Bowl from a Board Cutting

[Doug Hepler]

Hello, All

If you do much bowl from a board (BfB) work, I'd love to learn more from you. I'm talking about the technique where you cut rings out of a board and re-assemble them into a dish or bowl. What method works best for you for cutting rings? I have made half-rings on a band saw, and cut full rings on the lathe using parting tools of various descriptions. The wide flat thin type of parting tool seems to work best for me but they get hot. Also, if you cut half-rings on a band saw, do you cut them freehand or do you have a jig for cutting half rings?

EDIT: I see my subject line is confusing some folks. I'm not asking about a "cutting board" as in a kitchen implement, I'm asking about how to cut the rings to make a BfB construction.

Doug

[Dave Mcintire]

I cut the rings using a jigsaw. Start by drawing concentric rings on your board with a compass. Figure the angle using graph paper so the rings overlap. Tilt your drill press head or table at that angle and drill a series of holes on the circumfrence of each ring. Use a drill just big enough to get the jig saw blade through. Tilt the jig saw table to the same angle and starting with the largest ring cut them so you have one piece rings by inseting the bladethrough the hole. The outside of the largest ring can be cut faster using a band saw. I usually spacethe rings about 5/8" apart for work around 7/8" thick. Of course you surface plane both sides of you work first.

hope this helps

[Brian Kent]

I mis-read your opening line and have been thinking about how to make a bowl from a Cutting Board.

[John K Jordan]

I mis-read your opening line and have been thinking about how to make a bowl from a Cutting Board.

Maybe start with a very thick cutting board! Like the one I had custom made from amazing olive wood and brought back from Italy. I didn't plan on cutting on it but cutting it up (into spindle turning blanks).

JKJ

[Don Jarvie]

Take a look for an article by Malcolm Tibbits where he used pen blanks. The tricky part is he cuts the circles at 45 degrees on the bandsaw so they stack. It sounds like he did is what you have in mind.

[Barry McFadden]

Hi Doug....I have made quite a few bowls from a board. On the first one I cut half rings on the bandsaw and glued them together. I really didn't like this method so I started doing it pretty much the same as Dave does. After the board is glued up and planed I use a circle marker from Lee Valley http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=72277&cat=1,42936 to draw the rings. I drill a small hole at the edge of each ring at 35 degrees and use a scroll saw with the table tilted to 35 degrees to cut the complete rings out (I think Dave does the same thing but calls it a jig saw). I then stack and glue the rings one at a time and glue a tenon of scrap wood on the bottom to be held by the chuck and it's ready to put on the lathe. Here's some pictures to show the steps....hope this helps...

[Mark Greenbaum]

Barry:

Thanks for the photos and the explanation. I can see myself doing some of these with the scraps I have around.

[Doug Hepler]

Dave and Barry

Thank you. Very nice designs, Barry. Thanks for the pix. I think the scroll saw approach is great (the tool formerly known as a jigsaw). I don't have one because mine did not survive my recent downsizing. It didn't make it here because of space limitations in my new shop. Your advice will cause me to reconsider.

In the past, I have made 3-4 blanks out of half-rings cut on a band saw and about the same number made by cutting whole rings on the lathe. The former method requires more finesse because the band saw table has to be tilted. Cutting whole rings on the lathe is more direct but I am still looking for a better cutting tool. At the moment I use a 1/8" thick parting tool that I have ground down to about 1/2" wide. It binds and catches but eventually I get the rings cut. Not really satisfactory.

I hope others will chime in with their ideas

Doug

[Leo Van Der Loo]

This will maybe shot down on this forum here, but that is where this turner did show his work, sorry if it isn’t liked here.

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/27966-a-couple-new-bfabs ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/27392-two-birthday-bowls ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/tutorials/tutorials-aa/turning-aa/10539-segmented-bowl-from-a-single-board-grain-matching-technique?t=18252 ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/20047-bfab-with-atwist ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/16342-bfab-angle-chart-for-ron-f-and-others ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/16049-just-more-bfab-s ,and this

[Mark Greenbaum]

WOW - so many variations on the theme. Thanks Leo for posting.

This will maybe shot down on this forum here, but that is where this turner did show his work, sorry if it isn’t liked here.

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/27966-a-couple-new-bfabs ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/27392-two-birthday-bowls ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/tutorials/tutorials-aa/turning-aa/10539-segmented-bowl-from-a-single-board-grain-matching-technique?t=18252 ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/20047-bfab-with-atwist ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/16342-bfab-angle-chart-for-ron-f-and-others ,and this

remove this https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/16049-just-more-bfab-s ,and this

[Leo Van Der Loo]

WOW - so many variations on the theme. Thanks Leo for posting.

Thanks Mark, it is in the last link where he shows the way he is doing his rings on the lathe, he has taken the Oneway DRILL WIZARD and changed it to hold his cutter to be able to cut the rings with the angles he needs for the shape of the bowl.

The DRILL WIZARD as it is from ONEWAY, Remove this http://oneway.ca/index.php?route=product/search&search=drill%20wizard remove this also, and the way Ed has changed it to be able to slice the rings in de picture.

