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Cutting Bowl Blanks

Started by Norm, December 11, 2008, 09:45:41 AM

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Left Coast Chris

Hi Norm,

All good advise but just one more consideration.  Unless you are going into production bowl turning there is normally not a need to "saw up a log into bowl blanks". 

Here is the thing:  If you are going to make art form bowls and take your time to make each piece a special piece then you cut only a special piece out of a burl or large crotch here and there and collect only the best.   That way when you spend a day or two on a bowl you have a special form out of some special wood.  The wood itself can be as inspiring as the shape of the bowl.  You are around alot of wood so take your time and only take those special pieces to make your bowls assuming they will be on display in your house or given as gifts.  You will start to picture the form of the bowl, urn, vase, plate or ornament when you see the piece.  You will want to sign them on the bottom also.   Special stuff. :) :)

On the other hand,  if you are just practicing, saw up the straight grain stuff and have fun! ;)
Home built cantilever head, 24 HP honda mill, Case 580D, MF 135 and one Squirel Dog Jack Russel Mix -- Crickett

SwampDonkey

WoodCraft sent me a nice glossy magazine last week and it has a polishing system that you mount on your lathe. I know, that's not a sanding system, but one more step to get a glass finish. I knew an old guy that made his own with flexy staff and buffing wheels and hooked it up to a motor he scrounged and set up a way to attach it to bit chuck. I was just wondering if a Dremel had enough power to do I. I got looking through drawers here and I have 3 of them Dremels from past Christmases never even used.  ::)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

ellmoe

   I get alot of red oak crotch wood . I have not noticed anyone mention turning oak, I assume there is a reason. Is it too hard, checks too much, unattractive? I get requests for turning blanks from time to time. Is there any particular species in Fla. that is especially attractive for this? We have cypress, sweet gum (including red gum), red maple, magnolia, ash, black gum, red cedar, cherry, pine (including "blue" and heart )plus the odd log or too. I also tend to specialize in spalted logs. ;D At the mill there is also a live mulberry with a burl about two feet in diameter. What are the odds that it is worth harvesting (I like the mulberrys so I'm partial to keeping the tree for awhile longer? ;D

Mark
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

SwampDonkey

My first bowl was red oak about 30 years ago, I have it right here. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Norm

Thanks for all the great advice guys! If the weather is as bad as they say this weekend I'll be bowl blank cutting instead of deer hunting. Maybe I'll keep the gun handy in case one with a curiosity streak shows up. :D

metalspinner

ellmoe,

Red oak is kind of course and tends to splinter around fine details, but I'm sure many a fine bowl has been made with it.

All the woods you mentioned would make nice bowls.  I've not seen too many soft wood bowls, but that doesn't meen anything, though.  If a bowl is going to have a functional use like a salad or cereal bowl, then a wood like cedar shouldn't be used.  It will change the taste of the food.

Any burl.  Mulberry would be beautiful.  But the berries taste god , too. ;)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Don_Papenburg

Most of the bowls I have turned were cookies out of fallen limbs.  I centered up on the pith and started turning . most of them were catalpa . They turned out just fine .

Norm make a scraper in the shape of the woodbowl bowl on your desk .   I have made scrapers out of 1/8 to 3/16" stainless steel for curved moldings and doors .  When you are done with the scraper you can start up with 500 grit and work up to 1200 for a nice smooth finish.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

SwampDonkey

Thanks for piping in Don. The rest of the folks are too timid to turn end grain wise. I thought I was alone. ;D  :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Norm

Thanks Don, where do you get the flat stock for making these scrappers from? Do you buy regular ones and then grind them?

By the way not to muddy the matter but it came to me that woodbowl sent this one to !PATTY! not Norm and I'm wondering how come I have to do the finishing work. :D

SwampDonkey

Didn't you know Norm? Guilty by association. :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Don_Papenburg

My scrapers so far have been made of 304 stainless from the junk bin at
Flink company.  I grind the profile and then finnish  it" square " with a fine file and pull or push it at a slight angle to perpendicular. 
I shoud not say any thing but I think Patty forgot about gettin even bout me agreein with you before but anyway     Ya , why are you finnishing it put it on Patty's desk.






PS I just move to an undisclosed location out of the state of Illinois
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

CHARLIE

Most of my favorite tools are those that I've made myself. Norm you can get HS steel from Enco ( http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRHI?PMSECT=1904 ).

SwampDonkey, one of my favorite things to make is turned lidded boxes, which is endgrain turning. I use a Oneway Termite Tool to remove most of the wood fast and then go to my scrapers to finish cut the sides and bottom. 8)
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

SwampDonkey

Charlie, I've got to try some of them lidded bowls sometime. I've got some butternut in log form sitting out in the shop woodpile that keeps starring at me. :D

Yeah, I have a termite to. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Dodgy Loner

I've turned lidded boxes, goblets, and lampshades from end grain.  I just don't like having the pith in the wood that I use, so I don't turn bowls that way.  Also, I don't have a termite ;)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

Don_Papenburg

I need to make a termite or a halfround cutter to speed up the bowl turning.

SD I like to turn  endgrain limbs because the bad part is almost done by the time it is mounted .
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

Lud

Here's a way to saw hard wood logs and cut turning blanks that works for me. I square the cant on a  bigger log in 4 cuts, avoiding those outer, twisty, live cambium , boards that have to be edged.  Maybe 4" to 5" s deep  and then flip the log 180 degrees and cut the opposite side the same.  That gets you two wide slabs.  The  other two cuts to square the cant give you thick but narrower  slabs.

I chainsaw the slabs into squares , letting the width dictate the length. And I pile them into the barn towards the bandsaw.

Here's whats different.  I cut a set of concentric ,thick plywood , 1 inch wide rings on the band saw and reglued them. The rings let you size the blank up easily. I run two deck screws flat thru a right size ring into the high spots on the  bark side of a blank.  The ring acts as a handle and a guide as I cut them on the bandsaw.  I then hold the ring as I run the roller of anchorseal around the blank .  Run out the screws , grab another blank and back to the saw.  No compass work.

  Eight slabs off of two cherry logs gave me over 70 blanks this way. Very efficient and I get spoon blanks out of the side pieces and I bag up the corners for my stove burning friends!   8) 8)

Simplicity mill, Ford 1957 Golden Jubilee 841 Powermaster, 40x60 bankbarn, left-handed

turningfool

it depends on how you want that finished piece to look,the pith methods decribed work well with few checks but if you have a chunk of colorful box elder or maple with spalting going on, then end grain turning works fine too..just remember to rough it out symetrically and apply an extra coat of anchorseal to prevent too fast drying to prevent radial checks

BLink

What happened to everyone!
I was enjoying this thread!

I cut a bunch of Red Oak and Cherry blanks out of quarter sawn pieces and most of them split. Thinking maybe they were drying too quickly.
They were also around 6" thick. Is that too thick?
There are a lot of Old Loggers.
There are a lot of Bold Loggers.
But there ain't a lot of Old, Bold Loggers!

Stihl 034, Stihl 009, Husquvarna 3120, 540 Allis Chalmers Loader, International T1340 Crawler Drott 4in1 Loader, JCB 1400B, Cat IT14F

hilltopper46

Yes, six inches is too thick if you did nothing to them. DId you seal them to slow moisture egression?

I rough out blanks of that size to take the bulk of the center out of them and then seal the roughed out bowl with Anchor Seal, and I still get some that go bad.

Harder and denser woods like oak or cherry are more likely to crack than softer woods like silver maple or box elder.

Personally, I hate turning red oak.
Southeast Wisconsin
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