A technique for segmented bowls

Holy cow!! Bob, these are fantastic! I’ve never tried one of these but I’ve always been facinated by them. And these are some of the finest I’ve seen. Some of the ones I’ve seen looked too busy bu this one is just right. Way better than pottery in my book. Wow!!! Quite sequence blog as well. thanks for sharing.

-- Thos. Angle

Incredible! That is one fine turning Bob.

I’m impressed! Those are beautiful..caught my eye right off. Makes me want to run down and buy a lathe.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

1. you need to turn this into a book / video
2. unbelievable magnificent end result. Absolutely stunning.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Bob,

This is OUTSTANDING! I am impressed to say the least. Great work!

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

wonderful work Bob#2

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

Bob! You sneaky parker! Where you been hiding this stuff! I rifled your shop! You’ve been holding out on me! You’ve also been reading my mind as the segmented stuff is where I’ve been wanting to take my turning. I think segmented turning is the marriage between precision fine woodworking, and creative woodturning. Thanks for the info! You salty dog you!

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

Nothing to say, but incredible!!!

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

Wow! Nice work! Thanks for the link to the tutorial! I added that one to my favorites.
Nice work on the shop-made sanders also!

-- Blessings, Steve. Upstate NY. http://www.campingclassics.com

I will be starting another one soon using a Greek key as the feature ring.
This on will be a bit more tricky than the one shown as each key has to have a finished taper of 11.25° to fit and the shape of the key is such that a small error is noticeable.
More on this later.
I will try to blog this one as there are several “jigs” involved in getting the mating parts of each key tight and even.
If you guys have a hankering to build some of these I put my source URLs in the technique above.

Thanks for the encouragement .

Cheers Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I can only say: Wowzer’s!

-- http://inhisgrip1.blogspot.com/

Just great! I’ll be making time to come back to this one and read the tips you’ve offered.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Gary

-- Gary, Florida

Bob, this is the best turning I have seen. We’ve been sandbagged! This going instantly in to favorites. This is what I will do when I grow up as a turner. Time may not be your friend, but you have used it to develop this amazing skill. Thanks for posting.

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

Great peice of work Bob!! I have not tried to do a diamond patteren yet but I am working up to it. A few years ago I built a thickness sander to flatten my rings using the parts from the same place that you got your. I have not been getting the results that I am looking for. At a woodworking show this past weekend I saw the open face sander demonstrated and I was told that this would work better. I started to rebuild my sander last night. I would welcome any suggestion you have on building this system.

-- Mike www.flickr.com/photos/paturner

Okay, back from the slide show.
So you glue up the base of the bowl with the press; mount and turn, then you glue up the assembled ring segments with the base continuously mounted. Is there a reason to not unscrew the faceplate and glue up everything with the press?
The ram from the tailstock works as well? This aids in concentricity?
It looks like you are using Titebond 3, or do you use some other adhesive?
Do you shoot the lacquer and rubout on the lathe of do you pad on dilute lacquer while mounted? How is the inside finished or is it left raw?
How do you turn off the faceplate block, with a reverse jam chuck and a parting tool?

I knew your posted machines and jigs had a reason for existence and now we know (part of) the rest of the story!

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

Doug, thanks for your interest, That’s a pile of questiions that need some detailed answers so leave them with me and I’ll get a decent response together. Darn job is getting in the way of my fun!

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Bob, you are #1 in my book!

Very nice. Your design and craftsmanship are outstanding. I am humbled and inspired.

Steve

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

I just sent a message to Mot. I wish I was a short drive to Edmonton. I would visit the Wolf’s Lair and try and keep my Short Attention Span in check long enough to soak up some Oswinization. LOL

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

Holy Mackrel – those are beautiful.

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

Now that is why I come here. I’m still trying to get to one level surface in my shop for proper reference and here I get to see someone who is world class. I can even ask him a question … if I knew enough about woodworking to ask something that’s not stupid that is. ;-}

Please accept my appreciation even though I can’t truly appreciate how difficult that was and the skill level required. (I want more, more, more….!!!!)

