Bowl Blank Jig

[Andrew Kertesz]

Does anybody use a jig for cutting bowl blanks either wet or dry on the BS?

[Nate Davey]

Yes, do a YouTube search with your title from this post. The video I saw wasn't great. but it was good inspiration for my start point.

[Roger Wilson]

Here's a video (lots apparently on youtube) wherein the author shows how to make and use a simple circle cutting jig for the bandsaw. It's a good starting point.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H59G5bMrqRo

[Bill Bulloch]

I have one, but rarely use it for cutting blanks. It is easy enough to do without the jig when accuracy is not the issue. The jig comes in handly for cutting circles when accuracy is important like for table tops.

[Reed Gray]

Never used one. I just don't consider them practical.

I get my bowl size determined by the piece of wood I am cutting up, not from some specific size requests. This means if two bowls are the same size, it is an accident. I would have to spend a lot of time adjusting for each piece. I have found a compass/divider to work just as well. I can follow the line of a dozed different blanks, and the only adjustment I need to make is raising and lowering the bandsaw blade guides for thickness variations.

Having a perfectly round blank to start is not important. You never get them perfectly centered when you mount them on the lathe. Well, maybe accidents do happen once in a while. The face plate can move a hair when you drill the screws in. The forstner bit can be a bit off when you drill for a recess. Your marks can be a hair off if you mount between centers.

I just never considered that a circle cutting jig would benefit in the long run.

robo hippy

[Jim Burr]

Since I'm lame at making circle stuff, I use masonite discs in different sizes. I hate cutting a 14" block and ending up with a 12" round due to being clumsy.

[Greg Just]

I have various sizes of 1/4 plywood cut into circles with a nail through the center. I use these as guides when cutting my blanks on the bandsaw. The bark side of the wood it up.

[Marvin Hasenak]

Overkill, but still a bowl blank cutter system http://www.woodturningonline.com/Turning_Vendors/New_and_Hot.html

[Dan Forman]

Another masonite disc user.

Dan

[Jon Nuckles]

I use corrugated cardboard disks because I am so bad at the bandsaw that they often end up getting cut on the edges! I like them better than a compass because they work when you only have one flat side (as Greg implied above) and because you can just flip the blank over after you bandsaw it and use the same circle to mark the center with the nail.

[Peter Blair]

I use the same method as Jim and Greg. I have about 20 different size rounds and just tack the appropriate size to the blank and 'try' to get the corners off!

[Steve Vaughan]

A professional turner in my area uses a paper plate to trace out a line. I made a set of circles - 4" through 16", in 1" increments - out of 1/4" plywood, the luaun kind of stuff. I put a hole in the middle to put my awl through to find the center point. Nice thing about the circles I and others above use is that once you cut the circle out on the one side, and find your center, you can use the circle to put it on the other side and find the center there too.

If I need accuracy for bandsawing a piece of flat stock - thick or thin - then I'd just use a compass to lay it out...and I'd cut way more carefully too.

[Clint Baxter]

I've found my jig to be quite useful, especially when I'm cutting out a natural edge bowl. The disk method works well for this too, and then also provides you with the center location for mounting your blank on the lathe. When you use the jig, you'll have to use another method to find your center on the bark side of your blank.

Clint

[Thomas Canfield]

I have a bunch of circles cut our of cereal box material and find them helpful for laying out the blanks. I do attach the cardboard using a nail to blanks sometime to freehand cut the blanks. Cardboard works well also for the larger diameters with spray paint on tree sections to use with chainsaw. I also will use a homemade circle cutting jig using a 1/8" center hole for the pivot point. My jig is my 4th generation and uses piece of 1/2" MDF for the base, a runner underneath, and a slot for a piece of Rockler T-track installed upside down for adjusting center diameter. I tapped several holes and can cut circles from 1 1/2" D to about 36" D. I have an adjustable stop bolt (used T-nut in front board) with lock nut to adjust the slide to get different size blades to match the adjustable diameter T-track. I'd attach a picture, but it is packed in a POD at this time waiting on new shop.

[Michael Menzli]

I use a simple compass...put the point where I want it ..adjust the pencil to my liking and make a nice circle every time...I dont strive for consistency if thats what your after.

[Bill Boehme]

I do what the hippy does. There is no particular need to start with a perfectly round blank -- well in the case of a lathe with a small swing it can be important some of the time. I do my initial shaping with a chainsaw -- sort of square and maybe knock the corners off then I use the lathe to lathe makes things round -- that's what it is for, after all. When I mount a piece on the lathe, unless it is huge, I start between centers and do the initial shaping before mounting on a faceplate or chuck. When starting between centers, I spend a bit of time statically balancing the piece so that it does not shake the lathe when I begin turning. I use a felt tip marker to keep track of the heavy side and readjust until the piece will stay put wherever i stop it. Sometimes I have to accept a piece being out of balance because of what I want for the final shape of an odd shaped piece of wood.

BTW, I do have some orphaned, kidnapped, and "borrowed" pot lids that I occasionally use for help in deciding where to layout a piece such as a highly figured piece of maple or other non-free wood.