How would you machine this?

[Matt Ellis]

I've had a request for an end grain cutting board similar to this:

269613

How would you go about machining the depression/portion of the sphere? FWIW, I don't have a lathe and the board would measure about 12x16, while the major diameter of the sphere is about 5".

[Ken Fitzgerald]

By far, the quickest and easiest method would be to turn it, obviously.

Possibly use a hand tool.....I can't remember the name but neander chair makers use them to scoop out chair seats...

[Rod Sheridan]

Compass, gouge, scraper, sandpaper.

You can complete the above before you figure out how to do it with a machine............Regards, Rod.

P.S I would have suggested a small hand adze however I doubt if you have one.

[David C. Roseman]

Matt, neat project! While we're waiting for someone to come up with a practical way to power machine this without a lathe, may I point out that this is a perfect excuse to buy a new tool! :) Actually, you may want to contact a local turning club in your area. I'm sure there are probably half a dozen folks with large lathes that would be happy to have you bring the board over to their shop after you've glued it up and thickness sanded it. Would only take a few minutes to mount it up with double-faced tape and turn the recess.

David

[Ryan Mooney]

By far, the quickest and easiest method would be to turn it, obviously.

Possibly use a hand tool.....I can't remember the name but neander chair makers use them to scoop out chair seats...

I believe you are thinking of a Scorp - if you search for "chairmakers scorp" you'll find a number of exampled. It would be .. challenging (but not impossible) to get an even curve like that with one though. I'd bet a square doughnut that the original was done on a lathe as well.

I could swear I've seen a router jig for doing curves like that as well, but darned if I can find it or remember how it would have worked...

[johnny means]

Does it need to match the knife? I would spin it on my table saw. Kind of like a table saw cove. Of course, I would make sure my jig was really stout first.

[bill tindall]

I had a similar problem with an easy to carve cherry block and I just dug it out with a gouge. I wound up leaving the tool marks as I thought they added to the attractiveness. To proceed, mark the circle with a compass, using a Forstner bit drill a hole in the center to provide a depth target and carve away. The new gouge will cost you $35. You will be amazed that it will be done in less time than you have spent studying the replies and pondering alternatives(provided the gouge is sharp).

[Bruce Wrenn]

Use a router either on a pendilum, or curved track. Check out Scooping out a chair seat, using the router. Cutting board would have to rotate 360 degrees to acommandate the Elu knife.

[Jim Matthews]

I suppose you could use the Arbortech Turboplane (http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/power-carving-with-the-arbortech-turboplane/) on a power carver, but I would do this with a gouge followed by scraping.

My preference would be a curved (both laterally and along the length) Japanese compass plane.
With a fingernail profile blade like a scrub plane, you can very precisely control shavings.

A series of drilled holes could provide depth information to follow as you go.

It's my suspicion that a board like this should be carved first, and allowed to season for some time.
When you're satisfied it has "settled" joint and plane the top and bottom surfaces parallel.

[jack forsberg]

if indeed its end grain than hand tools other than on a lathe will be blister forming. :p:p

the lathe no question no contest.

[Tai Fu]

You can use a circle jig and a router...

Cut the circle and increase depth as you make your way to the center.

Or Drill press and forstner bit to hog out the middle then finish by hand...

[Bruce Page]

CNC router. Easy Peasy. :)

[Rich Engelhardt]

HF 4.5" angle grinder + Lancelot
HF 4.5" angle grinder + Galahad
HF 4.5" angle grinder + Arbortech Turbo Plane

or for that matter...

HF 4.5" angle grinder w/abrasive wheel.

[Jeff Duncan]

The picture is of a long grain board which would be much easier to work with hand tools than an end grain board. I wouldn't want to try to scoop that in end grain by hand:(

If it were for me it wouldn't be a paying job, so it would be something I'd be making for myself. As such I'd probably go with hand tools and avoid the end grain configuration.

good luck,
JeffD

[Brett Robson]

269660

You can build a gimbal jig for your router. The one in the picture would work providing you rotate you workpiece as you cut down into it, gradually forming the depression.

