Bought the books, have question...

[SteveK]

Well, I bought Carole's two books yesterday.(Bowls and Boxes). Started reading Bowl book. (I am hooked)

Wondering about wood source. First bowls suggest 1x8" wood. Do you use rough lumber and mill? I can buy pine, oak, popular at the big box stores. Or rough lumber at Woodcraft. S4S lumber in more "exotic" even as simple as cherry, maple, walnut is not available locally, I don't think.

For one bowl i need less than a board foot.

What do you do?

[bstark]

Are you referring to Carole Rothman's Wooden Bowl's for the Scroll Saw? If so... I have that book... and just tried the first basic bowl. Very cool! The first pattern called for 3/4" wood I think... but I didn't really have anything good so I grabbed some 1/2" and printed the patter at 75%.

I was considering it a practice bowl because I had no idea what to expect... but by gosh I just might keep it! (What am I saying... of course I will keep it... because it is my first one!)

One thing I can say... is I am having a hard time sanding it. I don't have a drum or spindal sander so you can see my sanding tool is just a closet dowl rod. Sigh. It is time consuming for sure.

I can't comment on good wood sources as I am still looking myself. Some of those segmented and laminated bowls look amazing... I can't wait to get some decent wood and try some of those. So many things to scroll... not enough time. =)

-brad

[Hawaiilad]

Carole has gotten allot of us "hooked" on these bowls and boxes. As for the wood to use, you should use what you feel like cutting. Softer woods will cut fast and harder woods slower..but the main thing you will want to remember is to have the board the same thickness and flat. So if you use rough wood, you will need to plane or sand it flat. If you use a power sander, make sure to sand it even without dips in the board.

You can always drop Carole an email on her blog and she will be happy to answer...Scrollsawbowls.blogspot.com

[western.flyer]

I just started doing bowls myself but the place I get most of my wood is Ocooch Hardwoods. I use their intarsia lumber for my bows which is 3/4" thick and you can order it in most widths up to 12" by the foot. I'm in the other end of VA and even a trip to Woodcraft is a 2 hour drive each way so I order my wood and they seem to be the cheapest I've found so far.

[handibunny]

Figured I'd jump into this thread and try to lend a hand.

Steve, the important thing, as Larry said, is that the wood is flat. My first bowls were made from 3/4" aspen, from a "big box" store. It was easy to cut and sand. Poplar, if you can get a piece without green on it, also is a good starter wood--not too hard and some of the grain is pretty. I'm lucky to be near a lumberyard that carries hardwood, and they will plane it for me, but for a long time I got all the exotics by mail. Western.flyer mentioned Ocooch Hardwoods. They are a very good and reliable source for the exotics, and give very good customer service. Start off with what you can easily get, just to get the feel of making bowls, and go from there.

Brad, that's a nice looking first bowl! And you're right--hand sanding is a bear! If you have a drill press, the 2" hook & loop sander from Klingspor's Woodworking shop, and the round inflatable from King Arthur's Tools will take care of any bowl you make. Just chuck them in, and be careful not to exert too much sideways pressure as you sand.

Once you get the basics down, you can really start to have fun, but even the simplest bowl is pretty amazing. And if you run into problems, or have questions, there are a lot of folks on the forum who do amazing bowls and can answer questions.

And of course you can always reach me through the section for author questions, or at my blog email, scrollsawbowls@yahoo.com.

And don't forget to have fun! It's also a good idea to keep a set of rings around that you haven't glued up, so you can show people how this flat piece of wood becomes a bowl. They will be blown away!

[SteveK]

Wow, thanks for all the quick replies.

Brad, yes I did mean Carole Rothman's books. I have read the first several chapters and can't wait to try. Your first bowl looks great!

Larry, I can see why so many are hooked!

Western.flyer -- out near Staunton? Thanks for the tip on Ocooch. Jut been browsing their site - AMAZING! Definitely will become a customer there.

Carole. It is amazing that in this hobby and on this site we can converse with the actual authors. I am loving your bowl book, and your box book is calling me. I will start with Popular which is available at the BORG or Lowes in this part of country. I will order some Aspen, as while I read it is very popular (no pun intended) I have never seen it in the east. Also thanks for the sanding tips you sent Brad. I do indeed have a drill press and will be making sanding additions.

Thanks again, all.
Steve

[ddockstader]

I'd be really surprised if you didn't have lots of hardwoods readily available. A quick Google search shows 3 sawmills close to Richmond. One is in Warsaw, one in Montpelier, and one in Mineral. The box stores are good if you're in a real hurry, but sawmills are where the good woods are. They're usually cheaper and they often have "shorts" at even cheaper cost.

[western.flyer]

I forgot to mention one place. If you can find a cabinet shop that actually builds their own cabinets and not just installs premade ones sometimes you can buy their scraps or "drops". I do that around here at a couple shops and get some really good pieces fo intarsia, most are shorter pieces though. I live about an hour northeast of Bristol down here in the coalfields.

[SteveK]

Originally Posted by western.flyer

I forgot to mention one place. If you can find a cabinet shop that actually builds their own cabinets and not just installs premade ones sometimes you can buy their scraps or "drops". I do that around here at a couple shops and get some really good pieces fo intarsia, most are shorter pieces though. I live about an hour northeast of Bristol down here in the coalfields.

Thanks for the thought.

In addition, I'd you can travel from Bristol to Richmond in two hours, you are a pilot, not a driver!

[Forester21]

Try Woodfinder: Find Sources of Lumber, Veneer and Sawmill Services if you put in your zip code a list of lumberyards/sawmills will come up. I drive 1 1/2 hours one way to get to a sawmill. I drive that far to get to a mall too....
T