The making of my nested set of bowls.

[Jack Mincey]

I want to thank everyone involved in the contest again for making it happen. Hope no one minds but I'm going from start to finish on this set.
This is the little burl that I got the nested set out of along with about 25 other bowls.

The blank on a lathe at one of the two school shops I teach at with the bottom roughed out and ready to turn around to core the set.

Me coring the last of the nature edge cores out of the blank.

The Cores all done and ready to return.

Two cores that I got off the bottom of the blank below the level of the bark.

[Tim Rinehart]

Wow, thanks for sharing the pics. I half expected the coring to have been with a McN system...but am not surprised in hindsight that it was a Easy-core...more predictable results at the least, without near so much practice. I'm sure you spent considerable time mapping out the depths and diameters of each one, regardless.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks for sharing Jack. I have used my oneway coring once so far. I am in the process of getting setup to have another go at it. May have a question or two when the process starts if you don't mind.

[charlie knighton]

thanks for sharing

[Bill Bolen]

Great little photo essay Jack. Thanks for sharing with those of us who have not cored yet! Looks like that PM was about maxed out!...Bill...

[Bill Barou]

Jack, Beautiful bowls, I really like them. A couple questions on the process if you don't mind. You said that you turned the largest the same day you cored - did you do the others right away or did you bag them for later? What was the wall thickness of the cores? I assume you cut them thick enough to allow a tenon or did you hold them for finish turning using another method? What technique did you use to dry? Thanks.
Bill

[Richard Madden]

Thanks for sharing, Jack. Probably makes alot of us (myself included) think more about adding a coring system to the wish list.

[Jack Mincey]

Thanks everyone, I hoped showing a few photo's from start to finish would show a little of what goes into a nested set. Bill, I return all the nature edge the day of or the day after they are cored. The nature edge bowls are cored to between 1/2 to 3/4" depending on how large it is. This leaves enough to put a 1/4" tenon on all of them to be returned to finish thickness. The two bowls that came of the bottom of the blank below the bark were turned to a little over one inch and returned after they dried in a brown paper bag. For drying the nature edge I use a brown paper bag like I do all my bowls. I do check every day or two and use thin CA on cracks that start to form. This is one thing that you do have to watch for with red oak burl. Even turned down thin a few of the bowls in the set always want to crack at little inclusions that are present in the wood.
Thanks Again,
Jack

[Skip Spaulding]

Jack, Great set of bowls and very nice pictures on how you did them!
Thanks, Skip

[Ray Bell]

Thanks for the pictures Jack. How do you form the tenons after they are cored, vacuum chuck?

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for posting these again Jack. I am assuming that a burl is perhaps more stable in shape when cored somewhat thin which would allow you to finish turn it immediately. Do other woods require a little thicker core so they don't start to move right away?(then not allow you to clean them up)

[Jon Lanier]

Jack did you DNA the bowls or let them dry naturally? How long from coring to finishing did you take on these bad boys?

[Jim Burr]

That's a great post Jack! I have a much better appreciation of coring now and just how BIG those are!!

[Jack Mincey]

Thanks again everyone. I'll try and answer your questions.
Ray,
I don't have a vacuum chuck. I use the fiction method of holding my bowls. I place the cored bowl inside against the chuck and hold it there with the tail stock on the smaller bowls to turn a tenon. For the larger bowls I have a piece of wood about 5" in DOA by 8" long that I've turned a tenon on. I place it in the chuck and turn the tail stock end to fit the contour of the inside of the bowl Turning the middle lower than needed. This makes sure the outside edge is making firm contact on the inside of the bowl. I than use the tail stock to hold the bowl against this piece of wood. The reason one has to do this is that the large bowls tend to hit the headstock if simply placed against the chuck.
Baxter,
I put the bowls in a plastic bag or bury them in the wet shavings around the lathe as soon as they are cored. The only bowl that I finish turn and core thin are nature edge bowls and I've not had any problem with any of the woods moving before I got them finished turned. For my finished edge or turned edge bowls I leave them thick enough to dry in a bag and finish turn after dry. The trick part of returning thin cores is to take you time and get the bowl center as close to perfect when using a friction chuck to turn the tenon or you will run out of wood toward the bark.
Jon,
I just put them in a bag in the back room of my shop. It is about 3' under ground and the floor seems to dry my bowls very slow. For the thin nature edge set it took about one month to dry them. For the thick turned edge I took about 6 months. I tried the DNA method when I first started turning green wood and didn't see that it helped much. I fill that getting the bowl turned to a uniform thickness and starting with crack free wood is the most important thing for having crack free bowls after they dry. I've started with many bowl blanks that were around 15" and turned them down to a small bowl just to get through all the little hair line cracks that where already present in the blank. There is one fact when working with green wood that is always true. IF THERE IS A CRACK IN THE BOWL WHEN TURNED GREEN, IT WILL GET WORSE AS IT DRIES.
Thanks again,
Jack

[Jon McElwain]

Thanks for sharing Jack. I have used my oneway coring once so far. I am in the process of getting setup to have another go at it. May have a question or two when the process starts if you don't mind.

Bernie, would you mind doing a little photo journal as you are setting up and coring? The photos are immensely helpful for learning as you know!