Segmented Speaker Bowl

[Doug Reesor]

A friend of mine commissioned this bowl for the 50 year anniversary of his business. The bowl comes out of the base, or the pegs come out to let it lay flat on the table. It's made of Maple and Walnut.

[Roland Martin]

Extrordinary work Doug. Great combination of species and awesome joinery.

[Gerold Griffin]

Doug, great job. Really like the stand, never seen that done before. Does the walnut square seperate from the bowl also?

[Mike A. Smith]

That's a beauty Doug. Really like the 'spider web' in the bottom.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a really pretty piece. I like the spider web look in the bottom.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice work Doug! First time I've seen a wooden speaker!! Nice wood combination and great job on the joinery! Your friend must have been thrilled to get this!

[Bill Bulloch]

Very well constructed Doug. I have never seen (or heard of) a "Speaker Bowl" before and don't know its purpose. With that said, I think the stand concept is a very unique. What is a Speaker Bowl anyway?

[Doug Reesor]

The objective was to reproduce a model of the sub-woofer from a set of audio speakers on a stereo system. The "Speaker bowl" title just came because of that image association.

Doug

[Doug Reesor]

Yes, the bowl lifts out of the square piece on the bottom. The square piece is also a model of the magnet that is on the back of the speaker.

[Derek Noel]

very precise joinery, especially on the center piece. it looks like all 6 pieced hit the exact center. Do you have any special technique or are you just that good. :)
I have read several people description of how they glue up the segments in halves then sand the halves flat before gluing then together to eliminate any angle error so they get tight joints but it seams that would distort the crisp center you achieved.

[John Keeton]

Excellent replication of a speaker!! I agree with Bernie on the pattern in the bottom - just very nice grain arrangement.

Great bowl and superb segmenting.

[Robert McGowen]

Very nice design, Doug. It is easy to see the "speaker" once you know what it represents. I hope that the bottom joints do not come apart the way it is designed, but it sure looks good.

[Frank Van Atta]

Great work. Very creative.

[Doug Reesor]

Robert,

I have seen a lot of comments about bowl bottoms and am working hard to make sure the fit is very precise before any gluing. I first I tried to glue the bottom piece together in halves and found that the moister from the glue seriously distorted the bottom fit, even though the dry fit was good. I started gluing the bottom pieces together all at once and hose clamping it tightly. The hope is that any stress on the seams will be compression stress to start with and then relax to the original fit. The longest I have had a bowl since doing it this way is just over a year so I am not sure about the long time effectiveness. Can you comment?

P.S. I have been looking at your posts on this and other sites very carefully so I can see the work of a true craftsman.

Doug

[David E Keller]

Nice looking piece. Love the grain effect in the bottom. I think you hit your speaker target dead center.

[Van Huskey]

Very cools "speaker"

[Robert McGowen]

Robert,
I have seen a lot of comments about bowl bottoms and am working hard to make sure the fit is very precise before any gluing. Can you comment?
Doug

It really does not have anything to do with precise gluing. As I see it (everyone is welcome to jump in on this and confirm or refute any of this!) wood is going to move with the seasons, humidity, etc. Wood does not get longer when it moves, it gets wider. In other words, a 2"x4" will not get any longer, it will just get wider. (I am not talking microscopically here, just what is easily seen.) The segments are glued end-grain to end-grain. Therefore, they will move so that the width of the ring becomes narrower and wider. The segments do not move sideways, so to speak, but in and out. As the rings are all made the same way, the entire vase moves together and stays intact. The weak point is the bottom. Following the above reasoning, if you have a floating panel for a bottom, there is nothing to restrict the bottom ring from moving with the rest of the vase. It is just another set of segments. If you make a bottom with the ends of the segments all together, there is no place for any wood movement at all. Something is going to give and it will either be the glue joint or the wood cracking. The segments can't move in, as they are all touching at the tip and they can't move out, without the bottom opening up. The other way to make a bottom is with a solid disc. The reason this is only used in a small bottom is easy enough to see. Wood will move as a percentage of it's overall size. For the ease of math, say it is 1%. Therefore a 2" base will move .02", which may not even be visible and probably will not effect anything. If a 10" base moved 1%, it would be moving .1" A tenth of an inch movement will certainly be visible and will probably ruin whatever it is attached to.

I use the floating bottom on everything because I sell my stuff. I have no idea where it is going and what the weather is relative to where I am. A bottom such as you have may last forever sitting right where it is. The problems occur if anything changes. This is just the way that I see it and I hope that this explains things. As stated above, I am open to anyone confirming or refuting any of this. YMMV.

Still retired and able to write long replies in the middle of the day. Robert

[John Tomasello jr]

Great job on the joinery I like the spider web on the bottom