Any Tips Or Tricks In Cutting A Bunch Of Round Bowl Blanks?

[William Fourness]

Well today I am going to make an attempt at cutting some round bowl blanks, and some will will be natural edge as well. Actually I got 50 to cut today and was wondering if there was any helpful tips to make my day go faster and easier. Any help would be greatly appericated.
Thanks very much.


Bill

[Bob Hallowell]

Bill, you can make some jigs for you bandsaw that will make a perfect circle, but I don't think you will need that. Just cut different sized templates out of cardboard pick the one that fits best draw around it with a magic marker. That big bandsaw of you just got ain't gonna have any problems;)

Bob

[William Fourness]

Yes that was my thoughts too Bob. I spent about an hour hunting through the pots, the pans and plates trying to come up with cirlce sizes. And here how the first 5 rounded out. Guess once I do a couple hundred of these I'll pretty good at it. There is Cherry, Cherry Crotch, Sugar Maple Burl and Box Elder. Every day I go out to that bandsaw I thank Lowell for helping me get it. It is great for once to have the tool for the job at hand.
Thanks for the help.


Bill

[Jim King]

Just keep practicing , it gets easy.

[Bernie Weishapl]

William I went down to the loacl appliance store and got a box from a stove. I cut out round templates from 4" to 16". I screw them to the bark side of the blank so the flat side is down. Follow the template. As Bill Grumbine says "don't have to be a perfect circle cause that's what the lathe is for."

[Patrick Taylor]

Just keep practicing , it gets easy.

Wow. :eek:

[Pete Jordan]

Wow Jim!

Are those all sealed?

Just keep practicing , it gets easy.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

William, I guess a bandsaw is ok; however, I use my chainsaw and find it much easier. I took a flat metal bar (wood is ok too) and drilled a series of holes large enough to fit a Sharpie so that it is tight. On the other end I drilled a small hole to put a sheet rock screw into. I just find the center of my log scribe off the circle size I want (Usually as large as I can go on that log) and then pull the cord on the trusty Stihl. The rest is history and a bunch of nice blanks.:)

[William Fourness]

No them blanks were not sealed when the photo was taken, but they are now. I got about 500 to 600 blanks listed in the store we got on line, got 6 to 8 ton of stock sitting in my door yard and got loggers in the woods daily hauling me more. And running out of room to store wood. So if you need some please let me know.
Thanks
Bill

[Patrick Taylor]

William, I guess a bandsaw is ok; however, I use my chainsaw and find it much easier. I took a flat metal bar (wood is ok too) and drilled a series of holes large enough to fit a Sharpie so that it is tight. On the other end I drilled a small hole to put a sheet rock screw into. I just find the center of my log scribe off the circle size I want (Usually as large as I can go on that log) and then pull the cord on the trusty Stihl. The rest is history and a bunch of nice blanks.:)

Don't want to hijack, but I think it's on topic....

I'm currently a non-bandsawer too, (18" husky and 14" craptastic ;) electric to do all my blanks) but have considered getting a bandsaw. What method do you use to securely hold a blank while you trim corners and shape it? I'm having trouble with that.

[Pete Jordan]

No them blanks were not sealed when the photo was taken, but they are now. I got about 500 to 600 blanks listed in the store we got on line, got 6 to 8 ton of stock sitting in my door yard and got loggers in the woods daily hauling me more. And running out of room to store wood. So if you need some please let me know.
Thanks
Bill

I looked it up and all I found was a bunch of turkeys!

http://www.pennswoods.com/

[Gary DeWitt]

Patrick,
nothing special to cut out a blank from a log half, IF one side is flat enough to sit stably on your BS table.

[William Fourness]

Our store link is deleted
And we run a blog at deleted

Thanks
Bill

[Jim King]

Pete: These blanks were all stickered and air dried a couple of years prior to cutting round and will now be vacum packed like hot dogs proior to shipping.

The vacum packing is a lot nicer than wax.

[Reed Gray]

If I did a lot of natural edge bowls, then I would use a lot of templates. Otherwise, I cut the face and bottom parallel using a big bandsaw, then scribe a circle with a compass, then use the little bandsaw to cut the circle out. The big bandsaw cuts the prep time in half for me. For production work, it is a must have tool. Also, the blanks are a lot more round and balanced so they turn faster. Of course, make sure that your blades are sharp.
robo hippy

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Don't want to hijack, but I think it's on topic....

I'm currently a non-bandsawer too, (18" husky and 14" craptastic ;) electric to do all my blanks) but have considered getting a bandsaw. What method do you use to securely hold a blank while you trim corners and shape it? I'm having trouble with that.I'm probably going to get myself into trouble here but I have three heights of cutting blocks. Most of my logs are wedged with scraps to hold them steady and then cut with the flat side up with no problems. Once in a while I have to use my shortest cutting block and hold the blank with my foot. My blanks are usually no smaller than 8 to 10 inches so I am very careful on those.:o :)

[Patrick Taylor]

...hold the blank with my foot...
Yikes! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: I'm not brave enough to get my foot anywhere near the piece I'm cutting.

My back is killing me after hunching over to cut logs on the ground. I really need to build a sawbuck. I think I'll put some dogs in it to hold the blanks, but I'm not sure what a good design would be.

[Pete Jordan]

Yikes! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: I'm not brave enough to get my foot anywhere near the piece I'm cutting.

My back is killing me after hunching over to cut logs on the ground. I really need to build a sawbuck. I think I'll put some dogs in it to hold the blanks, but I'm not sure what a good design would be.

Patrick,

This is the one I built thanks to a tip from Stu

http://www.laymar-crafts.co.uk/tip33.htm

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Yikes! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: I'm not brave enough to get my foot anywhere near the piece I'm cutting.

My back is killing me after hunching over to cut logs on the ground. I really need to build a sawbuck. I think I'll put some dogs in it to hold the blanks, but I'm not sure what a good design would be.I use three Logs of pine that are different lengths and about two feet in diameter, No back ache and believe me if there was one to be had I'd have it.:)

[Terry Quiram]

Just like Bernie I use heavy cardboard. I drew circles with a compass starting at 4" dia in increments of 2" diameter went up to 28". I cut the circles out with the bandsaw. When I use them I tack them to the half log with a long roofing nail and cut around the cardboard. If you want to mark the other side for drilling use the template and nail to center punch. I like cheap.:D
Terry

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Hey Bill. I think you got the basics down pat.

OK Jim......................... you just HAD TO RUB IT IN! I expect to have several "uncracked" (Samples) when Roger gets back from seeing you. BTW, we changed the itinery of our trip in November. At least we get into Peru, but, Still a long a way from you. I hear that you're being VERY nice to Roger. I wouldn't expect any less from a gentleman like you.

Can't wait to get some of your stuff in stock.

Bruce

[Joash Boyton]

WOW! Huge amount of blanks there!! :eek: Do you mean to tell me, they are just one months amount of bowl blanks?!?! Some nice looking timbers there

[Jim King]

Joash: That is about about six weeks production of blanks and Bruce, if you get to Peru you have to come and see the Amazon , you will ebjoy it a lot.

Here is a photo of what we used to make our blanks with the chainsaw before we got a big band saw. It is made of scrap bloodwood and just sits together due to the weight without any fasteners.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Yeh, Jim.

I'm sure I'd love it, but I'm afraid that this time, Lima is all I'll get to see. Looks like you're about 400 to 600 miles away.

Take care.

Bruce

[Glenn Hodges]

I use a round piece of cardboard, and a 3 hp bandsaw. Before I got this bandsaw, I used a chainsaw, and it worked pretty good.