Wood turned bowls are one of the most popular turnings today!!
Part of the popularity is that bowls can be functional and that makes them wonderful for your home or for gifts! How many people do you know get a lovely salad bowl as a wedding gift?
But even with that said, bowls can be much more than functional. They also can be artistic!! They don't just need to be single wood salad bowls, think of natural edge bowls, pierced bowls, multi-sided bowls and even segmented bowls.
There are many ways to make bowls that are unique and will be a testament to your skills and creativity!
In this very detailed and easy-to-follow YouTube Video, Denny Edwards shows us how he fabricates a bowl blank for this turning. And explains in sufficient detail how he creates a scallop edge to the top rim.
This video not only reveals the secret to making this nice looking bowl but it provides enough detail to where you could make your own!!
Robbie uses a slideshow format to show us how he turns his Toru sculptures. These are turnings which have 3 turned bowls in them. This type of turning is not for the beginner or for the faint of heart, it's an turning expert's task!!
Peter Hyde of the Golden Horseshoe Woodturner's Guild in Ontario has put together a wonderful educational guide on Calabash bowls. He explains what a calabash is, it's origin/history and provides a great selection of examples for us to learn by!
In this photo tutorial, Bill shows us how he mounts a square turning blank onto the lathe and then turns a bowl into it while leaving the edges square. It's an unusual shape and very attractive.
Turning a square bowl will get your family and friends wondering how you did it!
In this project tutorial, Bill shows us how he turns a bowl with a wide lip. Then he shows us how he turns dowel-like legs that are attached to this rim via a through dowel. It's a clever technique and creates a very interesting bowl.
In this article, Eugen, a production turner, describes his methods to mass produce open type bowls in the 8 to 14 inch range.
This article does not describe each individual technique of subjects such as: basic turning, tool performance and other turning related details. These topics are covered in many other articles.
This article shows and describes the basic steps involved for turning these types of bowls and turning them in a production type environment. Eugen has produced bowls and many other turned items similar to these for over 25 years now. His experience really cuts down the time it takes to produce these bowls and subsequently he is able to sell them at a reasonable price.
In this project, Tom shows us how to turn a simple bowl. He explains each of the steps to turning a bowl which makes this a good project for a beginner. It is important for beginners to understand each of the steps in the process and how to do them before they can add their own individuality to their turning.
In this series of 3 videos, Bob turns a small square rimmed bowl from white ash. If you've ever considered making a square bowl, this would be the video to watch.
One of the best parts to watching this video is to hear Bob's thoughts on what he's going to do and how it's working out as he's doing the turning. So you're getting a connection right to Bob's thought processes. This can help you understand the logic behind his turning steps and it will help you to understand how you should be turning as you're doing a turning!
In this project, John Lucas shows us how he turns a bowl from a log. His premise is that many people may not have a chainsaw but are able to get logs to turn. So, he walks us through the process of how you could mount an entire logs on the lathe and turn it getting two bowls from the log.
This is a wonderful learning experience and could come in handy for many people!!
In addition, since John is a professional photographer, you just know that his photo's are great!
In this wonderful photo tutorial, you see all the steps necessary to harvest a log, find the bowl, prepare the blank, and turn a natural edge bowl. This is great tutorial to learn the process of natural edge bowls.
This document is the handout prepared by Joe Fleming for a 2009 Mini-Symposium held by the San Diego Woodturners. It had such a wealth of info related to the style of bowl, the round bottom shape that emulates the calabash gourd that I felt it was important to include here.
Joe includes not only an excellent selection of photo examples but provides some turner links, the tools and their grinds and several different turning procedures. This document is a little gem!
In this project, Barry Gross, shows us how to make a basic bowl. This project goes over all the steps required to turn a bowl so it's good for beginners and for those needing a refresher.
In this tutorial, Barry uses a scroll chuck to hold the foot of the bowl for turning out the insides of the bowl and then a set of cole jaws to hold the rim while turning the bottom of the bowl. Both of these tools make it easier for making bowls. They are highly recommended.
In this photo tutorial, Malcolm Tibbetts shows us how to use pen blanks as the raw material to make a "bowl from a board" project. The pen blanks are stabilized which makes them very strong and sturdy for this project. Your choices of woods and colors will make for a unique outcome which is guaranteed to be stunning.