-- Jim

well said Jim … ditto for me

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

ditto me too!!!!!!!

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

Bob, The bowl is beautiful, and the slide show is informative thanks for sharing.

-- Andy Stark

All things worth doing are worth striving/struggling for, and this proves it.
Absolutely beautiful work, and thanks for showing the steps taken to get
to the final results.

-- Still learning everything

Bob A great bowl. And a great tutorial.

A few months back I went to a shop of a gentleman in De and the only woodworking he does is turn segmented objects. he showed us a segmented pitcher that had a 1/2” hole in the neck and it had a handle. If I recollect it had over 3,000 pieces.

I want to get back up to see him again and try to get him to join LumberJocks.

We are also trying to get him to come to our Mason-Dixon Woodworking club as a guest speaker.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

That is really amazing. Thanks for the tutorial. I see I need to get a couple more tools for the shop before attempting something like that. :D

-- David, Charlotte NC (http://beechcreeknaturals.etsy.com)

Thankyou all very much for looking.

You folks sure know how to flatter a boy. <g>

I will try to answer some of the questions to night.

Cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Douglas , I promised to try to answer your questions posted earlier today to here goes:

>
> Okay, back from the slide show.
> So you glue up the base of the bowl with the press; mount and turn, then you glue up the assembled ring segments with the base continuously mounted. Is there a reason to not unscrew the faceplate and glue up everything with the press?

I found that any slight deviation from level gets amplified as the sandwich gets taller. So to minimise the creep,I glue each layer individually and use a board/sander between each layer to keep the surface flat and level.
> The ram from the tailstock works as well? This aids in concentricity?

The MDF with the circles on it acts as target to stick my (to be glued ring on)
This assures me of a tight concentric fit of each layer .
I sticky tape the next ring to the bullseye and move the whole thing up to the glue up once coated with glue. If you get the layers cockeyed with a pattern you will cut through more on one side than the other and your pattern will be spoiled.

> It looks like you are using Titebond 3, or do you use some other adhesive?

Titebond works fine and I use it a lot but Lee Valley makes a similar type that is color matched to the wood. I think it hides the joints a bit better than Titebond.

> Do you shoot the lacquer and rubout on the lathe or do you pad on dilute lacquer while mounted? How is the inside finished or is it left raw?

My technique is excentric.

8. About 24 hours later it’s back to the lathe to take it up to the final finish.

> How do you turn off the faceplate block, with a reverse jam chuck and a parting tool?

I use the double donut affair shown in the sequence.
I just mount the bowl in it and carefully trim the base and finish it as above.
>
> I knew your posted machines and jigs had a reason for existence and now we know (part of) the rest of the story!

Doug, jigs let you look like an expert once you get the units working

Cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

geez….. I can’t begin to verbalize, much less type how inspiring this is. Like others above, THIS is the type of turning that really makes me want to go the extra yard to learn about turning. It is absolutely fascinating and judging by your explanations above, something that really appeals to my desire for precision.

so much to learn…

Many thanks for the post!

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

OH MY GOSH!!!! I’m not worthy! I have only just started turning basic bowls. This is truly an inspiration for me; maybe for next Christmas, eh?

-- Chris

Definitely one of the most impressive pieces on LJ’s!

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

Bob,
Thanks for the detailed and thorough reply. This only reinforces my inestimable esteem for you as a worthy gentleman and scholar.

”2. I use nitrocellulose lacquer on a pad and with the turning on the lathe but not rotating under power. I seal the inside too as I don’t want the wood to breath too quickly in changes of climate.”

I had to rein in my imagination with the image of a hyperventilating bowl, but it does make a woodworker cognizant of the physical nature of wood that makes it so different from work in metal or clay. I believe this is another example of the effort made by veneer folk when they make an effort to skin both sides of a substrate to keep movement to a minimum. Same thing applies to finishes on flat wood and wood in the round.

