First and second bowls. . .

[Matt Evans]

Well, I am a spindle guy, but had finished up a few screw blanks and had some really green mulberry left over. So, I said what the heck, I will try to rig something and try a bowl.

The first one went ok, till I got a nasty catch. No saving it, so decided that bit of maple root I had laying about for a few years looked like a bowl of sorts.

If anyone has suggestions, let me know. I am new to this, and like spindles much better, but might continue doing a bowl or two occasionally if I ever get the right chucks and face plates.

[John Keeton]

Matt, that was a first class catch!!! It really did a number on that bowl. Very interesting piece from the maple root - neat wood. At this point, I think experimentation is the best thing - just turn a bunch of bowls from whatever you can find until you get comfortable with the process. It certainly is far different than spindle turning. One suggestion would be to maintain the inside and outside curvatures the same. In this case, I think a simple round shape would show the wood better, and perhaps try for a little thinner walls. But, overall, a very rustic piece that really lets the wood show well.

Having a good chuck will make a world of difference for you.

[Paul Williams]

Matt,I turned wood with a metal lath and three jaw chuck for a while before getting my wood lathe. It is much easier to rip a bowl out of a three jaw chuck than out of a chuck made for wood turning. If you don't have a faceplate, I would turn a piece of very hard tight grained wood into a glue block with a tenon sized for your chuck and as long as the depth of the jaws. The other end of the glue block should be wide enough to get good support and adequate glue surface on your blank. Good Luck I think you will enjoy bowl turning.

[Chip Sutherland]

Practice, practice, practice. But I would also suggest finding a turning club and getting hooked into some folks who will give you some pointers. Watch out for anything on YouTube. There are good ones then there are a few crackpots posting videos. Hold off on the root wood until you've built up your skill set....then you will be amazed at what you can truly make that gnarly piece become.

PS...nice exploded bowl. I broke a 9" church offering bowl like that but was able to save it for a communion platter (bowl with no walls). You could probably still get a change bowl out of the remains of that one.

[David DeCristoforo]

That was an awesome catch! Wish I could have been there to see it!!! You are not taking the "easy entrance" here, starting out with such gnarly pieces of wood. Even experienced turners have trouble with stuff like that...

[David E Keller]

Good for you for expanding your turning horizons! Not much to say about the first piece except that we've all been there(some of us more than once). I like the rustic, gnarly wood that you've chosen, and I agree with JK's suggestion to give a basic round shape a try. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.

[Keith E Byrd]

Matt, I have a bowl that looks just like your first picture. Scared the heck out of me when it flew off the lathe!

[Matt Evans]

Matt, that was a first class catch!!! It really did a number on that bowl. Very interesting piece from the maple root - neat wood. At this point, I think experimentation is the best thing - just turn a bunch of bowls from whatever you can find until you get comfortable with the process. It certainly is far different than spindle turning. One suggestion would be to maintain the inside and outside curvatures the same. In this case, I think a simple round shape would show the wood better, and perhaps try for a little thinner walls. But, overall, a very rustic piece that really lets the wood show well.

Having a good chuck will make a world of difference for you.

You ain't kidding! a good face plate is in the future, I hope. As well as trying to figure out what tools I need to make for hollowing out the inside of the bowls. The outsides are pretty simple, as they are pretty much spindles.

As for the shapes. . .I didn't have much to work with, and that root I was sorta worried about going any deeper. Really punky, and there wasn’t much left on the bottom or sides, at least not much in the way of solid wood that I thought would hold together.


Matt,I turned wood with a metal lath and three jaw chuck for a while before getting my wood lathe. It is much easier to rip a bowl out of a three jaw chuck than out of a chuck made for wood turning. If you don't have a faceplate, I would turn a piece of very hard tight grained wood into a glue block with a tenon sized for your chuck and as long as the depth of the jaws. The other end of the glue block should be wide enough to get good support and adequate glue surface on your blank. Good Luck I think you will enjoy bowl turning.

Can you explain the process of using a glue block, from start to finish? You would end up doing the inside first that way, I would think. Specific glues you would use, etc? (I hear turners love CA glue, but I have never used it for any wood application before.)


Practice, practice, practice. But I would also suggest finding a turning club and getting hooked into some folks who will give you some pointers. Watch out for anything on YouTube. There are good ones then there are a few crackpots posting videos. Hold off on the root wood until you've built up your skill set....then you will be amazed at what you can truly make that gnarly piece become.

PS...nice exploded bowl. I broke a 9" church offering bowl like that but was able to save it for a communion platter (bowl with no walls). You could probably still get a change bowl out of the remains of that one.

The mulberry wood was only 2.5" in diameter. If I thought I coulda saved it, I woulda, but at that size, I was pretty sure it would be too small for a coaster.

I can appreciate the starting with starter wood and projects. What I have on hand is sort of dictating the projects at the moment though, so I may have a few more spectacular failures before getting the knack of this bowl thing. Of course, in a month or so I might get down to my grandfathers farm and get a few chunks of decent turning wood, so that may help in my developing some bowl turning skills.

[John Hart]

One of these days...not far from now, some young whippersnapper is gonna post a beautiful "first bowl"....And you're gonna say, "Sheesh...doesn't look like MY first bowl!!!" :)