My Popcorn Segmented Weave Bowl

Here is a quick overview on how to make a segmented "weave" bowl. I use mine for popcorn. I bet you guessed why after watching my video.

Materials:

1. Birch Plywood (1/2 - 3/4") will do for the middle rings
2. Walnut for the top and bottom rings
3. Tight Bond II glue

Tools

1. Table saw to prep stock
2. Rubber Banks to clamp rings
3. Lathe to turn the bowl

Be creative and draw your bowl's profile on graph paper or a CAD tool. You only need to draw half of the bowl like shown in the picture. Next add around 1/4" -3/8" on each side of the bowl wall thickness to give some cushion when you turn your bowl. Measure the width of these walls and the radius from the center. Once you are satisficed with your design, you can use a cool calculator from an amazing guy in my wood club (it's free). You just enter the parameters of your bowl and it computes all the information you need to cut you segments.

Next, you prepare your stock to cut the ring segment layers using the information from the segment calculator. The Horizonal pieces are the larger trapezoids and the smaller ones are the Vertical pieces that create the "weave" illusion. Also the vertical pieces need to be cut with the table saw tilted at 20% so you can create the weave. Also don't forget to sand off the fuzzies.

To make a bowl a bit more interesting, I clued up some plywood to create a feature element for the bottom of my bowl. See my last “ible” for more details of this "3D Cube" hexagonal design.

Now that you have your stock all prepared, you can cut the segments based on your design and data from the segment tool. I cut 5 rings using the birch plywood and a top and bottom right out of walnut. The table saw blade is also titled at 20 degrees. BTW, a cool tool to make perfect segments every time is called a "Wedgie" slide and easy to make with this guy's plans plus he has a bunch of good videos too.

Now get ready for the sticky part. I glued up the vertical and a horizonal segments to create little atomic units. Then I aligned them up in a circle and added more glue. The next step is tricky, after you put more glue on the atomic pieces, you can place a piece of plastic wrap over the ring to keep from sticking to things. Now, you add heavy weights to keep everything held down (I used 2 paint cans) and stretch 3 or 4 rubber banks over the cans and onto the ring to pull everything tight together. Maybe you will find a better way, but this worked well for me. Let the glue dry over night (or at least 2-3 hours). Now you'll have all your rings ready for the final glue up.

BTW, I wasn’t able to use ring clamps since the segments are cut on a 20 degree angle and the ring camp just slides them out when tightening.

I used double sided tape to stick my 3D Cube feature element on to a waste block and turn it into a cylinder to fit inside the walnut base of the bowl. Then I added a faceplate (purple thing) so I can mount onto my lathe.

With the base of the bowl mounted to your lathe, you now can add one ring at a time with plenty of glue to build up the profile of the bowl based on your design. I waited around 20 mins before adding the next ring. Also I used a lathe chuck with Cole Jaws to help center the ring onto the bowl. KEY TO THE DESIGN: When you add each ring you want to alternate the vertical pieces so it looks like a weave going in and out of the horizonal segments.. After letting everything dry overnight, you are ready to start turning. I called these Bowls "His and Her" since when you cut the segments on alternative sides of the wedgie sled, you get pieces that slant left and right, so you can make two bowls without wasting stock. You can deiced who gets the left or right bowl.

For turning plywood, I use carbide lathe tools since the glue is sooo hard and HSS tools need sharpening every few minutes.  First, I start on the outside of the bowl to shape the profile. Then I move inside and start nibbling away very carefully. I use the tailstock with a piece of wood to apply pressure to secure the bowl. If you are too aggressive with your lathe tool, the bowl can snap off the faceplate. (Ask me how I know.). After you finish the inside and outside of the bowl to your liking, you sand and sand and sand some more.

Aye Ba Ba- Everything Stop working --- Turned out it was the switch.

I used a finish called "shine juice" (sort of like a French polish). It is 1 part Boiled Linseed Oil, 1 part Denatured Alcohol, and 1 Part Zinsser Shellac (dewaxed) . Here's a video on how to make to.

Who wants to hear the popcorn song again. My sister and I would play this song when we wanted our dad to make popcorn. I know why he'd always jump up to do it since this song get's stuck in your head if played too much.

Also check out this retro video. If I win this "ible" I'll share some of the prize for the first person that does this dance in public and post their video in comments :-).