Bowl Saw

[Mike Minto]

I'm going to try the 'bowl saw' on a free trial basis - have never cored a blank, don't know how much i'd do it, anyway. anyone have any experience with this system?

[Tim Rinehart]

It was a couple weeks ago when I first wandered into the Bowlsaw site...interesting simple approach for flat bottomed bowls.

Looks like it should work well, with little effort, to that end.

[Mike Minto]

Just received the two 'bowl saws' on trial basis. Hopefully I'll get to try them out this coming weekend; will report back with results. (sure, i'd like to have a oneway set-up, but if this works for me it'll saw lots of bucks).

[Paul Douglass]

I'm very anxious to read your critic. I saw those some time ago and wondered hpw well they would work. One reason I haven't started turning bowls is it breaks my heart to turn so much wood to sawdust. I don't feel like forking over the bucks for one of the high end corers so I continue to turn little stuff.

[Jeff Nicol]

Mike, I watched a video on these a year or so ago and this are very limited in the size you can core with them. The other thing I did not like was that everything has a flat bottom. I cored a lot of things with just a parting tool before I got my McNaughton system. It was slow but it worked, now with the McNaughton the flexability is the thing that drew me to it. The Oneway and the bowl saver are nice but they are pricey and no way to vary the coring process except for changing the cutter size. I think if you used one of the coring systems after you try these you would never have even thought about the "Saw"

Just my 2 cents,

Jeff

[Ryan Baker]

Those seem like they have really short shafts. You could only cut a shallow core. I was roughing out some canister blanks the other day, and thought about this idea, as it would suit the canister shape well ... but not with those tool dimensions. Maybe I will make one to try one of these days.

[Richard Madison]

Obviously folks who own and like any of the high dollar coring systems and use them frequently will be skeptical of the bowl saw. Seems to me that the target market for the bowl saw is people who might like to get one or two cores from the occasional large blank that they encounter infrequently. Difficult for many to justify an expensive system that might be used only a few times a year. Then there is the complaint about "flat bottom" cores. Are not most bowl blanks flat, top and bottom?

Just a matter of resources and priorities. Looking forward to your report Mike.

[Mike Minto]

it's going back. nothing against the system, but when i tried it on a green walnut blank it was just taking forever. i'm sure some people will find it useful.

[Steve Vaughan]

I looked at the website on these things. Looks like a great idea, but I agree with what others have said - that it might be more for the person that comes across an occasional large piece of wood (but not too large cause these tools are a bit limited).

The other thing I'm wondering, when you tried it out on a piece of green walnut, it just seems like there would be an issue of the teeth filling up with sawdust, making it a bit difficult to keep it cutting without VERY frequent removal to get rid of the sawdust. And with that, it just looks like it should be cutting dry wood vs. green.