Musings

Precious Time

As we run-up this week to nuptials for Younger Daughter we were blessed with a visit from her last weekend. Much of the time she spent with Mrs. Barn doing wedding-y stuff, but she spent a few hours in the shop with me turning a bowl.  The wood for this bowl came from a plum tree in the Maryland house yard that died of natural causes some years ago (she remembers climbing the tree as a tyke), and I harvested the wood and set it aside for something special.  This definitely fits the description.

I had in recent months found the faceplate for the lathe and ordered a threaded insert from Woodcraft so it could be put to work.  Before she arrived I mounted the piece on the faceplate and roughed it round (she is not yet experienced enough to bring a really rough piece to round comfortably).  The lathe is a bit high for her, so in the early stages she was most comfortable with the scraper tucked in the armpit.  I will be building a lower base in the coming weeks.

I gave her only a few pointers as she developed the outer shape she wanted.

Before long she had the outer surface defined and embarked on an initial sanding and polishing.

With the base established and the shape determined it was time to remove the faceplate in favor of the small bowl chuck and get started excavating the interior.

Soon she was in pretty deep.

We stopped for the night, but on returning the next day she refined the shape and surface.

To be sure the watchful papa bear was never far from the action.  The working height was just plain awkward for her but she hung in there without complaint.

After the final shaping she moved to sanding and then polishing with beeswax melted into the surface, buffed with a linen rag while turning.  She particularly liked my method of placing a dry sponge between the hand and the sandpaper, it allows greater vigor with less heat.

And here it is, an heirloom with a priceless memory attached.  In all likelihood it was our final private time together with her as Miss Barndaughter until those moments just before I walk her down the aisle, and it was a precious treasure.

Doggone, something must’ve flown into my eye…