A Bowl Of Blackened Ash
This is an Ash bowl that I originally did quite a while back. It broke from the chuck and did a few skips across the concrete floor. Since it happened at the end of a long day I just picked it up and set it under the bench and that is where sat for almost a year.
Recently I was experimenting with some dyes and thought that this bowl would be great to practice on. I re-chucked and re-turned it and then added a few carved accents on the rim.
My original intent was only to dye the inside black but I made the mistake of applying the dye with a soaked dauber and it leached through to the outside. Consequently, I had to dye the whole thing black which really wasn’t a problem since it gave the piece a different, and in fact a more pleasing, look than what I had planned.
The bowl was dyed using Fiebing’s USMC Black leather dye, which is a permanent spirit-based dye. It was finished it with several coats of semi-gloss wipe-on poly which gave it a nice dull sheen which reminds me of the black, earthenware pottery from Oaxaca, Mexico. 
Here are a couple of more photos of the piece:
This is another side view from a lower angle:
Here is a view of the top of the bowl:
Here is a view of the bottom of the bowl:
Here is the bowl sitting on the hearth of our fireplace:
I like the look of the solid black and I do expect to do more like it. Perhaps a tighter grained wood like Maple or Birch would look good too… mmmmmm…
Back to the shop…
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