Mike's Bowls By Design: 2009

Purpleheart Hand-Turned SQUARE Wood Bowl

This square bowl is made from Purpleheart, hand-turned with a unique look that always draws attention. When people ask how I made it, I tell them I started with a flat piece of wood, punched out the middle, and then bent down the corners. OK maybe it's not that funny, but it looks really cool. Finished with mineral oil and beeswax so it's decorative AND functional.

Purpleheart, also sometimes called amaranth or violet wood, comes from several species of tropical trees native to Central and South America. The heartwood is a light purple when cut, and darkens upon exposure to sunlight, reaching first a darker purple and eventually a brown with a purple cast. It is hard and strong, and takes attention when turning, requiring sharp tools, gentle cuts, and patient sanding.

This was actually made live at the Ogden Farmers Market. Price for similar bowl: $35.00.
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Wood Salt and Pepper Mill Set - Custom Design

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Wood Salt and Pepper Shakers - Purpleheart, Hand-Turned

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Figured Walnut Turned Wood Pill Box

This hand-turned wood box is made from figured walnut. It's about 2" in diameter and 3" high. I used a glossy finish and smooth form to highlight the figure of the walnut. It has a suction-fit lid that makes a nice popping sound when you take it off.

Price for similar: $15.00

Natural Edge Elm Bowl

This natural-edge wood bowl is made from a crotch from a Chinese Elm tree, and measures 9-1/2" diameter and 5-1/2" deep, and about 3/8" thick. The bark has been treated with cyanoacrylate to make it hard and firmly attached. The bowl is finished with a mineral oil and beeswax finish so that it's food-safe and sealed. It was turned while partially seasoned, and then microwave-dried to make sure it's sterile. The result is a slightly ovoid bowl with a unique, classy look and intriguing wavy grain pattern.

Chinese Elm wood is similar to European Elm wood, except perhaps twistier and more prone to warping for dimensioned lumber. For bowl turning, however, it works every bit as well and looks every bit as beautiful. It's much easier to find too, since most European Elms were wiped out by Dutch elm disease in the early 20th century. Elm wood is hard, with coarse, interlocking grain. It polishes to a satin sheen with no finish applied, and has a comfortable woody smell when cut or sanded. It is hard, and resistant to cracking and splitting.

I have about 50 pieces of this wood. You can buy a blank from me for this size of a bowl for $20 and turn your own, or you can buy a finished bowl like this with a natural edge for $124.50. If you'd rather have one with a smooth, finished edge, it would come to $98.50.

Natural Edge Bowl - $124.50
Elm Bowl, Smooth Edge - $98.50
Elm Bowl Blank, 10"x6" - $20.00
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Purpleheart Goblets

Not exactly bowls...but they work on this page. This matching set of purpleheart goblets was made as a gift for a wedding shower. They're small because solid purpleheart is only available in thicknesses up to 2" thick - 6" high total. But the wood makes them awesome, and as my MIL put it, it's nice to have wood goblets with you because you don't have to worry about them shattering in your luggage...

Purpleheart, also sometimes called amaranth or violet wood, comes from several species of tropical trees native to Central and South America. The heartwood is a light purple when cut, and darkens upon exposure to sunlight, reaching first a darker purple and eventually a brown with a purple cast. It is hard and strong, and takes attention when turning, requiring sharp tools, gentle cuts, and a LOT of sanding.

The finish is mineral oil and beeswax, and is replenished by rubbing in more mineral oil, and won't change the flavor of your drink.

Sold individually for $40 at this size, the set is $70.00

Cocobolo Sushi Hangiri or Bowl

This hand-turned bowl or Sushi Hangiri is 8" diameter and 2" high, made from a gorgeous piece of cocobolo that includes a little of the much sought-after sapwood that adds unique contrast and variety. I really like working with cocobolo - the texture is so smooth, it cuts so evenly, and it polishes to a shiny surface even without finish. As with all my bowls, this is sealed with mineral oil and beeswax so it's food-safe and ready for use.

Cocobolo is a medium sized Central American tree growing up to 2' diameter and 90' tall. The heartwood is typically orange or reddish-brown in color, often with a figuring of darker irregular traces weaving through the wood, while the sapwood is a creamy yellow, contrasting sharply with the heartwood. Its fine texture and excellent color make Cocobolo one of the most popular exotic woods. Grows along Pacific seaboard of Mexico and Central America. Considered one of the most important woods in cutlery business for knife handles (can be soaked in soapy water with minimal ill effects). Also used for tool handles, brush backs, bowling balls, chess pieces, carving, jewelry boxes, canes, utensils, buttons, musical and scientific instruments, especially guitars and basses, but some woodwind instruments such as clarinets and oboes have been successfully made using cocobolo instead of the more usual African blackwood. It is also used in making luxury pens, and decorative veneer and inlay.

Because it is so sought after, cocobolo is a little pricey. Price for a 8"x2" Cocobolo Bowl or Hangiri like this one: $62.00 - and be sure to specify whether you want sapwood if it's available, or if you prefer the dark colors only.

Wood Platter - African Mahogany

These platters were made by my Father, but my mom's out of room around the house for his work, so he's hoping I can move them for him, see, it's hard to justify our time in the shop if we don't have a place for the stuff we make...

