Radial Arm Saw Dish Experiment

I really like the look of it. It does sound dangerous.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Impressed with the smooth surface. that’s a really nice looking bowl.
It’s interesting what tools are capable of when you look at them in a new way. I imagine there is a safer way to make more, though perhaps not a faster way. More dangerous,... maybe.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

I really like the bowl/dish – but I sure don’t thing that it’s something that I want to try and make. Nice job though.

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

gorgeous bowl.

I’m interested in the “safe way” – I’m sure all you brilliant woodworkers can come with an alternative method than the death by open blade/flinging sawdust method.

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

Nice work! I wouldn’t try it either.

Debbie, here is the safe way:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=31069&cat=1,130,43332

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Just the phrase, “Radial arm saw experiment,” made me cringe. Nice outcome!

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

Cool…but can I do it with my table saw? Time for more experimenting.
I really like the design!!!!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

I don’t think you’d better try it on a table saw. It was deadly enough on the RAS. It involved securing the piece to the radial arm saw table and rotating the spinning blade over it.

I do not recommend this.

But I like living dangerously. Doing it on the table saw would mean rotating the workpiece over a spinning blade. I would recommend instead doing your own root canal. It would be saver and less painful.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

Safe or not, I like it! I would never do it, but I like it!

-- Branden - Sacramento, California - www.ShopDogUSA.com

I was thinking of securing it over the blade and cranking the angle on the saw as I slowly raise the saw blade…still its not like I don’t own a dozen other tools that will do the same job. I do like my fingers….

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Love your style.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

The safe way would be to do it on a lathe. You can glue a scrap bloc on the back of the zebra wood, turn the dish shape and then separate the scrap. On the lathe it would be absolutely no problem without any danger that a blade will throw the piece in your head. With a dust collector, the dust would be minimal as well.

Carving it would be painful to say the least.

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

Great job Blake.

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

Hey Blake this is neet…............why did you have to do it without the blade guard? I realize protuding parts may not go under the arm, could you have done this with a jig and spin the work under the blade?? I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to watch, bet your concentration was very intense. Your dish has a good look!!! Another thing I find interesting about this is how many times have we seen a woodworking project be referenced as a dish,................but it is a dish. COOL!!!!

I love it, but I wouldn’t want to do it. But, it might give me a reason to use my Radial Arm saw for something other than a scrap board holder.

I watched a David Mark’s “Woodworks” program where he shows how to do a dishing operation safely with a router and curved sled.

I just love the look of this project,
Mark

-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan

Maek

I was just coming on to say that I wish I knew how to use Sketchup so I could draw what you just described.

Tag Frid showed that at a seminar one time. His was elongated to make an oval on a longer dish.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Love the piece, but… Be careful out there! No sense taking chances in the shop, when you can get your adrenaline in spades fighting fires. Don’t want you to have to change your name to Lefty.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Absolutely gorgeous but it really sounds deadly dangerous to make. Be careful out there Blake.

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/

I keep mentioning this old book that I read when it was newer, DeCristoforos’a ” Complete Book Of power Tools”. The metod of doing this on a table saw is layed out in the book and frankly, doesn’t look any scarier than making a cove cut. It also shows how to do a bowl on a RAS. You can also cut circles with a table saw or RAS. Good reading and lots of jigs.

I really like what you did here. It is unique and very effective. Great inovation.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Blake I did that before but not to a bowl blank.

If I remember it was to my Radial Arm Saw table top. I also had one that went from 90 deg to 180 degrees.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

I have Cris’s book “The Jigs and Fixtures Bible” where he details making this kind of bowl on the table saw. His way seems a lot safer than a loose, unguarded radial arm saw! (You are a wild man, Blake!) Cris uses a kind of sled clamped in the miter slot with a beam over the bowl blank. A piece of threaded rod with a sharpened tip extends down from the beam to serve as a pivot. Rotate the blank, slowly raise the blade. It’s basically a circular cove.

-- Coffee is best with a fine layer of sawdust on top. -- http://www.north40custom.com

This reminds me of some of the stuff that Harvey Fein makes. You can see how he makes it at:
Harvey Fein Site

Somday I would love to setup something like he has.

Tim