Editors Note: I've made this project several times and the result is spectacular bowls. They are also the first thing that people are drawn to when they look at my turning collection.
In this photo tutorial, Neal shows us how to create a pedestal to hold your bowls and hollow forms off the table surface creating a new form of artwork!
Neal does a great job of explaining how he holds his spindle on the lathe which is one of the more important aspects of being successful with this project. Then he shows us how he turns the spindle including his method to attach it to his hollow form.
This is the video version of the photo tutorial that Bob Hamilton made on how to turn a bowl without a chuck.
This video is in 13 sections, each one being about 7 minutes long. The video goes through each step of the turning process so that no operation is left out!
In this great video for beginners, Bob shows us how to turn a bowl without using an expensive chuck. The article is good for more experienced turners too and "work holding" is something that we should each think about for every turning project.
My late friend, Bruce Moen, created this project of adding veneer inlays to bowls as a way to add decoration to a vessel that might be lacking in it's own beauty. Sometimes the grain of the wood is very light and it can make the bowl look bland.
Using the techniques in Bruce's photo tutorial, you, too, can add beautiful veneer inlays to bowls.
In this great article for beginners, Bob shows us how to turn a bowl without using an expensive chuck. The article is good for more experienced turners too and "work holding" is something that we should each think about for every turning project.
Bob starts the project by using a glue chuck to hold the original wood stock. This is a tried and true method that has been used for centuries! Then Bob uses how how to turn a jam chuck so that we can finish the back side of the bowl.
And lastly, Bob explains ways to clean up the very bottom of the bowl. This article is a great article for beginners and a great refresher for those with more experience.
Have you ever tried to turn a set of bowls all the same size??
Well, it's not as easy as it's sounds!
In this photo tutorial, Doug Ketchum shows us his technique of making near identical bowls from a single log. It's very clever and might just give you the answer that you need!
In this video, Joe shows us how he turns a natural edge bowl using a branch of olive wood. Joe has added some great "talk-over" to explain the steps and what he's doing along the way. That makes it possible for you to duplicate his efforts! This is a very good video to learn how to make a natural edge bowl.
We would like to add a concern about safety. Accidents happen too quickly on the lathe. We HIGHLY recommend wearing a face shield anytime your lathe is turned on!!
In this pictorial tutorial, Bob shows us how to make a bowl that is suspended above the table top by it's four legs! In addition, he created a top (lid?) to fit the bowl. The final result is a stunning covered bowl.
One of the things that makes this project interesting is that this type of design has a traditional woodworking concern to it. It is, "How do you deal with short grain in a structural component?". Bob does a great job addressing this issue which will help you to understand it not only for this project for future ones too!
This project is a real turning adventure as part way though the exercise, Bob's tenon breaks on his bowl as does happen and Bob shows how he recovers! We like real life projects and the learning that can be gained from them. This is one that fits that bill!!!
Brian Simmons is the assistant manager at the WoodSmith Store in Des Moines. He has a national reputation as a woodturning educator.
In this video, he takes a short section of poplar log and turns out a beautiful bowl, all while offering some really great insight in how to turn green wood.
Turning green wood bowls is one of the hottest areas of interest in woodturning today! This article on bowl turning will focus on the steps necessary to turn a basic wet wood rough-out bowl. Effective drying techniques and finish turning will also be discussed.
This is a very unique looking bowl... it's really a piece of art instead of something you might make salad in.
In this photo tutorial, Pablo shows us how he mounts this Tipuana blank and turns it. To get the very thin wall size, he turns the inside to final dimensions and then uses a light bulb mounted to his tail stock which allows him to use the light transmitted through the walls to achieve his final dimension.
This is a very unusual technique and one that might help you!
In this project, Ted shows us how to make a wonderful bowl from a single board. Ted laminates wood to create his board which enables him to create very unique bowl designs. This enable him to have vertical colored features in his bowls.
To make the bowl, Ted cuts the board into rings and stacks them. He uses a home built tool which he explains so you can make one yourself.
Ted also shows how to laminate layers into the bowl as the rings are being stacked and glued to get horizontal features into his bowls.
