Nut Bowl

[PreacherJon]

I was commissioned to make a nut bowl. I assume for the Holidays, when everyone puts out whole nuts in the shell—a big one. I didn't have anything dry this big and thick. So, I had to go to a stacking. 10" x 4 1/4"

Walnut and Maple.

 

[Curly]

No shortage of glue eh. Came out nice.

 

[jttheclockman]

Nice segmenting. Came out real nice and am sure it will be well used. Have a question for you. Did you ever consider of relieving the inside by either cutting out the center some with if you have a scrollsaw, or a powered jigsaw. Or do some forstner bit work? Looks like alot of material to hollow out.

 

[1080Wayne]

Very well stacked ! The nuts won`t walk away from that bowl .

 

[Flintski22]

what did you finish with? It looks phenomenal.

 

[PreacherJon]

what did you finish with? It looks phenomenal.

I wrestled with what to finish it with. A normal food-type finish would get worn pretty quickly, so I opted for many very thin coats of a polyurethane wipe.

 

[d_bondi]

Nice segmenting. Came out real nice and am sure it will be well used. Have a question for you. Did you ever consider of relieving the inside by either cutting out the center some with if you have a scrollsaw, or a powered jigsaw. Or do some forstner bit work? Looks like alot of material to hollow out.

First... I have never turned a bowl, only admired the work of others here.

That said, what John says makes sense to me. If you are gluing it up in stacked layers, why not cut the center out first?

Scroll saw, jigsaw, router on circle cutting jig. You could even save those middle cutouts for a smaller bowl or something else.

I'm sure that I've missed something, but am genuinely curious.

 

[NJturner]

I agree with JT and David - lots of turning away wood that could make something else. Most of my bowl turning friends have coring jigs that allow them to remove the center of the bowl in a single piece, allowing a matching bowl of smaller size to be turned from the removed center - but they are pretty pricey if you only do an occasional bowl. They also require you to be making a curved bottom due to how they cut.

Either way, I like your piece! Very pretty!

Kevin

 

[Woodchipper]

Good turning.

 

[PreacherJon]

Nice segmenting. Came out real nice and am sure it will be well used. Have a question for you. Did you ever consider of relieving the inside by either cutting out the center some with if you have a scrollsaw, or a powered jigsaw. Or do some forstner bit work? Looks like alot of material to hollow out.

Well, I would need a coring tool. They don't work well on a small lathe and are expensive. (not enough torque)... No matter what you've got to be able to hold on to the piece. This is as large as I can go and would not be able to twice turn it with the size of the bottom the client wanted. So... this piece had to be turned all at one time with already dried wood.

 

[Curly]

Rather than a coring tool you could have cut rings and glued that stack together. You would have the cutout centres to use in another turning and there would have been less wood being turned into shavings. A tossup as to the value of doing it for an occasional project. There are always different methods one can employ when turning. Some no better than others and some better. We make the choice depending on what is at hand and our comfort levels. Keep playing and enjoying.

 

[bugradx2]

beautiful work. I really like how you did the top edge of the bowl.

 

[LouCee]

Looks great! I'm sure your client will be pleased.

 

[PreacherJon]

Rather than a coring tool you could have cut rings and glued that stack together. You would have the cutout centres to use in another turning and there would have been less wood being turned into shavings. A tossup as to the value of doing it for an occasional project. There are always different methods one can employ when turning. Some no better than others and some better. We make the choice depending on what is at hand and our comfort levels. Keep playing and enjoying.

And get a hold of it how?

 

[Curly]

And get a hold of it how?

I would glue on a pre-turned (round with a dovetail on the outer edge) to the bottom of the bowl to create a tenon. Rather than holding with a recess you grab the outside. Run the tailstock live centre, with a block of wood if it doesn't reach the bottom, as long as you can to turn the outside and the beginning of the inside. Pull the tailstock out of the way and completely the inside. Take it off and set aside for a bit. Now using the little faceplate that came with the lathe make a jam chuck with a piece of wood. A dry piece of 2x10 will do nicely. Turn the outside of it so the inside of bowl's rim presses tight on to it. Put the bowl on, bring the tailstock up and turn the bottom, removing the tenon. When there is just a stub of tenon left under the live centre remove it and turn the last bit off. It is an old method from before the days of chucks etc. Now if you have a vacuum pump for stabilising wood you can make a vacuum chuck and open up that option for holding.

 

[PreacherJon]

I would glue on a pre-turned (round with a dovetail on the outer edge) to the bottom of the bowl to create a tenon. Rather than holding with a recess you grab the outside. Run the tailstock live centre, with a block of wood if it doesn't reach the bottom, as long as you can to turn the outside and the beginning of the inside. Pull the tailstock out of the way and completely the inside. Take it off and set aside for a bit. Now using the little faceplate that came with the lathe make a jam chuck with a piece of wood. A dry piece of 2x10 will do nicely. Turn the outside of it so the inside of bowl's rim presses tight on to it. Put the bowl on, bring the tailstock up and turn the bottom, removing the tenon. When there is just a stub of tenon left under the live centre remove it and turn the last bit off. It is an old method from before the days of chucks etc. Now if you have a vacuum pump for stabilising wood you can make a vacuum chuck and open up that option for holding.

That sounds well and good, and if I had experience doing that in the past. But I have a small lathe. No way of grabbing the open end of the bowl to turn/finish the bottom. Of course, without spending a lot of money on special equipment for a one-time piece. Or taking the time to do the jam chuck, and plate. Let alone hope I got the rings lined up without them sliding out of center when gluing. I do twice turn pieces. This was a one-time, unique piece for me to do. I'd rather take that money for gadgets or time to make them and put it towards a larger lathe. I did what I could with what I had. So be it that some wood got wasted on one project. I agreed to do this project for an old mentor in the faith. Normally, I would have turned it down. I appreciate your words of encouragement.