2 x 4 Challenge #2: All Is Revealed!

After gluing up the blank in the first part of this series, I moved over to the miter saw. I set the angle for 15 degrees, setup a 15 degree stop and a sub fence/base for zero clearance to minimize tearout.

I cut the 2×4 into a bunch of little pizza slices and got ready for the next step. That step involved finding out if my mitre saw read 15 degrees accurately!

Two half circles were made, and the pieces taped together. I didn’t have any of the fancy blue tape that those lucky guys that do veneering use, but settled for the green stuff that us lowly turners have on hand!

I pulled clamps from my dust collector pieces box, and daisy chained them together for my glueup. I was off by a smidgen so I used a chisel to keep the two halves taught. I’ll workout how to correct the error later. I was still thinking at this point.

After my glue was dry, I ran both half circles through the drum sander in order to make they perfectly flat and equal. This step may have been unnecessary as I’m going to have to do this again, as you’ll see.

After using a compass with the halves held together, to mark circles, I set the bandsaw table to 22 degrees and cut out my half circles. Many of you have guessed, by this point, where this little 2×4 is headed.

After cutting out the half circles, I glued them into rings. The error I had with the angle being slightly less than 15 degrees, was taken out with my tablesaw sled and a quick swipe. The rings took another trip through the drum sander, at this point, in order to make sure they had perfectly flat glue surfaces.

I then glued, stacked and clamped my rings! Those of you that guessed a hat from the band Devo? Well, you’re wrong! Close though! I was a little dissappointed in how little gluing surface I left on this. The bowl itself will be just around 1/4” thick. I think that, for a spruce bowl, this will really be a test to turn it.

With a little creative chucking, the project is starting to take shape! The wood was VERY dry, the step on the rings left for a VERY thin wall, and I had a heck of a time turning this.

After a lot of sanding and some very tentative turning to keep from blowing this thing into a bunch of pieces, out came the bowl. This is a picture of the bowl, the building block and some of the waste. Those of you that turn, know that that’s about 1/4 of the mess that came off the lathe. I kept the rim pretty thick for two reasons; the bowl had to be turned too thin because of the ring overlap, and with it being so dry, turning the rim was pretty exciting with the the wood so dry, so once it was round, it didn’t get too much more treatment.

Well, Mr. 2 X 4, I’m pretty pleased with what you had to show me! Thanks for looking, folks!

Cheers!

Tom

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)