If you've ever wondered how they make stacked bowls, this tutorial is the place to go!
In this project, you learn how to turn a bowl and create an extended foot for it. Then that extended foot can be carved to shape 3 or 4 feet which hold up your bowl. It's a great technique and one worth learning as it can be applied to many different turned objects!
In this project, Malcolm Tibbetts shows us how to glue up a turning blank using 40 segments and 40 splines. The splines are small sandwiches of maple veneer and ebony. The glued-up 1/2 round segments are cut into circles and then assembled into a bowl blank. From there the turning is easy and the outcome is stunning!
Serve nuts, candy, or other tasty treats in this attractive woodturning. We made ours from three separate pieces that glue-assemble into the glowingly handsome raised dish.
With square corners and a wavy rim, this bowl will have admirers thinking you’re a woodturning wizard, and for good reason. Only you’ll know that adding some waste material when gluing up the blank makes it as easy (and safe) to turn as a round plate.
Whether you're turning several 6" salad bowls for everyday use, as demonstrated here, or a unique highly figured bowl that's strictly for display, you'll find this method guarantees success.
Bonnie Klein is internationally known for her small scale turnings which exhibit unusual skill in technique and imaginative use of design and materials. Bonnie's videos offer quality instruction, projects and techniques of interest to all woodturners.
Create end grain bowls from branches while retaining the bark as a rim. Chris also demonstrates the advantages of rough turning bowls and explains how to remount them when dry and warped. Full information on relevent tools and equipment.
Mike Mahoney and Stuart Batty team up on making two bowls with two different approaches. They discuss grinding techniques, gouge angles, tool selection, chucking concepts, push cuts, pull cuts, drying ideas and much more all in front of a live audience. Their rapport with each other and the audience makes this DVD fun to watch while giving the viewer an immense amount of information. Great for all levels of woodturning and especially instructors of the craft.
Chris Stott's approach to bowl turning shows the correct techniques in the use of bowl gouges and other tools. He then demonstrates the use of scrapers and shows sanding techniques and how to achieve the ultimate finish.
Trent welcomes you into his Fort Collins studio and takes you step-by-step through the process of creating a decorative utility bowl. Beginning with raw wood and ending with a rough turned bowl, Trent teaches drying techniques for green wood, re-turns the dry bowl to its final shape and shows numerous decorative techniques and finishing options.
Bowl turning is one of the hottest areas of interest for woodturners. Learn tips and tricks from a professional turner in this 2-hour, 20-minute double DVD set. If you're a beginner or intermediate turner looking for comprehensive instruction on how to turn bowls, this 2 disk set is for you!
In this video, Neil takes you through the process of turning and sculpting a bowl from his Erosion Bowl series. Diagrams and visual aids help to explain the process in detail from start to finish. From sketching design patterns on the bowl to using the various power carving systems (including Dremel and Arbortech), Neil explains what it takes to make a beautiful erosion bowl that pays tribute to the erosive forces of nature.
At last it is here and ready for you, the woodturners of the world! People have been asking Bill Grumbine to make a DVD that goes through the steps he teaches in his bowl turning classes. What makes this DVD so different from others? Well first of all, it has Bill Grumbine in it. But more importantly, this bowl turning DVD is as comprehensive as possible. It is also longer than just about any other DVD out there, even some two disc sets. There are over two hours of bowl turning information!
This is the second DVD from Bill Grumbine. It shows more advanced techniques for bowl turning. Each project is shown from beginning to end starting with the log. The projects shown in this DVD include: a natural edge bowl, a square bowl and a winged bowl. Bill also shows how to core a blank to get three bowls
An introduction to turning beautiful bowls and plates Del Stubbs shows you how to turn beautiful bowls and plates. You can start with dry lumber or with green wood you cut yourself. The camera zooms in close to see the careful contact of edge on wood and then moves back so you can study various tool positions, grips and stances. You will learn about: cutting tool types and modification of standard tools, grinding and honing chisels, gripping various turning tools, mounting bowl blanks and roughing out the shape, modifying a standard lathe, controlling warp in the thin wall of a bowl, cutting into endgrain, and designing bowl forms.