”I patch all divots with clear epoxy if they occur.”
”I use a small artist brushes and .pick up globs of lacquer on the tip and drop them in the divots until they are proud of the surface.”

I will be borrowing the epoxy and lacquer tricks on the divots. There is always enough gap between finger joints or dovetails in a box that makes gloss clear coats look a bit cheesy unless they are filled. It makes a great deal more sense to do this with epoxy and not with the addition of multiple coats of finish rubbed out to flat. Has to more eco-friendly as well.

”I use the double donut affair shown in the sequence. I just mount the bowl in it and carefully trim the base and finish it as above.”

Not wishing to appear either as a dunderhead or a pesky orphan, I still have a question about this mounting technique…

Thanks again for sharing this world class tutorial.

”Doug, jigs let you look like an expert once you get the units working”

It’s pretty apparent from the magic show you have put on that it is more than the use of jigs that makes you look like an expert.

Slàinte mhor a h-uile là a chi ’s nach fhaic

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

Bob those are just awesome.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

great tutorial.

Another segmented turning artist that I admire is Galen Carpenter. www.galencarpenter.com

Check out his use of osb, paralam beam, and pinecones. I’ve seen his work in person, and it is amazing, you’ll love it, I just know.

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

Hi Doug:
I think I mislead you with that picture.
Here’s what the glued on foot looks like:

The part I glue to the bowl structure would be the very top circle.
The reversed mounting jig looks like this:
In this case I have it mounted on a set of “coles jaws that will accomodate the long screws shown in the picture. the mounting “jig” is just 2 pices of 3/4” plywood with a tapered hole cut in the working end and lined with weatherstripping felt to prevent marring.
Depending on the vessel you may need different openings on the working side.

It is in essence a “cradle” to hold the finished bowl in reverse.
If the situation calls for it I will sometimes just use a sanding disk at low speed to remove most of the foot to avoid disturbing the position of the bowl.

cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Thanks for giving me the whole rope, Bob. I looked at the Linus picture after I posted it and wondered if I had misinterpreted things, but (not that I wanted to work you too hard) I thought it best to clear away any clouds. This reverse chuck assembly is the best! I have a Beale spindle tap for my 1˝x 8TPI Jet, and will be using this to gin a cradle.

My faltering memory allowed me to remember that one of my bowlturning links had a cole jaw substitute using duct tape (eww!), but he had essential your set up at the bottom of the page. I highly recommend this site to anyone contemplating bowl turning especially those who might contemplate buying a spindle tap for their lathe. There are many jigs on this page for those of us who want to get our feet wet without buying every jaw set available. And prior to a few months ago I couldn’t find a cole jaw set for a mini-lathe.

Thanks again for sharing this.

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

Beautiful, & great work. It makes me want to go out, & crank up my old lathe.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Say an now that I get to looking at the picture a bit harder, what is that hanging out of the tailstock?

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

Simply beautiful… and very educational. thanks for the post.

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

Thanks Chip.
Doug, the picture is out of sequence but shown to let you see the donut thingie.
If I remember I used the black coloured chuck to hand off the bowl to the donut to keep eveything centric.

I probably attached the tail chuck to the tenon and snuck up on the final parting using the tail chuck to stabilize the bowl until the last cut.
It’s an old trick that I use often when coreing out bowls .
I leave a center piece in place and attach the tail chuck to it to stabilize the wood as I hollow out the bowl.

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Tail chuck. Wow!

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

Beautiful work Bob , i remember seeing this on another site and it has always been one my favorites

-- John in Belgrave ,(Slideshow ) http://cid-69bce320c6d8b119.skydrive.live.com/play.aspx/Extreme%20Birdhouses/P1030026.JPG?ref=2 (Website) http://www.extremebirdhouse.com

Thanks John.

You probably did see this job before.

One site I posted on packed it in last year and I packed it in at another .

Incidently, I got more interest in this technique here and questions asked than the other two put together.

