Semented Bowl with Floating Bottom

[Bill Bulloch]

I finished this one today. It is my first bowl with a "Floating Bottom". Robert had mentioned that if the solid bottom of a bowl is to be more than 3 inches it should be a floating bottom because of wood movement. Well, I used Malcomb Tibbetts book and DVD to guide me and, as such, making it was a very simple process.

This one is Curly Maple with a Bloodwood rim. (I really like that Curly Maple). It is 10 1/2 inches in diameter and is 5 1/2 inches high. The bottom ring is made up from 12 segments and is six inches in diameter with a four inch solid floater inserted. It has five coats of Wipe-on High Gloss Poly.

What ya think??

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty Bill. I really like the wood and form.

[brian watts]

very nice..

[Frank Van Atta]

Great looking bowl.

[Tom Giacomo]

Nice looking bowl.

[Richard Madison]

Very nice work Bill. Good job on the floating bottom. Always a challenge to make perfect looking joinery in very light colored wood.

[Dennis Puskar]

Very nice work Bill, love that Curly Maple with Bloodwood.

Dennis

[Doug W Swanson]

Nice bowl, Bill.

The woods work very well together....

Doug

[John Keeton]

You just gotta love curly maple!! Great job.

[Robert McGowen]

Looks like you have this down now. Very nice job!

[Steve Vaughan]

that's a beautiful bowl!

[Matt Ranum]

Gotta love that curly figure. Nice job.

[Roger Bullock]

My hats off to you guys that do segmented bowls. Jointing all those pieces together without having glue lines showing everywhere is a lot of work and has to be time consuming. I really think you pulled off a great looking bowl with the segmentation, maple (WOW that color), and the blood red ring at the top. One of your best yet in my book, great job.

[Doug Reesor]

Well done. I haven't tried a floating bottom yet so that's next on my to do list.

Doug

[Gerold Griffin]

Outstanding job Bill. I really like the Bloodwood/Maple combination. Great form also. Keep up the great work.

[Roland Martin]

Very nice bowl Bill, can't go wrong with curly maple IMO.

[Cathy Schaewe]

What did you use to texture the bottom? I really like that -

[Donny Lawson]

Vrey nice bowl. I've never tried segmated bowls before. Looks time consuming but fun.
Donny

[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful bowl Bill! Excellent joinery! Love all that curly! The Bloodwood rim really adds color to the piece - really nice effect!

Very nice work! Sure grabs your attention!

[Curt Fuller]

Bill, that's a beautiful bowl. I think the thin bloodwood rim really sets it off. Everything about it looks really nice.

Is the floating bottom something similar to how a raised panel would fit in a cabinet door? I'm guessing you insert the bottom piece while your putting the first ring together, but how do you mount it to the lathe after that?

[Greg Ketell]

Beautiful bowl!

[David E Keller]

Beautiful bowl. The blood wood detail is very nice.

I'm not sure about the way you signed the bottom... The thickness of the ink line and size of the writing takes away from the piece a little for me. It's such a refined looking piece, and I think the signature should be as well.

[Bill Bulloch]

What did you use to texture the bottom? I really like that -


I used the Wagner Texturing Tool, http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Turning_Tools___Special_Purpose_Tools___Wagner_Tex turing_Tool___wagner_texturing?Args=

[Bill Bulloch]

.

Is the floating bottom something similar to how a raised panel would fit in a cabinet door? I'm guessing you insert the bottom piece while your putting the first ring together, but how do you mount it to the lathe after that?

No, It's not like a raised panel where you insert it into a grove. You mount the bottom ring to a glue block on the lathe and then cut a 1/4 inch rabbet joint in the ring. The solid bottom piece is dropped into the rabbet and a drop of glue is put on opposite ends to hold it in place. Then, you glue on the second ring being careful not to get glue on the solid bottom piece, which would restrict movement. The bottom of the solid disc is finished before you put into the rabbet.

[Bill Bulloch]

I'm not sure about the way you signed the bottom... The thickness of the ink line and size of the writing takes away from the piece a little for me. It's such a refined looking piece, and I think the signature should be as well.


Ofcourse you are right. I'll need to find a better writing instrument. Guess I could make a pen.

[Van Huskey]

Very nice the maple looks super.

[Jeff Nicol]

Bill, I see you have Curly looking good! I think the other 2 stooges are jealous! Wonderful wood combo and the simple shape is perfect to show off the curly grain.

Nice job,

Jeff

[John Tomasello jr]

Good job Bill, outstanding maple. Never heard of a floating bottom until I found the creek. Need to do some research on how to make one.