[Prashun Patel]

If you are doing a bunch of these, I suggest you make a router jig.

Another approach is to use an angle grinder with a carbide 'Kutzall' wheel. You can make a 2-d profiling gauge of the arc and some 1/4" hardboard. Then you grind away, using the gauge as you go. After this, you'll need to smooth the bumps which can be done with a curved scraper, a profiled sanding block, or a soft backing pad on your ROS and some 60 grit sandpaper.

Alternatively, if you don't want a truly spherical depression, you can use a bowl cleaning bit and a simple circle jig to make an even depth circular depression that is radiused at the edges.

[Peter Quinn]

Router, pendulum, core box bit. The one in the picture is a circle in a square, which makes more sense for using the mezza Luna in the back ground given it had a radius knife, no reason to make an elliptical depression for use with a round cutter. But if you must have an elliptical depression, that will greatly complicate your mission. I'd then be looking at a swinging arm that rotates 360 degrees, an elipitical guide built in to control the arms movement, sort of like a hybrid archemedes cross and pendulum mix. But again, no practical reason to create such an object because in reality a mezza Luna knife will not work well in an eclipse IMO.

[Keith Hankins]

I saw a video somewhere where a guy took and made a jig for a router with the radius curved to match the cure in the bowl desired. this will cradle a router with a wide base plate make it so it rides the sides like a rail and spin it till you get it all done (assuming you have a curved bit or bowl kit).

269661

[Steve Grazier]

Here's a link to a youtube video where a guy turns a bowl on a table saw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EHRhh11rWs

It looks to be a fairly simple operation using a homemade jig.

[Richard Coers]

Please consider your safety with all those grinder with carving heads. Especially the chainsaw type. Bringing that into end grain is an accident waiting to happen. The teeth will want to jump and work pretty roughly in the end grain. A scorp will be almost useless on end grain also. It's a lathe job for sure, especially if you want to spend less than a day on it.

[jack forsberg]

Please consider your safety with all those grinder with carving heads. Especially the chainsaw type. Bringing that into end grain is an accident waiting to happen. The teeth will want to jump and work pretty roughly in the end grain. A scorp will be almost useless on end grain also. It's a lathe job for sure, especially if you want to spend less than a day on it.

with out a question the lathe. I mean come on who is going to want to sand by hand? the lathe is the tool. and when you can pick up a used one for $75 there is no reason to not have one.

Maybe some of you like to do things different? Well then how about a Wadkin Pattern Miller, there only about 6000lbs and there lots on the used market because they don't use wood to make molds any more. should be up to the task don't you think?:cool::cool:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS01_zps1212b4cc.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS01_zps1212b4cc.jpg.html )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS02_zps046ad744.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS02_zps046ad744.jpg.html )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS03_zps32bcf745.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS03_zps32bcf745.jpg.html )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWS01_zps0b0f9be2.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWS01_zps0b0f9be2.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS03detail_zpsb90981c9.jp g (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS03detail_zpsb90981c9.jp g.html)

should not be a problem for the wadkin in any grain. Not for every one though.

[mreza Salav]

Jack, where do you get these photos from?
I like the safety goggles they are wearing (like in the first photo). :rolleyes:

[jack forsberg]

Jack, where do you get these photos from?
I like the safety goggles they are wearing (like in the first photo). :rolleyes:


Wadkin Catalog cuts Mo from the 50s

[David Kumm]

Wadkin Catalog cuts Mo from the 50s

Back when the machine guys dressed better than the doctors. Dave

[Alan Lightstone]

Back when the machine guys dressed better than the doctors. Dave
They had better tools.

Pendulum for a router - sounds impressively dangerous. How does that work?

[jack forsberg]

Pendulum for a router - sounds impressively dangerous. How does that work?


Was there not a FWW article on a carved fan shell for a cabinet that was done with a router setup like that?