Anyway, this first platter is 12.5" diameter and 2" high, and is available for $55.00.Click here to buy this item

This second platter is 12.5" diamter and 1.5" thick, and is available for $50.00. Click here to buy this item

African Mahogany is different from your usual mahogany used in furnitures and fine woodworking in the US. It's from a tree in the mahogany family called Khaya, and is an exotic and imported hardwood that is figured "broken grained". It is characterized by vertical bonds of varying luster and vessel markings in which the ribbon effect is intermittent. The heartwood varies from light to deep reddish-brown. Like American Mahogany, this timber is very durable and stable. Khaya species tend to be lighter in color, generally more of a salmon/pink in tint, but the color and density are affected by the specific conditions in the area of growth, so there are no absolutes It had a hayday in drum making, but was too expensive for that to continue.

Purpleheart Wood Bowl - 7.5"x2"

Turned from a solid piece of kiln-dried purpleheart, this open-formed bowl measures 7.5" diameter and 2" high. It's a more practical form than the first bowl I turned form purpleheart, with a full open form.

Purpleheart, also sometimes called amaranth or violet wood, comes from several species of tropical trees native to Central and South America. The heartwood is a light purple when cut, and darkens upon exposure to sunlight, reaching first a darker purple and eventually a brown with a purple cast. It is hard and strong, and takes attention when turning, requiring sharp tools, gentle cuts, and a LOT of sanding.

Price for this bowl or one like it: $37.00.

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Oregon Myrtlewood Bowl, Enclosed

My son Matt made this (with my help) for Mom for Christmas. What at first looked like a somewhat bland piece of mystery wood my Dad gave me, turned out instead to be a very nice, pretty piece of Oregon Myrtlewood. Oregon Myrtlewood, also called California Laurelwood, is a hardwood with a wide variety of colors depending on the minerals in the soil where it is grown - from light tan to dark brown, olives and reds, and blacks from spalting. It is noted as one of the world's most beautiful woods. This bowl, and all my bowls, are finished with mineral oil and beeswax - the mineral oil brings out the natural colors, and the beeswax protects the wood and adds a satin sheen. It is food safe, washable, and ready to use.

The bowl is 5.5" diameter and 4" high. Price for a similar bowl: $55.00

Ambrosia Maple Bowl - Green-turned

This ambrosia maple wood bowl measures 8" diameter and 2" high. It was made for an order, and the wood was shipped after the order was placed. There is never any guarantee as to the moisture content of bowl blanks when ordered this way, and it turns out this one was still pretty green. This means that as it dries over the next month or two it will elongate slightly and get a really cool, natural, organic shape to it. It was already a gorgeous piece of wood, and I think it will only get better.

Ambrosia maple is one of my favorite woods to work with. It's regular maple, left moist and warm and exposed to the elements after the tree dies, so that the ambrosia beetle can attack the tree. The beetle bores into the tree, bringing ambrosia fungus spores with it. The fungus attacks and stains the tree and then the beetle can eat the fungus as it reporduces. The net result: Beautifully figured wood. Price as shown: $40.00

Purpleheart Bowl - Oh, and Don't Forget the Bloodwood, Maple, and Walnut

This set was made for a custom order. A customer, originally from Guyana where the people are known for their craftsmanship with purpleheart, was looking for a purpleheart bowl. her Father had promised her one but had passed away before he could get it for her. She had google-searched for a purpleheart bowl, and saw my segmented bowls. She wanted a fuller shape, but the same woods. To emphasize purpleheart, each has a purpleheart base whereas the other set alternates.

The large bowl is 6" high and 10" in diameter. The smaller bowl is 3" high and 8" in diameter.

Price for the set: $450.00

Aromatic Cedar Bowl

This hand-turned wood bowl is made from Aromatic Cedar. Since you don't want to use cedar for food (makes your food taste like a tree) I thought it would be fun to use a higher gloss finish than the food-safe mineral oil and beeswax I normally use. This has a shellac and carnuba wax based finish that gives it added beauty - not that it is lacking in beauty with the beautiful grain and color of the cedar. Aromatic Cedar is popular for boxes and chests due to its nice fragrance, which also repells moths. The wood has dramaitc grain, and finishes very nicely, polishing to a mild sheen without sandpaper if you use your tools right when turning a project.

This bowl is 6" in diamter and 2" high. Cedar is less expensive than a lot of fancy bowl materials, so it's not a lot of money - this bowl or one like it can be ordered for about $25.00. Click here to buy this item

Eucalyptus Burl Bowl

I really like how this bowl turned out. Hand-turned from eucalyptus burl, this wood bowl looks as cool upside-down as right-side up. The wood grain has such cool patterns and swirls - figure almost as nice as my wife's. Just kidding baby. Anyway, Eucalyptus is an Australian wood, very popular among Australian woodturners, and for good reason. It looks awesome when it's turned and it finishes up nicely, to a semi gloss sheen from sanding with no finish applied. The bowl shown, as with all my bowls, is intended to be used and is finished with mineral oil and beeswax for a food-safe finish that can be refreshed with any food-safe oil.

This bowl is 5-1/4" diameter and 1-3/4" high, available for $30.00. Click here to buy this item

Waiting List Information

Cocobolo Pepper Mill and Salt Shaker Set - 10"

Custom Salt and Pepper Mills - Eucalyptus Burl and Ebony

Pepper Mill and Salt Shaker Set - Ambrosia Maple