Naturally Imperfect Wood

Naturally Imperfect Wood Naturally Imperfect Wood by M. Childs. Hand turned art bowls made from interesting wood. Every piece is hand-turned and individually finished.

Mark produces his turned wooden art bowls from his workshop on the outskirts of the Cotswolds in Wiltshire. The works are produced from a mixture of engineered wood, commercial processed wood and natural green wood from local sources. Naturally Imperfect Wood believe that the wood itself should be at the heart of every piece. Each piece is unique tailored to bring out the natural attributes of the

wood itself. Working extensively with natural green wood requires each piece to be carefully crafted from log to finished bowl to create stunning one-off pieces of art turning. Mark specialises in working with difficult and unusual natural wooden sources, working extensively with heavily spalted and unstable logs. Whilst these pieces require considerable care and effort to stabilise and successfully turn they can reveal outstanding beauty and character. By mixing natural wood and engineered timber Mark creates his signature collection of practical turned houseware. These pieces combine the beauty of unique native hardwoods with the stability and practicality of engineered timber. Like all natural products, wood can continue to mature once turned. It is normal for wood bowls to gradually change shape as they age and depending on temperature and humidity. Turned wood should not be placed next to a direct source of heat or in direct sunlight. Most Naturally Imperfect products are finished using a natural drying oil and gloss wax. Over time is usual for the finish to loose its gloss. To bring back the finish and to enhance the natural patina of the wood simply buff the bowl with a very light coating of good quality furniture wax (such as beeswax or carnuba wax). Unless otherwise indicated our bowls are not suitable for sustained or repeated contact with water.

So, the final update on this bowl. After all the sanding and all the coats of drying oil, the bowl is ready for two coat...
14/10/2024

So, the final update on this bowl. After all the sanding and all the coats of drying oil, the bowl is ready for two coats of wax. I use a high gloss wax, applied and then buffed at a high speed with a little friction to melt the wax. This gives an even surface and a shiny finish.

And after all that the bowl is ready for branding and selling.

I'll combine the next few stages into a single post so I don't bore you any more than I already have. After power sandin...
09/10/2024

I'll combine the next few stages into a single post so I don't bore you any more than I already have. After power sanding down to 240 grit it's time for hand sanding. So on day 2 it's 240 grit and 320 grit and a coat of finishing oil. On day 3 it's 320 grit and 400 grit and a coat of sanding oil. And on day 4 it's 400 grit and 600 grit and the final coat of oil.

After all that the bowl now has a high sheen. Each coat of oil helps bond together the fibres in the wood, which means the sanding on the next day can give a finer and finer finish. And as all the pores in the wood are filled with oil the bowl becomes much more resistant to water damage.

I use this finishing technique on almost all my bowls. It's slow, but it gives a good finish on even the worst of woods.

The photos below have been taken after all that sanding, on day 4. Tomorrow the bowl gets the final stage of the finishing and will be complete.

After turning the bowl to the right shape it’s time to sand. I usually use an electric sander to go through grits 80, 12...
08/10/2024

After turning the bowl to the right shape it’s time to sand. I usually use an electric sander to go through grits 80, 120, 180 and 240 before applying the first coat of drying oil. After that first coat the bowl looks like this - the oil makes the bowl darker but it’s still very dull and matte. It now has to dry for 24 hours.

This is the bowl once the turning phase is finished. The inside has been gouged out on the lathe (using a Bowl Gouge), s...
06/10/2024

This is the bowl once the turning phase is finished. The inside has been gouged out on the lathe (using a Bowl Gouge), shaped and given the best finish I can obtain using the gouge. For the last pass I use a freshly sharpened tool and remove less than half a millimeter. It’s looking better but it’s still a long way from finished…

Right, it's the weekend, so I have a bowl on the lathe. I've already turned the outside during the week, so it's just th...
05/10/2024

Right, it's the weekend, so I have a bowl on the lathe. I've already turned the outside during the week, so it's just the inside to turn today. Here it is before I start.

I rough turned this bowl about 18 months ago, turned to about two inches thick to allow it to dry faster and warp without splitting. Now it's fully dry it's time to tidy it up and get the true shape.

I'll post each stage from here unto it's finished, one stage each day...

And here's the last of the 4 bowls I finished last weekend. This one is the brother of the other cherry bowl I posted. T...
02/10/2024

And here's the last of the 4 bowls I finished last weekend. This one is the brother of the other cherry bowl I posted. This bowl is nearly 'perfect' - it doesn't have split in the heartwood that is filled with resin on the other bowl. Personally I think that might make it a little boring, if it wasn't for the lovely whorl and imperfection in the side of the bowl. When sat next to it's brother you can clearly see they are two halves of the same log.

Here's the third of the batch I finished at the weekend. This one is the largest and the "fruit bowl" shape I really lik...
01/10/2024

Here's the third of the batch I finished at the weekend. This one is the largest and the "fruit bowl" shape I really like turning. It's sycamore, which is really pale and silky. You can also see these really nice pale tendrils shooting out from the heartwood. These trees had been cut down because some of the stand has succumbed to a disease, so this at least meant the wood went on to become something tangible, rather than burned.

This is the second of the bowls I've turned recently. It's one of a matching pair (the two halves of a split log). The w...
30/09/2024

This is the second of the bowls I've turned recently. It's one of a matching pair (the two halves of a split log). The wood is cherry, which has a really rich redness to it. This one has a split in the heart of the wood that is filled with purple resin - it's a fairly subtle lightning bolt, but I like what it adds to the piece.

I've not turned much in the last 6 months as I had to build a new turning setup in my new house. But I've just completed...
29/09/2024

I've not turned much in the last 6 months as I had to build a new turning setup in my new house. But I've just completed a few new bowls. This one is Tree Of Heaven which has beautiful pale golden wood with a really strong grain.

All set for our stall at Pate’s Spring Fair.
16/03/2024

All set for our stall at Pate’s Spring Fair.

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4 Walnut Tree Gardens
Swindon
SN53LH

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