First Attempt at a Bowl

Hi,

This is my first attempt at a bowl. A friend of mine from church brought me a large cedar log and I kept it for about eight months before I finally got up the nerve to ask him if I could borrow his chainsaw. I tried to cut several disks with the intent to cut crosses out of them but as I found out, I can't cut very straight so disks came out as wedges. Also trying to cut shapes out of the circular grain that comes from cutting disks instead of the straight grain that comes from cutting planks is somewhat useless. It is pretty ugly and I shouln't show it but I am satisfied with it for my first attempt. The gaps in the rim is the result of my router getting away from me (also the first time I have ever used my router) and the holes in the bottom are the result of me using an 1-5/8" spade bit. I tried my forstner bits but I don't have a drill press and using a hand held drill was sort of slow going. Another option would be to use a plug-cutter bit and "eyeball" your depth. Point of safety, spade bits will nearly break your wrist if you get them a little off center while boring a hole. They will grab wood on the "side wall" of the hole and wrench the drill nearly out of your hand so BE CAREFULL! Also, some of you may laugh but I find some pretty good deals at the Goodwill store sometimes. Look for how-to woodworking, gardening, and home repair books. They also have how-to books for all kinds of needlepoint for your wives. Macrame, knitting, cross-stitch, etc...they usually have at least one or two books. They often have decent tools as well. I passed up on an old JC Penney drill press the other day. It would have worked but it was $30 dollars and JC Penney doesn't sell tools anymore. Anyway, I hope you can find something here that interests you and as always "Thanks for Stopping By!"