Bowls 101

[David Wilhelm]

Today we are turning two bowls one will be out of wild (black) cherry, the other is to be turned out of red oak. Both blanks were taken from logs that have been laying above ground for a couple years with the ends painted and sealed. Trimmed with a chainsaw, ready to mount and turn these blanks should end up as bowls around 4"x 7". Turners, What tools, grind, size etc you will use and why. Turn to finish or rough and dry? Share different finish techniques with the different porous types of wood. Shine as you may but remember this is 101 so when it's time to dress the bottom of your bowl all students may not have the same attachements so give options. Thanks for your participation........Will

[Jason Christenson]

Ok...I'd mount them (one at a time of course) on my screw chuck, rough out the outside and turn a tenon on the bottom. Then I'd flip em around and put the tenon in the chuck. I'd turn them down to somewhere between 3/4" and an inch thick, then soak them for 24 hours or so in DNA. After that I'd wrap em in newspaper and put them on the shelf for about 3 weeks, then finish them. Oh yeah, after I wrapped em up I'd cut away the newspaper from the open side so the inside of the bowls are exposed.

After the three weeks were up I'd unwrap them and consider them ready to finish turn. At this point they could sit on the shelf more or less indefinitely until I got around to them.

I'd start by using my chuck as a jam chuck and truing up the tenon and most of the bottom of the bowl. Hopefully I left the original mark from the live center intact on the bottom of the tenon so I can easily put it back where it came from. After that I would flip it back around, chuck it up and true up the rest of the outside before starting on the inside. I would probably try to turn it down to around a quarter of and inch thick. I would sand it A LOT :rolleyes: to get rid of any tool marks or tear out that remains. When I was satisfied with that I would turn it around against a vinyl jam chuck that I bought from Craft Supply and turn a recess in the bottom. After the bottom was turned and sanded I would finish the bowl with General Finishes Gel Poly because that is what I have.

Start to finish this process would probably take me about 2.5 years to complete. :D

[Dale Gregory]

Nice lesson, review Jason! Ditto, or place the roughed out blank in a cardboard box with other blanks and leave it there for 3-12 months until it quits loosing weight.

Dale

[David Wilhelm]

I'll mark my center and mount my face plate to a cleaned flate side of the red oad blank. Pull my tail stock up for support and checking for clearence with my tool rest. I'll be using a 1/2" fingernail grind bowl gouge. I like like this grind for it's more forgiving catches and use it more in a dragging sweep from center to outside when taking heavy cuts. I'll rond my bowl and shape the outside with the gouge. With my parting tool i'll cut my shoulder and turn the tenon for my jaws just to my max limits. I'll revers and remove the inside to about .75-1". I'll mark the location of my #1 jaw and remove the bowl then soak 4 hours to over night in my 50:50 mixture of soap water, remove and let drip dry for a day or three. Depending on the season I'm ready to finish turning. I have the option of friction turning the bowl with a scrap block in the chuck or just the chuck against the center of the inside of the bowl or just placing it back in the chuck and working the outside, depending on the shape. Once the bowl is true I'll use my oval skew at a higher RPM and working down hill I'll take fine cuts then I'm ready to sand and start filling. I'll sand with 180 at low RPMS any pours that need filling I'll rub with med. CA then sand as soon as it is tacky. then sand again repeat if needed. step up to 220 and check the pours. If all looks well I'll rub the outside with a 50/50 mix of store brand veg. oil and mineral oil I'll put this on pretty thick letting it soak in and turn the lathe on and rub it in with my hand. An old T shirt while spinning to remove the left overs and burn it in does the trick. With and old piece of 220 sand then 320. A fine bristle brass brush to keep the paper clean is your friend. now 400. How does it look? pick up some shavingings and burnish or sand on to 6 or 800. 2-3 coats of sanding sealer hitting with 600 between. Now the inside. Mount the tenon in the chuck and work the first 2-4 inches 3/16-1/4" I use and inside scraper for smoothing out. now move on down the bowl. Make yourself a gauge so you know how deep you are going. You want your bottom thin but you dont want a hole in it!!!. Sand and fill the inside like the outside and finish with friction polish. Part off the bowl leaving a concave on the bottom stopping short of off then trim the rest off with a sharp knife. Hand sand and oil the bottom. Buff the outer for finish I use the Beal system.