Scrap Wood Project-The Yarn Bowl continued-hollowing out the center

Hi Everyone,

Well, it's getting colder and I've been outside working all afternoon and my hands are semi-frozen! Here's the latest from the workshop:

I finished turning the outside and I sanded it to 150 grit paper and it's smooth enough for a yarn bowl:

So I took off the faceplate, and flipped the blank over and screwed the faceplate back on with 1" #10 wood screws. I'm going to use the tailstock again to support this blank as it's very heavy and the screws are very short:

And here we are ready to go:

I turned it between centers for about 10 minutes and this is as hollowed out as I could make it. Time to remove the tailstock and hollow it out:

I like to drill out the center of bowls-it removed the center easily and establishes depth so I'm not cutting too deeply. Here I'm drilling out the center with a large Forstner bit:

Here is a photo of the blank with the center drilled out:

And this is that entire section of wood removed. I wound up drilling out the center several more times to reach the bottom as this bowl is really deep:

The bowl was quite deep at this point, in fact it was so deep, my tools wouldn't reach that far so I resorted to a large, heavy bowl scraper to remove the wood on the bottom of the bowl. I ordinarily don't use the scraper for this but it was the only tool I had that reached into the bowl and could cut with out a lot of vibration:

And it did a nice job of smoothing the inside:

 I worked on the bowl for another hour after the above photo was taken. I had to cut the interior until the holes that I drilled into the sides came through. Below is a photo of the bowl, off the lathe, with a flashlight inside so as to convey a sense of depth:

And here are several more photos-you can clearly see the holes in the sides:

Now, most yarn bowls have a hole-slot combination so a knitter can slide the yarn into the hole without having to break the yarn. I've emailed my friend to ask if she would like me to cut slots in the bowl. Until I hear back I'll continue to sand the interior and the rim of the bowl.

Stay tuned for the slot and the finishing.

VW