Several of the above chip carved bowls were turned using wood blanks that had imperfections in them. I have found that when several items are on display offered for sale, the items that have more character in the wood (imperfections) will sell better than those turned from wood that does not contain any imperfections. While the bowls are still mounted on the lathe, I utilize the indexing feature of the lathe to place evenly spaced lines around the bowl from top to bottom. Then with the lathe running slowly, I draw lines around the circumference. This gives me a grid on the bowl that can then be used to sketch the pattern. One must use a soft pencil and draw lightly to avoid making grooves in the soft wood. I’m not sure of the wood used in the top three bowls but I’m fairly sure that the bottom bowl is linden. All of them were harvested in the Fort Collins, Colorado area.
If anyone has further questions, feel free to ask.