Fixture to rough bowl blanks with a chainsaw

[John K Jordan]

I guess I can add to my ideas about new and improving my chainsaw chopsaw... Perhaps others can chime in with feedback... Anyway, I want the cuts to be as parallel as possible. Best way I can think of to 'stabilize' the log so it won't roll as I am cutting is to first cut a flat on one side of the log, the part which is normally turned off, unless I want natural edge bowls. Then roll the log 90 degrees so it rests on the flats. I need to come up with a way to have some sort of 'dogs' to screw into towards sides of the log to keep it in place as well. Very coarse/bit all thread rod maybe. Or like one of the bar clamps with a big vertical face. The set up does not need to be rigid, but shall we say 'sturdy'. Then for the bracket that bolts onto the chainsaw bar, instead of the wide bracket that is designed to go onto a 2 by 4 or 2 by 6, I put a closed eye type bolt on it, and then that goes over/around a piece of black pipe that screws into a floor flange that is bolted to the platform the whole thing sits on. This would be easier than the 2 by set up. On the far side of the log, and on the end of the chainsaw bar, another eye bolt that is on a bracket that again bolts to the bar. You can't just clamp them on because every thing on a chainsaw vibrates loose eventually. There would again be black pipe screwed into a floor flange. This set up would keep the saw in line and surfaces could be pretty much dead on parallel. I will keep the lazy susan set up so I can pivot the log for square to the grain and pith, then clamp it down... Just thinking out loud. I will make the angle iron be longer than what I started with, since it comes in 10 foot lengths, have the track be 2 sections 5 feet long. This won't be a set up that every turner will have, but every club should have one. No, I will never make them to sell, even parts and pieces. I am sure there are some genius types out there who can make the brackets from nothing, and more efficiently than I can...

robo hippy

Your description sort of makes sense. Feel like making a sketch?

I have welders and milling machine. If you want to design a different bracket maybe I could make one for you to your specs.

JKJ

[Stark Suggs]

John, Ill have to agree with Brian, that is some outstanding maple ;- )

SWS

[Reed Gray]

John, I am still in design process. Learned a lot from making the first one... I have a couple of friends locally who can do that for me... Probably later this summer. My only show of the year was cancelled because of the virus.... Most fun and most profitable show I have ever done, and plan to do for years to come...

robo hippy

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

It occurs to me that one fixture for holding a chunk of wood for making it round is called a ..... lathe!

So googling "chainsaw lathe" turns up some interesting videos (no pun intended). But I can see combining a set of "chainsaw lathe" type brackets with a chainsaw chop saw -- The "lathe" brackets would hold your blank "between centers;" then you'ld need a spindle stop to keep the blank from spinning on your "lathe" axis while you chop a piece off the edge of your blank; then rotate the blank to the next position, chop another piece off, and so on. If you're good with the saw, maybe the chopping could be done free-hand, since the parallelism that Reed is after with his set up is not really an issue in this application.