Segmented bowl

[Randy Gazda]

I am new to the forum, I thought I would introduce myself by showing some of my recent work. This bowl was made after I took a class with the local turning club. The class was free of charge and taught by a local professional turner. Living in Montana it was a great way to spend Saturday afternoons, especially since I don't ski.

The wood is black walnut (some figured scraps I have been saving for years), quilted maple, wenge, the bottom is birdseye maple, and the star is walnut, sycamore, purple heart, cherry, padauk. Size 11" x 5"

[John Keeton]

Wow!!! That is a striking piece of work! Very nice!

Oh yeah, was so taken aback by the bowl, almost forgot to welcome you to the creek!!

[Baxter Smith]

Welcome and wow!! I am not into most segmented turnings but if I could take a class and create something like that......

[Randy Gazda]

I enjoyed the class very much, the two big things I learned are:

#1 Segmented bowl are mostly about cutting and gluing wood, not about lathe time (probably 20:1 in my case).

#2. If your cuts are close, you can power sand almost anything to fit. Much easier than trying to set-up the miter saw to the precise angle.

[Bill Bulloch]

I am really impressed with that star bottom. Now that would be a something worth learning.

Welcome aboard.

[Brian Brown]

Wow! Did I mention Wow! That is really nice. Where in Montana are you from. I have to work near Big Sky Resort periodically.

[Dan Henry]

Randy The star pattern in the bottom is very nice looking. I have made some segmented bowls and the ones with a solid bottom have stayed very well but I made a couple with a pie shaped bottom pattern and both of them have some small cracks between the one or two of the segments.
I hope yours do not crack. segmented pieces are lot of work but one other thing I have learned is the shape still needs to be in good perpetuation , a piece with great colorers with a bad shape is not a great piece.
A great start in segment work.

Dan

[Steve Vaughan]

That is a beautiful bowl right there! And, welcome! I'm gonna have to look for a class. I've got one little segmented project right now that I'm working through...ugh!...right now it's just a pile of pieces parts.

[David E Keller]

Welcome aboard. That's a pretty bowl, and I'm particularly impressed with the detail in the bottom. I like the choice of woods very much. Please tell me this was not your first bowl:eek:... I can live with it being your first segmented piece, but I'm not sure I can cope with this as a first bowl.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome to SMC. That is a beautiful turning. Love the star in the bottom.

[gary Zimmel]

Wow... beautiful piece Randy!
Great way to do an intro. Welcome to the Creek.

[Bill Bolen]

Stunning piece! Welcome to the board. I think we can all pick your brain...Bill..

[Steve Schlumpf]

Randy - Welcome to the Creek!

Great looking bowl! Excellent design, wonderful wood color combination! Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Curious as to where in Montana - I graduated from Great Falls.

[Tom Giacomo]

Very nice bowl, that's quite a big step for your first segmented bowl.

[Ron Kaplan]

Hi Randy,

That is just beautiful. The quilted Maple looks like mother of pearl in the picture and the star is remarkable. Great choice of woods. By the way, do you remember the name of the turner that taught your class. My club is interested in a segmented turner giving a presntation and class to our group. If that's the level that he teachs .....

Thanks,
Ron

[Stuart Reid]

Wow and welcome! I am assuming the bottom is a "floating bottom." the glue joints look great, my biggest problem to date, and the wood choices really set up the piece. I would be interested in a description of the procedure to construct the bottom if you don't mind.

Stu

[Robert McGowen]

Quite the precision glue-up on the bottom, Randy. Very nice work and welcome to the Creek.

[Mike Golka]

Welcome to the Creek Randy. That is some fine work you have done. The joints look real good but as a few others have mentioned that type of base/ bottom can
experience enough stress to be a problem. I sure hope that is not the case for you. This has been a descussed and the topic of the last news letter over on the Segmenters forum. I too have done this type of base but have not had any failures, keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

[Doug W Swanson]

Welcome, Randy.

That bowl is beautiful. The jointwork on the bottom is amazing. I also like how you varied the joint style on the other layers.

Excellent job!

Where in MT are you located? My aunt and uncle live in Bozeman and we visit them every few years.

Doug

[Randy Gazda]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I will take a shot at answering a few of the questions. This is not my first bowl (although I thought about posting it as my first bowl, LOL). This bowl has not developed any cracks, however, one other bowl developed cracks within days of glue up. The instructor commented that he had a few bowls develop cracks over the years, he replaces bowls that crack if you purchase them from him.

The quilted maple came from a small board I purchased a few years ago, seemed expensive at the time, but wish I had more of it now.

Steve, I currently live in Great Falls.

[Tom Henry]

Welcome and that is one beautiful bowl!

[Richard Madison]

Beautiful bowl Randy. As long as you keep it in a temperature and humidity controlled environment it will be fine. Avoid large and/or rapid changes in relative humidity.

[Von Bickley]

Wow, Wow, Wow.........

That is one beautiful bowl.......

[Thom Sturgill]

Wow, that is beautiful. I like the star, but really like the quilted maple.
Great shape too.

[bob svoboda]

Welcome to the forum and VERY nice work.

[Joe Aliperti]

Incredible! That bowl is REALLY REALLY nice!