Turning a Bowl From a Board

For written instructions and photos, see the website:

How to make a bowl from a board, using a bandsaw to cut half-rings which are glued together and turned on the lathe.

[josephscislowicz]

Thanks for the video. I appreciate your straight forward method. It ansered a couple of layout question I had (i.e. the width of the pieces being the same as the thickness of the wood). I also think its cool that you are using a vintage craftsman lathe ( have a similar one!). I get tired of seeing folks with the $3000 lathes. You did better than many of them for a significant lower cost.

[sheldonpangburn]

ive struggled with these for awhile now. this video does answer a couple of questions.

[harzerbuilt]

That's really amazing what you make on that old craftsman lathe.

[raymondsafarik]

Looks nice. I’ve done several of these and they are always lots of fun. Something that has worked well for me is to actually mount the flat board directly on the lathe and cut the rings full circle with a thin parting tool. Take the ring off and place it on the top to mark the spot for the next ring. Just repeat it for every ring. It is always centered and you can even get a shape change by changing the angle of your parting tool for each ring. Keep up the nice. Work.

[michaelkirk]

This video was fantastic! Now I have to try making bowls, after only making boxes, cups, & goblets. Your sizing of the rings makes a lot of sense; I had no idea that you could make a bowl out of a flat single board! Your video convinced the wife to buy me a new bandsaw! As for signing the bottoms, I ran into the same ink smudging problems you mentioned, plus my handwriting is crappy. So, I started printing out 2" round, decorative "Handmade by" labels with the date completed and types of wood used. I fixed these to the slightly concave bottoms with clear epoxy, which worked out great. It dries overnight, and the white paper immediately turns translucent in the epoxy, so the underlying wood grain and patterns show through, and the ink becomes permanent.

[larryjacobs]

Absolutely beautiful and you gave enough details for a beginner like me

[iamdanyc]

That bowl looks like an optical illusion !

[yuvallahav]

Great job! I simply love the finish, I wish I wasn't so lazy and always looking for simpler ways to make things pretty, even though sometimes there are no shortcuts, the finish part is by far my least developed part of wood turning, and your finish is simply eye catching, it is in fact what drawn me to the video. Thanks for sharing!

[AllenOxendine]

Awesome project, I've just purchased a lathe. I have a lot to learn but look forward to creating....

[SattvaWoodworks]

Very nice. Also a great take on a version of segmenting. Economic for wood conservation also. I will be doing this with a THICK walnut board I have.

[josephwise]

Nice work. I have a cherry board that I want to try this on. Will eliminate waste. Thanks.

[MrSumgi]

The grain is supposed to run all in the same direction due to the stresses the wood go through.  If the grain does not follow the same direction, wood movement can cause the bowl to fail and break open.

[michaeljohnson]

Great video! My question is Do the size of the rings need to be in some proportion to the thickness of the board? Thanks you

[Fliegenbefriediger]

10:21 provides for a neat optical illusion

[MrRedsjack]

i am in cambodia for work now, are you interested (or may know someone that is) in the rare hardwoods that grow naturally here? they are very popular for top level furniture in china and Japan.

[billhackley]

well done. if you get a minute check out bob Hamilton's channel. he past on a while back but he did an " economy bowl" with a twist. I plan to try it soon.

[joell]

I'm curious to know how you glued the two half circle of the board together? The 45 degrees angle can't let you put the clamps perpendicular to the cut.

[jackwiley]

Did you use any gouges on this piece? I get the idea it was just sawing, gluing, and sanding. Just curious.

[garymccoy]

How did you clamp the half rings to glue them? I could not get the clamps to stay due to the rings rbeing slanted. The rings would not stay flat.

[max]

Where You buy this fantastic 8 jaw chuck :)