340864

[Doug Hepler]

Leo,

I looked at each picture you posted, and was blinded by the quality of those bowls but could not see an answer to my query. Now I see your point, and I drilled down far enough into the forum posts to see how he does it. Thank you very much. Do you know what he uses for a cutter?

Doug

[Mark Greenbaum]

Leo, that would also be possible and probably better done using a router, and a solid carbide up spiral bit. It's got me thinking....


Thanks Mark, it is in the last link where he shows the way he is doing his rings on the lathe, he has taken the Oneway DRILL WIZARD and changed it to hold his cutter to be able to cut the rings with the angles he needs for the shape of the bowl.

The DRILL WIZARD as it is from ONEWAY, Remove this http://oneway.ca/index.php?route=product/search&search=drill%20wizard remove this also, and the way Ed has changed it to be able to slice the rings in de picture.

340864

[John K Jordan]

Leo, Do you know what he uses for a cutter?

Doug, I wondered the same thing. If I were to do this the first thing I would try is a parting tool such as some I have for my metal lathe. For example, here is one with a the holder (could easily make some kind of holder): https://jet.com/product/detail/b07247381d154035a0013ca5c4b96dec?jcmp=pla:ggl:gen_ hardware_a1:hardware_accessories_tool_storage_orga nization_a1_other:na:PLA_348829020_24253596900_pla-161691683820:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&ds_c=gen_hardware_a1&ds_cid=&ds_ag=hardware_accessories_tool_storage_organizati on_a1_other&product_id=b07247381d154035a0013ca5c4b96dec&product_partition_id=161691683820&gclid=CPzXkNmc-80CFdgVgQodpIgD6Q&gclsrc=aw.ds

These have a cutting edge that is wider than the support shaft to eliminate binding (binding on a metal lathe is a disaster); some have carbide tips.

JKJ

[Mark Greenbaum]

John: I was thinking exactly as you suggested, initially. A boring bar mounted at an angle with feed mechanism. I may have a miniature version left over from a watchmaker's lathe.
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/8b0AAOSw2XFUY5rY/s-l1600.jpg


Doug, I wondered the same thing. If I were to do this the first thing I would try is a parting tool such as some I have for my metal lathe. For example, here is one with a the holder (could easily make some kind of holder): https://jet.com/product/detail/b07247381d154035a0013ca5c4b96dec?jcmp=pla:ggl:gen_ hardware_a1:hardware_accessories_tool_storage_orga nization_a1_other:na:PLA_348829020_24253596900_pla-161691683820:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&ds_c=gen_hardware_a1&ds_cid=&ds_ag=hardware_accessories_tool_storage_organizati on_a1_other&product_id=b07247381d154035a0013ca5c4b96dec&product_partition_id=161691683820&gclid=CPzXkNmc-80CFdgVgQodpIgD6Q&gclsrc=aw.ds

These have a cutting edge that is wider than the support shaft to eliminate binding (binding on a metal lathe is a disaster); some have carbide tips.

JKJ

[David C. Roseman]

[snip]
I think the scroll saw approach is great (the tool formerly known as a jigsaw). I don't have one because mine did not survive my recent downsizing. It didn't make it here because of space limitations in my new shop. Your advice will cause me to reconsider.
[snip]


Here's one for the trivia enthusiasts. I used the two terms interchangeably until a few years ago, when I was politely corrected as I was calling around for parts to repair an old bench jigsaw. :) A jigsaw has one motor-powered arm to pull the blade down, and a spring-actuated opposite arm to pull it back with each stroke. A scroll saw has two parallel arms that both move in unison under motor power. I'm told the scroll saw gives a smoother cut because tension on the blade is more consistent. I think both would be fine for roughing out rings in your application.

[Justin Stephen]

The problem with a scroll saw is that the ring cutting can be very slow going if you have harder woods to cut through. About the beefiest scroll saw blade around is the Olson "Thick Wood" blade. I did some bowl from a boards using 3/4" thick strips of hard maple and walnut glued together and cut them out through angled holes on my DeWalt scroll saw. The blades cut through the walnut fairly easily but cutting through the maple was sometimes pretty painful and pretty frequent blade changes were needed.

I thought about trying it with a jigsaw sometime but I have never tried it.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Leo,

I looked at each picture you posted, and was blinded by the quality of those bowls but could not see an answer to my query. Now I see your point, and I drilled down far enough into the forum posts to see how he does it. Thank you very much. Do you know what he uses for a cutter?

Doug

Doug I assumed that people where not going to read all the posts, so that is why I put up the last picture of the drill wizard he is using with the cutter in it.

I am not sure what he was using, but it could be that he used a metal lathe cutoff tool, though cutting a circle with a flat cutter is of course problematic, as it would bind easily and he wanted to keep the kerf as narrow as he could, 3/32” wide.

He might well have ground the shape on the cutter so it has a more or less curved shape, but like I said I do not remember, sorry