Bowl from a Board

Building the Blank

What I will Show.

1. A little history on what got me started2. Simple Bowl from a board3. Segmented Circle Blank bowl4. Segmented Circle Variations5. Segmented Square Blank6. Segmented Square Variations7. Techniques and Jigs.

Searching for Inspiration

• Books and the Internet can be a wonderful source of information and inspiration.

• One of the early sources was Malcolm Tibbets and his book “The art of Segmented Wood Turning”

• Another was “New Masters of Woodturning” , introduced to me by Mike Brazeau.

Some pictures from these sources:

• First glimpse at this technique form the Malcolm Tibbetts Book.

Another Source:From “New Masters of Woodturning”Michael Mode http://www.michaelmode.com

The theory in pictures:• Thanks to Peter Hyde for these illustrations:

Simple bowl blank• Two layer glue-up from left over Mahogany bed post blank.

First Segmented Attempt:

• Of course you don’t start at the end so I tried a simple bowl to test the technique.

What did I learn?

1. Choose your wood and design carefully2. Work on the form and layer design3. Improve the fit (bottom plug cover-up)4. Segmented Circle blank works well5. Careful cutting is necessary.6. You get 12 segments per layer. Hmmmm!!

Next try – Single ColorWalnut Salad Bowl and Cherry bowl (Segmented Circle Blank):

Variation on Circle Blank

• Add some lamination layers to the blank:

Bowl from a Hole:

• Amboyna Burl (solid flat cut stock):

Scrap Wood Rescue:• Wood culled from a project on the way to the fireplace:

More Segmented Circle Blanks

• Small high quality boards:

Now Mode’s Influence:• Different wood modified form: Curly Toasted Maple and Red Mahogany

Variations:1: Zebra Wood, Holly and Red Mahogany Toasted/Roasted Curly Maple

How it is done:1. Prepare a the blank

– Start with a flat board the size of the bowl or– Building a segmented circle form a flat board (15 degree pie) or– Build a square blank from selected strips glued up.

Segmented Circle Blank:

Accurate Cuts:• Make a test piece before committing to the good wood!

• Number and orientate the pieces as cut.

The Glue up:

• Jigs and techniques for accurate glue up.

6 pairs all at once:

• Each pair is carefully aligned and glued

Align, Tape up, Glue, Clamp

Clamping:

Another clamping Jig:

Trimming Circle Blanks

• This jig allows a perfect trimmed glue joint

Square segmented blank:

Square segmented blank done and mounted:

How it Cut:• Two methods of cutting the blank1. Sawing: Band saw, Scroll saw, Jig saw2. Turning: Cutoff Tool, Ringmaster• Sawing: Using the Band saw

Turning:

Assembling the Blank• Gluing and stacking the rings. When the band saw is used each half ring

must be glued together before stacking begins.

Stacking on the Lathe:• I use jumbo Jaws to hold the pieces centered. Each row is added one at a time !

Summary of Experience:

• You can get a nice bowl from scrap wood.• Circle segmented blanks are the easiest

way to multiply complexity.• A wide variety of interesting patterns can

be achieved• More than one blank can be stacked

together to improve the variations in form.• Good technique and jigs are needed to

assure necessary accuracy.

Ringmaster Tool:Dedicated Tool: http://www.ringmastertool.com