Large bowl question for Carole

[woodgeek]

First Carole, let me say that I love your book. I have a basic bowl in poplar waiting for the round sander to arrive so I can finish the inside. Thanks to your crystal clear instructions in both the book and the video it was very easy. I have a shelf full of wood working books and this is one that I will use frequently. Many woodworking books have indecipherable instructions and pictures and drawings that are useless. I could not find one instance where I couldn't understand what you were saying in minutes.

My question is, the bowls you show are fairly small and that is good because they are the most useful and in the range of most us with our limited equipment and budgets but I was wondering if you foresee any problems in building really big bowls or platters? A big bowl on a lathe can be a hazard to life and limb and requires a substantial investment in stout equipment but it seems to me that this would be a natural project for this technique.

[handibunny]

Rod,

I was so pleased to hear that you're finding the instructions clear. We (Joe, my co-author-in fact, and I) worked very hard at achieving that. Joe is the one who cut the "beginner bowl" for me, as a test of the basic instructions. if you find anything that is not clear, please let me know so we can fix it for future printings.

I've handled bowls up to about 9" in diameter, but found that manipulating the wood on the tilted table was awkward with the larger blank. I suspect that with a saw with a tilting head like the Excalibur it would be easy to work with larger pieces of wood. There is nothing in the construction of the bowl that would create a problem, other than the need for a larger gluing press. You could try it, moving up one inch at a time, and see how easily you can handle it. If you experiment, let me know how it works out.

And please post a picture of your bowl when it's done. I used poplar for the heart shaped bowl, and it worked out really well.

[woodgeek]

Thanks Carole and I will post a picture when I get it done. Here is a couple I took early on in the process.
As one who likes to be close to his work when cutting (normally I use reading glasses for magnification when cutting) it would be awkward cutting a bowl essentially at arms length or at least some distance beyond where I am usually comfortable. However since the actual ring cutting seems to me to be the lesser part of constructing a large bowl I think it would be worth the effort. Perhaps a tray or platter would be a good way to start.
Anyway, I have lots of bowls to build from your book before I actually tackle something like that but it is something to consider.

[handibunny]

Rod, for a larger size project, try using thinner stock (5/8" or 1/2") and a steeper angle. That will give more of a platter effect, and there will be less weight to manipulate. If you have trouble computing the angle, let me know and I'll help. The wavy edge bowl would be a good choice--interesting and not too fidgety. Consider the book an idea book, as well as a project book--that's why I included the appendix.

[woodgeek]

That sounds like a great idea. I was looking through my wood stock and I do have some half inch I would like to use up.

[woodgeek]

Carole - I have started a second bowl that is a little larger. I have 3/4 stock so I used that, 28 degrees, 3/8" wide rings, ring method. The starting dimension is 9 3/4." It is red oak with a wide stripe of walnut. I have cut 2 rings and am trying to decide whether to do a third. It actually is not much different than cutting the beginning bowl. I stop frequently and the #9 blade is heavy enough to support the weight with no issues. It is too large for the bowl press so I am thinking about building a bigger one as I really like this size.

[handibunny]

Sounds good, Rod. A larger press is a good idea if you plan to make more of these. Or, if the rings fit well together, a stack of heavy books works, too. Sometimes fewer rings is more attractive--2 is a nice number. You can contour the upper rim to make it thinner and more elegant, and contour the base as well. Please post pix when you get a chance.

[woodgeek]

Thanks Carole. I have several projects going at once so I am not spending enough time thinking through the design I know. I have thought about cutting a third ring and maybe reversing it to curl the lip inward, or not. The bottom seems a little heavy in relation to the walls and I was also thinking about taking a quarter inch off it before glueup. Just thinking out loud. Two rings does seem to work fine, especially if the bottom were thinner but then I will always wonder, what if I had added that third ring?

[handibunny]

Well, Rod, you can cut a third ring out of scrap (just use the second ring as a template) to see how it looks. And thinning the base does work if it looks too heavy. Just be sure to thin on the bottom face, not the top. I've done that a lot of times.

Sometimes, however, on smaller bowls, I will thin the top of the base until it is wide enough to fit on the bottom, and use it as a flared base. The small zebrawood bowl on p. 27 uses that approach.

[woodgeek]

Originally Posted by handibunny

Well, Rod, you can cut a third ring out of scrap (just use the second ring as a template) to see how it looks. And thinning the base does work if it looks too heavy. Just be sure to thin on the bottom face, not the top. I've done that a lot of times.

Sometimes, however, on smaller bowls, I will thin the top of the base until it is wide enough to fit on the bottom, and use it as a flared base. The small zebrawood bowl on p. 27 uses that approach.

A good idea about the scrap ring and I suspect as time goes along I will be doing a lot of those. I have decided to leave that for my next bowl and have started the glue up with two rings. My bowl press consists of a board, a can of paint and a car jack on top of that. We will see how that works.
I really like the looks of the zebrawood bowl and hope to do one soon.
Your flat bowl rims look so even I can't imagine how you get them that way other than a lot of hand sanding so I suppose thin rims will be my forte to start.