Segmented Bowl

[NGLJ]

I haven't made a segmented bowl in a while since I have been busy learning as much as I can about pen turning. However, I do remember someone saying "don't forsake your other woodworking now that you are turning pens". This was good advice and I took it to heart. The attached is mainly sapele with a walnut base, a feature ring consisting of lacewood sandwiched between hard maple, and a mahogany rim. I experienced one of the challenges with sapele in that it chips easily where the grain is somewhat figured. So you must take lite cuts or you will end up getting an ever shrinking wall thickness, which can lead to disaster.

I did turn another bowl prior to this but don't have any photos because I gave it away to the woodworker who gave me the material. He gave me some bamboo flooring planks, which I have never turned before. The planks are made by taking bamboo strips (42 lb/cu ft) and applying heat and pressure (71 lb/cu ft). That stuff is sure hard, which is you want for flooring, and easily chips when turning. My first attempt went from a bowl to small platter (the lower part of the bowl). The rest took off across the workshop . I discovered that you had better finalize the shape before any sanding because the heat from sanding seems to create a surface reaction which makes the surface so hard it is like turning concrete! I have some boards left and might try and make another one. If you get the turning right it finishes very nicely.

 

[Jim15]

Grerat work.

 

[NGLJ]

Thanks Jim. This is only the second bowl that I have made since purchasing a drum sander (took a while to persuade SWMBO), which has made a huge improvement in my workflow. Now I rarely use my thickness planer, just my jointer to flatten one side for stock prep. If the wood is prone to tearout it makes life so much easier. The same goes for flattening segmented rings. Flatten one face and get a perfect flat and parallel face on the other side, essential for segmented bowls. Before this I was using V-drum sander. It works but is much slower, more 'painful' and harder to get perfect rings.

 

[TDahl]

Very nice work Graham. Great craftsmanship.

 

[zig314159]

Excellent. I envy your results. It shows patience and craftsman skills. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Nice work. I've been doing more bowls than pens the last several years and started segmenting during the quarantine. It's wonderful - but it takes a bit more time to get a final product, doesn't it? I also have to say I admire your courage. 24 segments is a LOT of cutitng and gluing.

 

[NGLJ]

It was segmented bowl turning that got me started with a lathe about 15 months ago. Before then I had mainly made boxes of various kinds and I thought a knockout bar was a place you went for a fight. Segmented turning appealed to me because there is so much scope for personalization. When I first started I was convinced that I would not be able to progress to anywhere near some of the product that I saw, and that is still true when I compare my work to the absolutely amazing things that some very talented people make. It does take more time to get to the turning stage but with experience, some useful jigs and equipment I am now much faster and my impatient nature doesn't get the better of me anymore . As with all woodworking, there are many ways "to skin the cat" and we all need to work out what works best for each of us. I did try different numbers of segments in a ring and although more segments means more upfront work, I found that turning is easier with more segments since you are closer to a circle. I stopped at 24 since I did not see much benefit from going higher for me. I have even tried a couple of open segment bowls. You don't have to worry about gaps in rings but of course it presents other challenges, like less gluing surface between rings.

I got into pen turning about 9 months ago after my wife realized that I could make pens with my lathe. I am very happy that I did and equally happy that I found IAP. Unlike the bowls, pens can give a more immediate result and satisfaction, unless of course they are very complex. The satisfaction only comes once a certain level of expertise has been obtained, and learning is a never ending process. As with segmented bowls the options for making pens are endless, which is part of the attraction for me. Onward and upward!