Regards

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

That is awsome! I don’t know how I missed it the first time. Fantastic!

Gary

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

HI Gary:
This one was a first for me .
I am gearing up for a second as we speak .
Somehow I kieep thinking I may have set my personal bar too high the first time.<g>

p.s. yes it is as hard as it seems and the smallest catch can take several hours out of you life.

Cheers

Bpb

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Wow, I don’t know how I missed this one before. Beautiful. very impressive.

-- Ron, Twain Harte, Ca. Portable on site Sawmill Service http://westcoastlands.net/Sawmill.html http://westcoastlands.net/SawBucks2/phpBB3 http://www.portablesawmill.biz/concrete/

This is one of the most striking color combinations I have ever seen in a bowl.Stunning!This shows your skill, and most of all patience to fit these many pieces together so precisely.Thanks for posting this Bob,its a real inspiration to the rest of us.Andy

-- " If I can make it,so can you" Andy in Oregon

BOB;

I mentioned seeing the bowl on your home page and asking if you took pictures. I went back to the project page. Wow, a great set of pictures. With descriptions!

The machines you made are something, as are the jigs you used to cut and sand the pieces.

The idea of half a glue up and turning the inside is great and so is the M.D.F. plate with the various sized rings drawn on it. That’s a great way to ensure accuracy in the glue up.

I learned a lot from this posting, and thanks to Doug for coming up with great questions. There’s a lot of tricks here that I’ll be able to use for many other things, I’m sure.

Great piece of art.

Just one question; Any idea of the hours invested in this?

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Lee. I am humbled by your questions and your enthusiasm for my project.
Once it learned how woefully inaccurate our basic tools are for high end joinery, I was off to find refinement solutions.
Not everybody need accurate to 1/4 of a minute but doing these art pieces makes us all apprentices again.
As long as you keep reducing the error everything falls into place.
I am a sucker for arcs and joints so I face a lot of defeats with the stuff that I enjoy.

Still it’s nice once in a while, to just build a bird house and watch the tenants sing for the joy!

Anything I can help you with… it’s your for the asking.

Regards
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Thanks Bob.

Another “If it’s not impossible to do, I’m not interested” type guy huh?

Well the lessons are in the challenges.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

It is possible to leave a very small footprint on the planet but one first has to gather the patience to do so.
It has taken me a lifetime to figure that out.

Thanks for your encouragement Lee.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Bob,

On my woodworking tips site, I have a code that tells me how the visitor ended up on my site. Whenever it’s from a lumber jocks posting I click on it to see which post. Once again your bowl is where I ended up.

So I looked at it all over again. I have to repeat it’s really spectacular. Only on rare occasions do all the details come together just right to make something beyond extraordinary. I think all the planets need to be aligned or something.

I can make fifty of the same basic thing, and only one of them, if I’m real lucky, will reach that plateau you’ve achieved here!

The designs and choice of woods really work. On a scale of one to ten, I’d give it a thirty.

Happy Easter

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Lee I will have a real tough time living up you your kind words. These projects are actually fun to design and build and I would be very proud and humble to get you started with this facet of wood creativity.
I have longed for the expertise that you show on a daily basis with the fine finsihing detials yuo build into your home finishes.
If we were neighbours the work would never end. <vbg>

Happy Easter to you and yours

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Breath taking! I’ll be refering to this for a long time once I get a Lathe. By the way, can you recommend one or some features I should be looking for?

-- Terry Roswell, L.A. (Lower Alabama) "Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."

Terry:
Un fortunately you have to make a good sozed investment to get decent features.Ifyouare just startingout I would suggest a simple low priced full bed lathe in the 150.00 to 300.00 range. It should have a swing of at least 12” for bowls and it is better if you have access to lower speeds to 500- 600 rpm.
Once you decide you like it you can trade your lathe up for a variable speed with reverse and precision spindles
You are now in the 1200.00 to 3000.00 range and the accessoreies are nearly that as welll.
Oneway, jet, Nova, and Vicmarc are all good brands to look for.
I did that bowls on a Delta variable.

