Biggest RM Bowl Yet

[W.Y.]

Decided to see if the RM is capable of a 12" bowl as advertised.
Glued up some oak and cherry and gave it a whirl. It will indeed cut 12" diameter rings with ease . I 'm sure a person could even cut out 12.5" on it.
Darn good thing my so called 12" lathe is actually a 12.5" one (6.25" from spindle center to lathe bed) or this might not have fit on to sand it.
Here it is on the lathe last night with rings glued up and ready for sanding but for this size I decided to let the glue cure overnight instead of just a few hours like with some of the smaller ones.
What looks like pencil marks on the outside are actually dark marks right through the wood on that side and will always be present so I guess we'll have to call them beauty marks . . lol . .

And here, a little while later it is all sanded down and three coats of semi gloss lacquer applied .
Pop can is for size reference and my gosh this thing looks huge sitting on a table . Would take a LOT of fruit to fill up this one.

 

[mikespenturningz]

Wow that is just beautiful!

 

[Dave_M]

Wow, very nice work.

 

[Kalai]

Very nice job, it is fun to max out your lathe with a big bowl.
I have maxed out my 12 inch delta and my 20 inch powermatic but I have a homemade lathe that I have not maxed out yet, it can turn 4 feet 8 inches.
Thanks for sharing the pictures, aloha.

Kalai

 

[Kalai]

sorry for hitting the submit button twice

 

[alamocdc]

William, I like the way you staggered thin pieces in the rings with this one.

 

[Bob Wemm]

Hi William,
Well, now you've mare the smallest and the largest bowls possible on the RM, what is left to do now????
_______________
Bob.
The sun came up this morning. Great start to the day, now it's up to me to make it even better.

 

[W.Y.]

Hi William,
Well, now you've mare the smallest and the largest bowls possible on the RM, what is left to do now????
_______________
Bob.
The sun came up this morning. Great start to the day, now it's up to me to make it even better.

Loads of stuff :biggrin:

Hollow forms, lamps , round lidded boxes, cannister sets , vases, etc. etc.
They are more time consuming and more of a learning curve so that will be after the pre-Christmas rush when there are no sales venues for many months. Those are the months where I will be checking out a few galeries to put some items into.

 

[Bob Wemm]

Isn't it great to be limited ONLY by your imagination.
Can't wait to see some of that stuff!!!!!!!!!
_______________
Bob.
The sun came up this morning. Great start to the day, now it's up to me to make it even better.

 

[raar25]

Cant see any pictures

 

[W.Y.]

Cant see any pictures

I see both of them .

It is either a problem with your own computer or else with them being in PictureTrail as a Photo hosting site, PictureTrail could have been temporarily down at the moment you tried to view them but PictureTrail is highly reliable and I have never seen them down in the past 15 years I have been using their service.

 

[SDB777]

What is the max width on the board that the cutting head can accept? And how thin of a ring can you make?

Your RM is the 'stand-alone' model right? Not lathe mounted...



The bowl is really big, but you can carry all those smaller bowls in it on the way to the sale!!! Nice piece of timber too!!





Scott (I know, just buy one already) B

 

[alphageek]

What is the max width on the board that the cutting head can accept? And how thin of a ring can you make?

Your RM is the 'stand-alone' model right? Not lathe mounted...

Scott (I know, just buy one already) B

According to my measurements I thing the practical limit for thickness is about an inch, both from the arbor and the cutting tools. And the holes for the rings are setup for 1/4" thick rings at the smallest side. You might be able to get thinner with hand measuring, but the size feels really good where it is at that.

(I have a standalone RM on loan - very similar to Williams)... I havn't posted any pictures yet because I've cut and glued up some cut bowls, but not sanded/finished yet.

 

[W.Y.]

What is the max width on the board that the cutting head can accept? And how thin of a ring can you make?

Your RM is the 'stand-alone' model right? Not lathe mounted...



The bowl is really big, but you can carry all those smaller bowls in it on the way to the sale!!! Nice piece of timber too!!





Scott (I know, just buy one already) B

Yes Scott , it is the stand alone model with its own motor .

I just got in the house to check mail . Working on eight 6" stacking bowls .

Yes , for sure a lot of bowls fit inside ones of various sizes. Last sale I went to I had stacks of ten to twelve bowls. Sure saves a lot of space and makes for a quick and easy set up.

I really wish I had time to answer a lot of RM questions here but between posting my bowls on a few sites where people are interested in them and also maintaining my own WWF site and making bowls whenever I get some shop time , I have spread myself too thin. I have been getting lots of PM's as well about RM and wish I had time to answer them all.
On my Woodworking Friends site I have a separate board called Ringmaster Lathe Turning . It is dedicated entirely to RM discussions and everything a person ever wanted to know about RM is there. It is the most comprehensive RM dicussion forum on the internet. It has got busier lately because a few more of my members have bought a RM which naturally results in them asking questions during the learning curve.

Of course I will try to answer questions here that are directed to me but time usually doesn't allow me to go into much detail.

Thanks everyone for your comments . It is amazing how many people got interested in the various models of Ringmasters since I purchased mine last April of this year.

OK . . . coffee break is over :wink: . Back to the shop to continue working on those eight bowls.

EDIT.
Just noticed your top questions .

Maximum board thickness is about 7/8"
If using the band saw to cut the corners off the board instead of lopping them off on a table saw you can get close to 13" diameter on the stand alone models. On the lathe mounted models I have been told the maximum is 11"
Of course if I cut a 13" bowl I wouldn't be able to mount it on my 12" lathe to sand it.
As far as ring thickness goes, the machine has a double sided index plate . One side cuts 1/4" thick and the other is 5/16" thick. That is the cutting thickness but the bowl is thinner after sanding it it down smooth.