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Thread: Help with Laurel Oak bowl

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    Tampa Bay area
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    1,090

    Help with Laurel Oak bowl

    Suggestions please to finish turning this bowl. The wood is dry and has quit moving, now it is time for me to start moving.

    The clamps were put on during the drying stage to stop the wood from splitting open and will stay on for the time. The small groove cut around the outside near the rim was for a piece of wire to stop the wood from splitting open while rough turning.

    This is a piece of crotch wood. Nothing spectacular about the grain or anything. Just a nice piece of Laurel Oak that I want to see turned into a finished bowl.

    I am thinking a bowtie on each side. How do I cut the holes and get a good tight fit with the bowtie inserts ?

    http://imageevent.com/bayward/laurel...dty3.cat_s?n=0

  2. #2
    I like to cut the bowties on a tablesaw for a clean cut with parallel sides. Cut them thicker than you really need, mark around them with a knife and remove most of the waste with a router. It may be necessary to hot glue some scraps and a piece of ply so you have a flat surface for the router. Use chisels to make the final cuts. It is easier to inlay them so they only show on the outside of the bowl but this requires some planning.

    My most important suggestion is to install the bowties BEFORE turning that bowl again, this is for your safety and for decent results.
    _______________________________________
    When failure is not an option
    Mediocre is assured.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Tampa Bay area
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    1,090
    Quote Originally Posted by Dennis Ford View Post
    My most important suggestion is to install the bowties BEFORE turning that bowl again, this is for your safety and for decent results.
    That is why I want to do bowties, or something. I would not even attempt to turn this rough out without having something to bond those two halves together. Even though the bottom is mostly one piece of wood.

    Now why did I not think of gluing something to the sides of the bowl to give the router a flat surface ?

    I had not even thought about doing an inlay type of bowtie. That would look cool, but I cannot see a way to easily do that on a compound curve with the walls being about 3/8" thick. 3/8" is what I am thinking for a finish thickness.

  4. #4
    This isn't responsive to your question, but that is a significant bark inclusion. While it may "call out to you", it is just a piece of wood and IMO not worth the risk of attempting a finished piece. For the time and effort you are going to put into this, you could produce one or more nice pieces without risk of injury.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Lakewood, CO
    Posts
    761
    I'm with John - throw that thing in the fireplace! I do a lot of bowties on bowls, but I wouldn't waste my time and energy on that piece. You said it: "Nothing spectacular about the grain or anything..." Your first clue is when you had to put a piece of wire around the outside while rough turning, and then clamps to hold it in place after that!

    Another red flag is when you said "the bottom is mostly one piece". Do you really want to chance "mostly"? That bark inclusion is all along the inside of the bottom, and that piece is just a ticking bomb waiting to fly apart. The saying "Life is too short to turn crappy wood" certainly applies here. You turn that piece and you might shorten your life!

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