bowlsaw ??

[pete ryalls]

saw this http://www.bowlsaw.com/index.html

[alex carey]

thats pretty sweet, it seems you still loose a little more wood but its still cool.

[curtis rosche]

looks great. but i wonder what happens when you get a catch? break your wrists, or the tool

[Scott Conners]

My first thought when that was originally posted was "how do you get a round bottom?" Then I started looking at the site, and realized that you don't - you need to make relatively straight sided and flat bottomed bowls. The makes it a pass for me.

[curtis rosche]

Scott. you would cut the center out, then finish your bowl as normal. then you could use the cored peice to make a box. remember you have a lathe, your only restriction is size, not shape

[ROY DICK]

Kinda like fishin' lures, most are made to catch the fisherman.

Roy

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Seems like a "sharp" idea to me. I can't spring (actually, I won't) for a real corer, since I only have a mini. May be worth the chance. He does offer a free trial. Looks hard to make that BIG space for the bowl saw. Chopping end grain is hard to do. But then saving a bowl or 2 will pay for it pretty fast. But that bowl will be pretty small, so you'd have to save a few to pay for it.

And you can make that flat bottom round....

[Jeremy Williams]

looks great. but i wonder what happens when you get a catch? break your wrists, or the tool

I don't think you use the tool with the lathe on!

[curtis rosche]

Jeremy, you didnt go to the whole site did you? there is a video explaining how to use it. you twist the handle while the lathe turns the wood

[Ron McKinley]

I've used it several times and it works as advertised. There's no danger of a catch. You turn the bowl blank by hand until the saw cuts a groove or kerf, then turn the lathe on slow and hold on while the saw cuts out the smaller bowl. Watch the video and you'll see how easy it is to use.

The inventor designed it to keep from wasting most of an expensive block of exotic wood or a highly figured piece of domestic wood. The small bowl you cut out of the center limits the shape of that piece but not the larger piece. Give it a try. You might like it......Ron

[curtis rosche]

how long does the saw stay sharp?

[Paul Douglass]

Any more tried this bowlsaw? The main reason I don't turn many bowls is I hate making lathe shavings out of beautiful wood. On the other hand I I can't afford the expensive options.

[ROY DICK]

I've seen some that use a parting tool, but I've never tried it.

Roy

[Reed Gray]

Kyle,
McNaughton/Kelton tools makes a coring system that is designed for the mini lathe. As far as being able to afford one, if you sell your bowls, it will pay for itself in very short order. There is a time savings as well as a wood savings. The time savings come from the core already having the bottom/outside shaped, and all you have to do is to flatten the bottom, make a tenon or recess, and make one or 2 clean up passes, and the bowl is ready to reverse. It is a huge savings with bigger bowls, and a small savings with smaller bowls. If you have really nice wood, it is worth it.

robo hippy

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Funny that this thread popped up again. I just got my micro McNaughton set yesterday. I could not pass up a 15% off 1 day sale from Craft Supplies. I ran into some semi valuable wood, and figured it's about time to get a small coring set. Have not tried it yet, I may try it out today or tomorrow. Even free semi valuable wood needs to be saved. I turned 3 bowls, and kept thinking, man, if I had a corer, I could have at least 6 bowls.....