Segmented Bowl #133

I love this one – very unique.

We had our rain yesterday and it is supposed to be all increasingly warmer weather for the week at least. I might just have to haul some of my equipment out of the basement so that I can work in the sunshine!

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Excellent work!

-- Jesus is Lord!

Great work piece. You glued this up it sounds like. How long to get it glued, set up and turned into a bowl? I just got a used Jet1236 lathe refurbished/cleaned-up and now ready to use. After a couple of lessons at Woodcraft I want to get into things like this. Besides this is all made from scrap pieces, which is all I have right now….

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

Very original and nice… From what I can see, these are made on a lathe, but how do you come up with the block or wood to the finish product ?

I don`t do lathe works, but love to watch someone working it. I had machinists working for me and I was always amazed at what they could turn.

have a good day,

pierre

Beautiful piece as always Dennis. You certainly have your own style… it’s great the way you mix woods. Thanks for sharing this.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.

I too would like to see the process. I always thought that it was such a waste to carve out the inside and turn it all into sawdust. But if you are gluing sections together, this would eliminate this waste somewhat. Am I correct on that?

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Thanks for all the great comments. Just got back in from a fire call and found the great comments. I will try to answer some of the questions about the process. I do not have a book or anything about this style of bowl making, (maybe I should put an eBook on my web page). I saw a picture of one and things just clicked in my head. I had made many bowls of ‘chunk’ wood, and like mentioned, hated to see all that center wood going to waste. I glue these 8 or 12 segments together in ‘rings’ like a donut. I clamp the ring with multiple stainless-steel worm-gear clamps, ganging together whatever length I need to encompass the rings. The segments are trapezoid shaped, like the back half of a slice of pie. The rings are sanded/planed smooth, stacked and glued together. It is imperative that the ring faces be kept really parallel since if the ring is tapered, the bowl will stack up crooked. I use TiteBond II because it grabs so fast. The segments are cut at 22.5 degrees on each end if 8 are used, and 15 degrees for 12 segments. I have a jig for my table saw to cut the 1.5” strips (it takes 1.5×24-36” for each ring) into segments. The fence is set to a permanent angle. It must be very exact since any error multiplied 8 or 12 times would result in a huge gap when inserting the last segment in the ring. It takes me 3-4 evenings to make a bowl like this. I cut and glue the segments into rings one evening, smooth, stack and glue the rings along with a bottom and a scrap piece for the faceplate on the second evening. Try to center the rings as accurate as possible when stacking so the bowl will not be off center when mounted. The third evening I actually turn the bowl. I will get some pics of the process on my next bowl and put them on my web page for you all, like the step-by-step of the flute process. I will try to find some links on the net that may be helpful also. Its very relaxing (if the segments line up well) and a lot of fun. Also, like mentioned above, you only need 1.5” strips, not large chunks or large flat boards. I often glue up strips for the bottom also. A scrap piece (mdf or plywood works great) is glued to the top rim (just slightly larger than the ID of the top ring) and a faceplate used for the first step of turning the outside. A shallow dovetail is cut in the bottom of the bowl so it can be flipped and mounted on a chuck for truing up the outside and hollowing the inside. It can be very tedious when first starting since you have so many points and angles all around. I usually start at about 200-400 rpm and use a 3/8” bowl gouge with a finger-nail grind. I use the 3/8” gouge for everything except the outer edges of the bottom dovetail and sometimes a roundnose scraper to smooth a rough spot. If its a really large bowl (larger than 12” or so) I goto a 1/2” gouge. After hollowing from the top down on the inside I sand bowl with 150, 220, 340, 400, 600 grit strips. Sand on a slow speed, (and keep the paper moving all over all the time or deep scratches/grooves will appear and be very hard to remove) it can get very hot! The slower sanding also makes the paper last much longer I have found. You must start at the top because after the wall gets thin the rim will vibrate and flex and chatter. I buff with three grades of nylon pads, finish off with 1500 and then apply about 10-12 coats of lacquer thinned 50% with thinner (I use cotton shotgun cleaning patches-cheap from Wally-World). This really builds up a deep gloss shine. I finish off with a little paste wax and flannel and lamb’s wool buffing at about 500-800 rpm. Hope this helps anybody wishing to try this great way to turn a great looking bowl.

-- Dennis, WV, http://mysite.verizon.net/drbyte

great description. Thank you for sharing this and i’m glad to hear that “no inner wood was injured in the making of this bowl” haha .

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Nice looking segmented piece. jockmike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

Are you paid or volunteer firefighter? I was a volunteer for fourteen years, then I had heart surgery. They had to pry the gear from my hands with a haligan tool.

-- Jesus is Lord!

I am the Assistant Chief (and 30 year veteran) of a 350 run per year volunteer fire dept with about 35 firefighters, 3 pumpers, 1 mini-pumper, 1 boat, and 1 brush fire truck.

-- Dennis, WV, http://mysite.verizon.net/drbyte

Dennis, checking a dark house for a burglar does not scare me that much – but getting burned scares the he.. out of me. Your work is incredible. I’m not in to the segmented turning yet, but I’m thinking about trying my hand. I just got an email message from one of my other Forums and Bill Kandler has just posted a new Segmented Bowl video that some of you might be interested in. Below is the info he sent: Bill has also developed some software that takes all of the mystery out of creating a segmented blank. You simply put the information that you want, i.e., species, number of segments and size and it does all the math for you – including figuring out the angle of the needed cuts. I’m not affiliated with this project and have not ordered it myself yet. Just thought somebody might find it interesting.

Segmented Turning… A learning experience
A “How To” DVD that exposes Segmented Turning as a fun activity
In my continuing effort to spread the word about segmented projects, I’m pleased to announce the release of my newest development effort. This new release is a step-by-step DVD showing all the processes needed to create and craft a successful segmented turning.
As you follow me through the course of the 120 minute DVD, you will learn about:

Bill Kandler
Verified Software Products Co.
792 Phillips Road
Arroyo Grande, CA 93420
Tel: (805) 489-5309

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/