Purpleheart and Alumilite Bowl

[dlgWoodWork]

Here is a Purpleheart and Alumilite bowl I cast and then turned. The Purpleheart was very hard, even harder than other Purpleheart I have worked with in the past.

The finished piece ended up about 5-1/2" in diameter. I like it for my first attempt at something like this. I think I am going to do another one using Mahogany. I just need to figure out what colors to cast with it.

I also have a couple of Youtube videos of the casting and the turning if you would like to see the process.

Youtube link

[Arlin Eastman]

To me the bowl looks swell but the green just does not go well with it IMO.

Arlin

[Angus]

That must have been a pretty large casting. How big can you go on the alumilite?

[dlgWoodWork]

This casting was about 1-1/2" wide, 6-1/2" long and 2" deep. Alumilite is actually pretty easy to cast. I watched a ton of videos by Zac at NV Woodwerks on YouTube to learn how to cast. Alumilite sets up fast and needs to be cast under pressure but large castings can been done without too much trouble.

[AHill]

Is this an experiment? I agree that the colors just don't seem to go well together - at least for me. I see a lot of tearout and tool marks on the bottom of the bowl. Perhaps you were just rushing to get opinions. As you are probably aware, acrylics and plastics need a lot of sanding to much finer grits than wood. I go to 12,000 grit micromesh on my pens, followed up with a plastic polish. I'm thinking the acrylics might work better in a segmented bowl or with a ring of acrylic accent.

[MKepke]

Cool project..in the Joker's colors no less.

Reminds me of the famous WWA "Jelly Doughnut" turning with red acrylic.

I like the patterns in the green acrylic (?)

-Mark

[dlgWoodWork]

Yes, more of a "hey, I wonder if this will work." I admit I did rush the bottom of the bowl. I don't have patience for sanding on the lathe once the turning gets much bigger than a duck call. I am working on that though. I want to get better at turning.

I did think about doing a smaller casting next time, like an accent stripe instead of a large portion like this one.

I knew some would like the colors and others wouldn't. Everybody has different tastes.

Thanks for the comments guys.

[Ruler2112]

How did you get the swirl-like colors in the resin?

[dlgWoodWork]

It's two different colors of Alumilite. One is green and one is a gold color. Mica powders was what I used and they provide a very good swirl look like in this bowl.