A Bowl From a Board

This bowl was made from a single board (flat)!

I am attracted to projects that develop a new technique made possible by a new shop-made tool. I think that building the tools and techniques is as rewarding and as much fun as admiring the finished piece.

One such project that caught my eye was the turning of segmented bowls from a single plane of wood. The efficiency of the whole process vs coring or cutting a bowl from a blank intrigued me.

In this well know technique rings are cut from thin flat material at an angle. Each ring is then glued on top of the next smaller ring creating a segmented bowl glue-up that is subsequently turned to the final shape.

In the conventional process, half rings are cut from a flat blank of stock on a band saw.

The half blanks are then glued together to form full rings which are then stacked and glued to form a segmented bowl.

I wondered what turners that did not have a band saw would do? In addition, the process of cutting a half ring at an angle on the band saw seemed cumbersome and inaccurate so I set out to see if I could do it all on the lathe. All the parts of this piece are round so why can’t I build it totally on the tool that makes round things [the lathe]?

Let me be clear at the outset, I did not develop the idea of using concentric rings cut from a plank to create a bowl. This is an old approach to making a bowl, I tried to improve the process and have fun with a new challenge. What is different is how the rings are cut, entirely on the lathe.

To get started fill in the specific dimensions for your bowl project on the plan template on the step1 page.

The bowl in this instructable was made from a pre-laminated piece of dimensional lumber purchased from my home store.

Alternate faceplates and specialized tools are at the end of this instructable.

A ceiling clamp is a 4x4 that is wedged between the bowl and the ceiling :)!

We use these two salad bowls quite often they are a perfect size and weight.

This was turned from a glued-up panel made of smaller pine boards. I had to use the ceiling clamp to put enough pressure over this large area.

You can cut the rings freehand with the parting tool against the rest. This custom makes cutting the correct angle much easier.

These faceplates provide a large flat surface to cut the rings against.

These are shop-made faceplates that use a nut whose thread matches your lathe.

The centering tool's diameter is turned to the exact diameter of the nut ID and a nail is inserted on its center (not shown). The tool is inserted into the nut and the protruding nail is used to line up a center mark on the intended target material to be mounted.

The tool is ground from a cement nail. These nails are hardened so they make a decent cutting tool. This thin parting tool makes it easier to get access to the rings recess. Its size and shape also minimizes the friction vs a larger conventional tool.