Good luck

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Now on my favourite list Bob. When I do one I will look you up. Great blog.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Bob,

Beautiful seems so inadequate. Thanks for the descriptions of the processes.

Doug, thanks for the link for the faceplates and jigs.

Lew

The best part of having knowledge is the act of giving it away to someone who needs it. <g>

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I’m impressed!Beautiful work Bob

-- jeanmarc manosque france

Thank you Jeanmarc.
Good to see you are see comming here to visit.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

That is a spectacular bowl.

-- Michael A. Brailsford

I just saw this when I went to write you. These are absolutely breathtaking. One of these days I would love to try something like this. Hell just turning in general is something I want to do. I am glad i saw this!

-- Allison, Northeastern Ca. Remember, Amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic!

WOW, Great job Bob!!!

-- Dennis Zongker

Thanks Dennis:
I’ve been off most of this year doing several other things but this winter should I should be back at it. I find it both challenging and relaxing if that’s possible.
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

A little late to comment, but Ray Allen would be proud!

FYI, for those that are interested, you can check out a detailed description of how to make this bowl in this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Woodturning-Ray-Allen-Techniques-Segmented/dp/1565232178/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232259452&sr=8-3

Bob, you’ve done a great job on this vessel. Well done.

Ken, that’s exactly where the inspiration came from.
Thanks for the encouragement.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I just picked up Ray Allen’s book on segmented turning this past weekend. And today low and behold when I went to LJ’s this project came up on the front page…........ I am real new to the turning adventure. Still trying to figure out tool presentation, but it’s the segmented format that interests me the most. One day, maybe soon…..I’ll try one of these vessels.

Nice job Bob, and lot of info for me to look over…... Thanks.

-- Brian's Table Top Toys http://home.mountaincable.net/~bgraham/

Let me know if I can offer you nay help.
The book is very confusing and in need of a good edit.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

what a beautiful vessel you’ve created. And, a great tutorial. Seems like you need to be selling a video of this process, hint hint.

M

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

I keep thinking I should do something about leaving some instructions for others but I keep getting caught up with the next challenge.
I wish I knew how those video cameras worked for filming techniques and editing them.
I’ll have to get some lessons fron David or Mot down the road.
Thanks for the kinds words Mark.
p.s you’re the one with the talent here… you should get the videos started!

Cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I love these…........they are probably the best I have ever seen!!

Robin

AKA…............woodchick

-- Robin Renee'

This really has to be one of my favorite turned pieces I’ve seen on lumberjocks. Great skill, design, shape, and techniques demonstrated. A real cool project.

m

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

Thanks very much Mark. Coming from such a fine craftsman/artist as you that is really quite a compliment.
I am humbled.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

What did you use for the finish on this piece? It is beautiful!

Bob – I never saw this before. Up to now I thought you were the cool jig guy. This is really impressive.

Bibda, I am most fond of Nitocellulose lacquer.
That vessel had about 10-12 coats built up on it with a ltouchup spray gun.
I always seal my woods with lacquer sealer first and then do the build up.
When possible I do the buildup on the lathe manually turning the surface to the spray.
Whnbe the build has cured sufficiently. ( 3- 4 days) I refine it with polishing compounds from menserna.
I then put a final lacquers coat on to level all and give it the soft clth finish.

Mtkate,thanks for the attaboy.

I can do other stuff beside growing Toms! <g>

Bob

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Beautiful job Bob….excellent….and your documentation…picts…etc…are a complete guide…..Thank you for so much for accumulating such detailed documentation…..Most of my stuff on this is scattered hither and yon…and I spend almost more time finding what I need than making the project….

Thank you so very much for this….and Kudos…for your very hard work…I wish I had found this sooner…for all the head scratching I’ve had to do in between

-- Woodworking.....My small slice of heaven!

Thanks very much reggieK.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Way cool Bob

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon