Segmented bowls and school

[Michael Stafford]

Attached are some pictures of two segmented bowls I turned recently. One is bubinga and is 5 1/2" tall and 6" in diameter. The other is some found wood, maple or beech and is 6" tall and 7" in diameter.

I learned to construct and turn this type of bowl in a course entitled "Polychromatic Segmented Bowls" taught at John C. Campbell Folk School by Don Russell about 18 months ago. I have turned about 20 pieces since that time ranging from shallow bowls to deeper bowls like the ones pictured to pedestal bowls. Many of them were made of multiple woods laminated into strips, cut and glued to form the bowl shell. Unfortunately I have no digital images of those as I did not have a digital camera then and they have been sold. Since then I have been turning more or less monochromatic segmented bowls that are deeper since I have access to some rather large cutoffs from a local millwork company.

The bowl sections are cut using the sliding CMS, taped together to test fit, then glued and clamped using stretchable 3M packing tape, a tape that has a 10 to 1 stretching ability and really squeezes everything together.

Once the ring is dried you glue the top to a circular disc of plywood or solid wood attached to a faceplate. Then you turn the outside and fit a bottom so that it can be gripped by your chuck. Reverse and turn the inside. I enjoy making them as they make good use of these 3-5 foot scraps that I have.

Anyway, next week, starting Sunday night I am taking a followup course with Don that will teach how to carry the concept farther into an enclosed form or urn type object. Don is a master of mixing woods and his work is reminiscent of the late Ray Allen. I hope to learn how to better mix different woods to paint pictures on my segmented turnings. People seen to like them as I have sold every single one that I have offered.

Thanks for looking.

[Jack Hogoboom]

Really, really nice. It's easy to see why they sell so well. I'd like to get into this once I learn the basics of bowl turning. Does it take a lot of time and/or precision to glue up the blanks?

Thanks for sharing.

Jack

[Tyler Howell]

Big Mike,

Way out cool. I'm liking the spinny thing there.:cool:

[Michael Stafford]

Jack, yes and no. You do have to do a number of test cuts to make sure that you have set up the CMS correctly. Basically you cut 4 pieces and see how close they are to 90 degrees (4 segments represents 1/4 of the 16 segment ring and should measure 90 degrees), adjust as necessary using a rubber hammer and keep cutting. Once set up you can cut a huge number of segments and make a lot of bowls. The rubber hammer thing is for real. You barely loosen your bevel and tap gently with the rubber hammer in the right direction and lock the bevel down. Works better for fine adjustments than trying to move by hand. Another Don Russell innovation!

[George M. Perzel]

Mike;
Absolutley stunning!! Incredible craftmanship and finishing-what do you use to get a finish like that? Thanks
george

[Michael Stafford]

George, I use a mixture of BLO, tung oil and urethane oil, equal parts plus 40% mineral spirits to flood the piece. I let it soak in, wipe off the excess and buff dry on the lathe. In between coats I use 6/0 steel wool and the finest grade of the 3M non-abrasive pads to continually smooth each coat. It just gets smoother and smoother. Sorta like a friction polish since you can put multiple coats on in a day. Then you let it dry for 24 hours, buff with coarse felt, wax and buff out. Always seems to give a great shine and depth.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mike.....Gorgeous work!

[Jim Becker]

Michael, I really like this style of segmented work, more so than most other types. There is something about it that is very "uplifting" and it seems to accentuate the form more than horizontal orientations. Great job!

[John Shuk]

Very very nice. Great work on the finish as well.

[Pete Lamberty]

I really like your work. You are venturing into the art area of woodworking which I am mostly drawn to. Great job and show us some photos of what you do in your next class.

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Mike, Those bowls are stunning. I really like the way segmenting looks. Keep up the great work.

Roger

[Mark Stutz]

Mike,
These are beautiful! I'm having a litle problem visualizing the glued up blank. What size, or thickness do you start with? Does it look like a thick, hollow cylinder to start with? Thanks. ( any PICS of the glued up bland?)

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

I'm with Mark............I can envision the process, but maybe you could share the procedure, or document the next glue up with photo's. Those are really nice bowls Michael, the design and your finishing procedure could not be better. I can see where those would be very popular. I also agree with what Jim said, I like segmented bowls like this much better than the more conventional style. I look forward to seeing more of this type work Michael, thanks MUCH for sharing your excellent work! :)

[Jamie Buxton]

Michael --
From looking at the pix, it seems that you have 16 segments, and the glue joints between the segments are just butt joints. Is that right -- just endgrain butt joints? If so, what glue are you using?

[Dick Parr]

Very nice Michael, they look outstanding.

[Pat Monahan]

Very impressive, Mike! Almost makes me think seriously about getting a lathe! :cool:

[Ernie Kuhn]

Michael,
Superb! And that finish....it just screams, "touch me". Very tactile.
Ernie

[Michael Stafford]

The glued up blank looks like a truncated conic section with thick walls. It is made up of 16 sections which are cut on the CMS with compound miters. Both of the examples in the post were cut with a base angle of 15 degrees from vertical.

I use the Woodworker's Guide to Compound Miters from Bridge City Tools. On the page for 16 segments with a base angle of 15 degrees it reads 87.053 degrees miter and 79.138 degrees bevel. Now you see why final adjustments are accomplished via the rubber hammer. Not as difficult as it seems as I am usually able to get it right in 3 or 4 trial cuts.

The bubinga was cut from 1 1/8 thick stock. The maple/beech was cut from 1 5/8 stock. The more thickness you have in the type of bowl pictured allows for more curves.

As far as glue Don uses Probond as he thinks it has more initial tack but he has used them all successfully. I have used Titebond II and poly without any problems. I turn these at 1800 rpm with no problems. And yes they are end grain butt joints. Don has turned hundreds of them and never had a problem. I , unfortunately have to say that I had one come off the lathe because I failed to tighten the chuck and even that one didn't break at any joint, just chipped a corner off. The finished product is more decorative than functional.

Next week I will take a lot of pictures and show you the various stages of the process. Thanks for the kind words and interest. It is much easier than it appears or I would not be able to do it... :o

[Jim Becker]

Mike, I'm looking forward to your "tutorial pictorial" next week on this subject. Please start a separate thread so it can eventually live in the "articles" section of SMC!

[Michael Stafford]

I am a bit embarassed to post these pictures but as they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I was in the process of cutting segments for another bowl of walnut using the same set up as the bowls pictured in this thread. Same base angle just a different width so that it would have been a broader based bowl. Well the old adage measure once applies here as I ran out of wood at segment 14. :eek:

At least you will have an idea of what the bowl looks like as it is being assembled.
Picture one shows a partial ring of segments being assembled flat on their backs or outside of the bowl side- is that awkward enough for you?
Second picture shows the incomplete ring from the bottom and is how the assembly would look as it is being glued.
Last picture shows a top view of the ring. On this flat is where a plywood disc is glued with a faceplate attached so that the bottom can be turned to accept a bottom. Also the outside is preliminarily shaped.

I hope this makes more sense than the written word...

[Mark Stutz]

Thanks. Both the explanation and pictures are perfect. I hadn't thought of compound angles :o and was thinking there would be a lot of wasted wood. Will have to put this on my to do list!

Mark

[Chris Padilla]

Very nice, Big Mike! I think some contrasting wood for the last two segment might be nice! :) I like how you can literally "wrap" from a flat board to your segmented bowl shape...should almost have continuous grain and superb color matching!

Look forward to more regarding this technique. You should have crown molding down pat now! :)

[Glenn Hodges]

Beautiful work, you picked a great time to go to John Campbell.