large bowl blanks

I think you'll find that to buy a blank of that size will be expensive. Have you considered laminating a blank of the desired size by using scraps? If contrasting woods are used in the lamination the resulting bowl can be quite attractive.

For me, a 12 x 12 x 12 blank would get me 2 six inch deep bowls. One

12 inches deep is just too deep for design and general use, not to mention the difficulty of turning one that deep: special tool rest to get that deep, probably a bowl steady to prevent too much vibration, and specialty gouges for turning that deep. If you really eat that much popcorn, a 14 inch or more bowl about 6 inches deep would be better.

Now, why do you need to let the wood dry for a year before turning? You can green turn to final thickness (about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick), slow dry it for about 2 weeks, and you will have a nicely warped bowl. This is my prefered style. You can also green turn a blank, leave it about 1 inch or slightly more thick, seal the end grain and let it dry for a couple of months, then remount and return it. Thick turned bowl blanks are easier and faster to dry than 6 inch thick slabs, which never totally air dry in the center.

You can also lam> Marty G wrote:

Marty, back when I was first beginning to turn bowls, I got the bug to turn some rather large ones and, like you, did not have source of large bowl blanks. Being married to a "downeaster scot" I looked around and the light went on. Take a pine 1x12 cut it into squares that equal the width of the board and glue up a stack - making sure to alternate the grain. Works like a champ and also looks pretty good.

Deb

Marty,

I can't hurt to contact your local tree service and see if they are cutting down anything interesting.

If you show up with a chain saw and donuts and/or 12 pack they will sometimes let you have a crack at the wood.

Obviously they have some liability propblems that you will have to cooperate with.

I've had good luck making big bowls out of pine, walnut, ash, maple and butternut, all trees that needed to be felled for other reasons.

And as pointed out elsewhere, get 'em home and turn 'em right away to rough size. I weigh my rough blanks, and when they stop loosing weight, I figure that they have hit equilibrium and finish turn them. Works for me. Good idea to seal the end grain on the rough turned blanks to avoid cracks.

Old Guy

Hi Marty, Why not turn a compound bowl. You can do any size you want from a flat board. I set up a site last year showing exactly how to do it. You can find it here.

I have to agree with the others that 12" deep is much too large but if thats what she wants it can be done with a compound bowl. Bob

Hello Marty,

You've had some good advice, but the simplest way to get a bowl of the size you want is to make a bowl from a flat board. If you can't get a flat board wide enough, laminate two pieces together to make a 12" x

12" board or a 14" x 14" board. Make sure it is nice and flat. Mark diagonal lines on both sides of the board, plus one vertical line from the center to the outside dege on both sides. Mount a piece of plywood about 3/4" thick on a faceplate that is as big around as your board is square. Saw your board round on the band saw or by some other means. Mount your faceplate with the plywood disk on the lathe. Turn the face of it true with the lathe if necessary. Now, jam your piece for the bowl between the plywood disk and a live cup center in the tailstock (a Oneway live center, a StebCenter live center, or a Nova Live Center will all work). Now decide how large you want the foot of the bowl to be, it should be about 1/3 to 1/4 of the diameter for good stability. Draw a circle of this diameter on the wooden disk.

Now, take one of those pieces you cut off when making the blank round to use as a space marker. Starting with the foot diameter circle, use the piece of wood to make marks and circles out from the foot circle. Scratch out the foot circle. Now put a mark on your tool rest at a 45 degree angle. This angle needs to be headed towards the center point of the spindle. Now, line up that angle line on the tool rest with the outer circle and place the tool rest as close to the wood as possible without hitting it. At the outer circle, take a thin parting tool (I find the thin fluted parting tool made by Robert Sorby to be best for this, but others will work) and aligning it with the 45 degree angle mark on the tool rest part off the outer ring. You can stop and remove the ring or let it set there and spin with the wood while you cut the next ring. Do this until all rings have been cut except the foot diameter ring.

Remove the rings from the lathe and reverse stack them. Sand off any rough edges or tea rout. Use Titebond II or III and glue the pieces together starting with the largest ring on the bottom. Do this as quickly as possible making sure each of the pieces is as centered as possible. Now, clamp the assembly between the tailstock center and the backing board on the faceplate. Tighten down the tailstock until glue squeezes our around the rings. I generally like to add one more piece to the foot before clamping the assembly on the lathe. That extra piece is a waste block for either screwing a faceplate to or to grip with your chuck.

The next day after the glue has had an opportunity to set up mount the bowl blank on the lathe. It is ready to final turn, sand, and finish. The bow walls will be fairly steep and you don't have a lot of flexibility for shaping. Actually, if you got these things cut exactly right and assembled on center, you might just be able to power sand the bowl to finished shape. I've always turned them, but if your skill level is not great sanding might be a good solution for you.

I've made a lot of bowls this way and find it an economical way to use up flat wood.

Good Luck,

Fred Holder

Hello Marty,

You've had some good advice, but the simplest way to get a bowl of the size you want is to make a bowl from a flat board. If you can't get a flat board wide enough, laminate two pieces together to make a 12" x

12" board or a 14" x 14" board. Make sure it is nice and flat. Mark diagonal lines on both sides of the board, plus one vertical line from the center to the outside dege on both sides. Mount a piece of plywood about 3/4" thick on a faceplate that is as big around as your board is square. Saw your board round on the band saw or by some other means. Mount your faceplate with the plywood disk on the lathe. Turn the face of it true with the lathe if necessary. Now, jam your piece for the bowl between the plywood disk and a live cup center in the tailstock (a Oneway live center, a StebCenter live center, or a Nova Live Center will all work). Now decide how large you want the foot of the bowl to be, it should be about 1/3 to 1/4 of the diameter for good stability. Draw a circle of this diameter on the wooden disk.

Now, take one of those pieces you cut off when making the blank round to use as a space marker. Starting with the foot diameter circle, use the piece of wood to make marks and circles out from the foot circle. Scratch out the foot circle. Now put a mark on your tool rest at a 45 degree angle. This angle needs to be headed towards the center point of the spindle. Now, line up that angle line on the tool rest with the outer circle and place the tool rest as close to the wood as possible without hitting it. At the outer circle, take a thin parting tool (I find the thin fluted parting tool made by Robert Sorby to be best for this, but others will work) and aligning it with the 45 degree angle mark on the tool rest part off the outer ring. You can stop and remove the ring or let it set there and spin with the wood while you cut the next ring. Do this until all rings have been cut except the foot diameter ring.

Remove the rings from the lathe and reverse stack them. Sand off any rough edges or tea rout. Use Titebond II or III and glue the pieces together starting with the largest ring on the bottom. Do this as quickly as possible making sure each of the pieces is as centered as possible. Now, clamp the assembly between the tailstock center and the backing board on the faceplate. Tighten down the tailstock until glue squeezes our around the rings. I generally like to add one more piece to the foot before clamping the assembly on the lathe. That extra piece is a waste block for either screwing a faceplate to or to grip with your chuck.

The next day after the glue has had an opportunity to set up mount the bowl blank on the lathe. It is ready to final turn, sand, and finish. The bow walls will be fairly steep and you don't have a lot of flexibility for shaping. Actually, if you got these things cut exactly right and assembled on center, you might just be able to power sand the bowl to finished shape. I've always turned them, but if your skill level is not great sanding might be a good solution for you.

I've made a lot of bowls this way and find it an economical way to use up flat wood.

Good Luck,

Fred Holder

Thanks Fred, I might give your way a try. I would most likely turn to almost finish just because I hate to sand anything rough to a finish sanding point.