Bowls by Gene O’Donnell

I had the opportunity to photograph some bowls turned by Gene O’Donnell from wood that I supplied him from Zambezi Exotics. Gene is a member of my Woodturning Club and does beautiful work. He normally embellishes his work with carving, texturing and pyrography.

The first bowl is from Zambezi Teak. The color and grain of the wood is stunning. Zambezi Teak (Baikiaea plurijuga) is also known as Rhodesian Teak, Zambian Teak or Zambezi Redwood. It is a dense hardwood valued for its termite resistance, used for railway sleepers, in construction and for furniture making. I asked Gene if the Teak was particularly hard on his tools as teak contains silica and he told me he did not notice much difference, saying how nicely the wood turned.

The second bowl is made from Pink Ivory. It is believed that in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa the tree was known as the royal tree because only chiefs were allowed to carry knob-kerries (a stick with a rounded knob on one end) made from it.

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