwood was amazing!

This is where the "later" thing I mentioned earlier comes into play....reality is this was a green log, and it warped. I had to cut it into four pieces and hope it could be salvaged!

But that's really not the subject of this blog post, though. The excess cuts around it are! 

Scott, in his magnanimous generosity, told me I could have the excess he'd trimmed off at no charge. Of course I jumped at that offer, and those pieces are the subject of this blog post.

When it comes to creating bowls from rough slabs, rounds, and/or cuts of wood, one must consider how deep the bowls need to be, how wide they need to be, and how long they need to be. One of the slabs Scott let me have is 5 feet long.

What appears to be the 'bottom' of this slab (the side that's flat on the table) in this photo made stationing the piece easy. It just had to be stabilized so it wouldn't slide as it was being planed with my router planer sled. Here's a photo of the slab 'right side up':

It was also longer than my router planer table, so I used a piece of masonite to accommodate the extra length in order to move it as needed as planing progressed. One side of the masonite was smooth allowing me to move it as needed on the table. The other side was 'rough' which prevented the slab from sliding and causing some pretty nasty gouges from the router.

Setting up the planer to take off the least amount possible took some time, but eventually I was ready to rock and roll!

After I don't know how many passes of taking off around 1/2 inch of sapwood on each pass, I decided to stop for the day.

Tomorrow, weather permitting (it's supposed to get cold.....REALLY COLD), I'll use the chainsaw to slice this 5 foot slab into smaller blanks that will become bowls. 

GAWD, I love working with juniper!!!

DWR