[Mike McCann]

since you are glueing up end grain with the scoop out. you can precut most of the pieces before glue up they you would only need to clean it up then

[David C. Roseman]

with out a question the lathe. I mean come on who is going to want to sand by hand? the lathe is the tool. and when you can pick up a used one for $75 there is no reason to not have one.
[snip]

Matt would need a pretty big lathe, though, to swing a 12" x 16" cutting board. Also some help with the set-up and cutting, if new to turning!

The video of bowl-turning on a table saw was a hoot for someone like me who loves gadgets, but surely suggests too much time on one's hands!

I've been assuming this isn't going to be a production run. So I'm back to contacting the local turning club for someone who's willing to help with this. Would probably take about 30 to 45 minutes for set-up and cutting the recess. In our neck of the woods, there'd be a number of people happy to help. Don’t know where you’re located, Matt, but if you post a message in the SMC Turning Forum, there might be a member near you who could help with this.

David

[jack forsberg]

Matt would need a pretty big lathe, though, to swing a 12" x 16" cutting board. Also some help with the set-up and cutting, if new to turning!

David

a small 6" gap bed lathe or on the out board on a face plate , and as it end grain that about the easy to turn there is with a round nose scraper.I would call that beginner turning if ever there was.

Now i think a big lathe would be easier/more fun to work on like my 10" wadkin RS but you don't need that for that shallow turning IMO.

[Matt Ellis]

Thanks everyone for the replies to the thread. Jack, I loved the pictures. It amazes me what people were able to accomplish when everything was mechanical. There were some truly brilliant people that went before.

Still on the fence about this project. I'm leaning more towards telling my request-ee I just don't have the ability or tooling for this particular task. Not worth messing up an otherwise nice board, or more importantly, me.

[Wayne Jolly]

What about using a Radial Arm Saw in an operation similar to cove cutting on a table saw. Lock the piece down and rotate the RAS head. Or some sort of contraption like an upside-down lazy susan that would hold the piece face down on the table saw's table and centered over the blade, and then rotate it as you slowly raise the blade. I don't think it's something I would want to try, but someone could probably design and build a jig of some sort that could make the operation safely.

Wayne

[Kesh Ikuma]

I don't know for sure if it can be done this way, but could you devise a similar TS jig as the one M. Rodgriguez demonstrated on PWW to carve chair seats?

http://youtu.be/5SveP71RLs4

[Rick Markham]

Gee Thanks Jack! :p You just solved a major problem I was having! I am going to need one of those, just as soon as I get a giant steel building built... The list gets longer... and I'm totally dead serious!! :eek::D There's a ways to get there, but one day!


with out a question the lathe. I mean come on who is going to want to sand by hand? the lathe is the tool. and when you can pick up a used one for $75 there is no reason to not have one.

Maybe some of you like to do things different? Well then how about a Wadkin Pattern Miller, there only about 6000lbs and there lots on the used market because they don't use wood to make molds any more. should be up to the task don't you think?:cool::cool:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS01_zps1212b4cc.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS01_zps1212b4cc.jpg.html )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS02_zps046ad744.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS02_zps046ad744.jpg.html )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS03_zps32bcf745.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS03_zps32bcf745.jpg.html )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWS01_zps0b0f9be2.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWS01_zps0b0f9be2.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PeterS/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS03detail_zpsb90981c9.jp g (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/PeterS/media/WadkinPatternMillingWPandWS03detail_zpsb90981c9.jp g.html)

should not be a problem for the wadkin in any grain. Not for every one though.

[bobby milam]

CNC router. Easy Peasy. :)

That's the first thing that popped into my head when I saw it too. Find someone nearby with a cnc and have coffee while it makes it for you.:D

[Huck Schwee]

Table saw would be the way I would go without a lathe or CNC. With a jig and taking small passes, this should be a pretty safe operation.

[Bruce Page]

As I see it, the trouble with using a table saw or swinging router jig is matching the radius of the Ulu knife. The knife would still chop with a somewhat larger radius but not with a smaller radius.