1st bowl

David - I would call this a vase because it is almost a closed form (hollow form). In any event, nice woodturning for a first one!

Good job, nice choice of wood. I hope you have a massive stockpile of koa, that's some 'spensive stuff where I live (SC).

Redfish and Jeff,

Thanks for the kind comments. I hate to say it, but Koa is almost a weed where I live. I am on the summit of Kilauea on the Big Island and we have Koa/Ohia forest all around us. Koa sprouts up from fast traveling roots and if you don't watch it will pop up through your floor slab into the living room. We love it and it is defintely endangered in Hawaii, but it is nearly a weed to us as well. If it makes you feel better, while Koa may be 'spensive stuff out your way and pretty freely available to me here through neighbors defending their floors, all the woods you consider common on the mainland are worth gold out here, so it probably balances out.

Thanks again for the kind comments. Got another log I am prepping right now (Cypress....an introduced tree out here that tends to blow over on people's houses during storms) and am looking forward to getting that on the lathe this weekend before I have to start traveling for work again.

Mahalo!!