In this photo tutorial, Bob shows how to mount a single board on the lathe and cut off rings to be used to stack up a bowl blank. To make it interesting, Bob inserts a wood lamination giving this bowl a wonderful unique appearance!
This project is good for people trying to conserve limited wood and make wonderful bowls. This one is a full salad bowl size!
In this tutorial, Bear shows how to design one board bowls with the cutting done on the lathe instead of on a bandsaw. He shows to setup for the cuts on the lathe so that you will get all your rings and not cut into the faceplate.
Bear also shows some example layouts for 2 and 3 section bowls.
Making your bowl stand out from the crowd is not always easy! But in this photo tutorial, Stanley shows us how he uses veneer to apply a top rim to this bowl. This technique is very fluid and since you can change the type of woods, and subsequently colors, you can make many different attractive bowls!
I know that this is set many turners back but turning bowls from multi-sided shapes makes for a very attractive bowl. In this project, Bob shows us the easiest way to cut your bowl blank into an 8-sides blank, ready to put on the lathe for turning!
Most of us think round when we think bowls. Well, for Colin round is not always the answer. So, in this detailed photo tutorial, he shows us how he uses a template to create a 5 sided bowl blank. Then he shows us how to turn it without losing the shape!
This unique shape is very attractive and well worth considering if you want to make something different.
Colin makes this style of bowl in 4, 5 and 7 sides. To make it easier for you to do, Colin has provided a set of templates. You can find them here: 4, 5 and 7 sided bowl templates
In this very detailed project, Brian shows how he turns a complete bowl shape. He does a good job at describing his special techniques including how he dries wet wood and the way that he uses his tools.
Making a bowl from a single piece of wood is an excellent way to make economical bowls. In addition, it gives you an opportunity to dress up the design by gluing up boards before cutting. In this photo tutorial, Bob shows how he dresses up his bowl using a dovetail joint in his glue up. This is a unique approach to this technique and Bob truly shows his creative nature with this wonderful result!!
This is one project not to miss! It's truly thinking outside the bowl!!
In this detailed photo tutorial, Bob shows us how he turns a square turning blank into a bowl while retaining the square shape. He shapes the inside of the bowl to accept a top and then shows us how he makes the top including the knob for opening it. This technique makes for a beautiful covered bowl.
This photo tutorial shows Darrell cutting a thin log into a form of natural edge bowl. But since there's not much wood here, he calls them "Angel Wings". This is a fun but challenging project where you're turning more air that wood. This may not be a beginner's project but has some good learning in it!
In this photo tutorial, Darrell mounts a 1/2 log on the natural and rough shapes it to become a natural edge bowl. He shows how he deals with cracks in the wood and deals with the "turning air" component of natural edge bowls.
In this photo tutorial, Darrell shows us how he turns an end grain bowl. He uses a spalted birch slice which has challenges in this orientation. Using his hook tool and a sanding aid, he is able to get a fine finish. There are lots of good tips in this article!!
Ken Salisbury shows how to create a segmented bowl design using a mechanical method of calculating each segment. Then he shows how he assembles each of the rings and then the bowl blank. He finishes up talking about cutting the bowl to it's finished shape.
In this multi-page photo tutorial, Steve shows how to prepare the wood, turn the square bowl and then how to finish it. Because the blank is square, you have four corners rotating at high speed. The cutting of these corners is very critical in getting a good finished bowl.
This is a system for making your wood go further. If you have gone to all the trouble to make a glued up block, it's a shame to see any of it reduced to shavings. In this procedure a block 12" x 12" x 3" is cut up and reassembled into a block 18" x 18" x 2 1/4" which is thin in the middle and appropriately thicker towards the edge.
In this project, Max shares his techniques on making some of the most unusual segmented turnings!
Max Krimmel makes some of the most amazing turning around. This design is based on his hexagonal plan and uses many small pieces of wood to create the blank. Max explains his technique and how he arrives at the blank. It's fun to understand this project and not for the faint of heart!!
Dave shows all the steps of taking a large log and converting it into a bowl blank. Then he shows how he mounts it on the lathe to turn it. It has good clear pictures of the key steps.
In this project, Howard shows how he dyes dowels and glues them up into a bowl blank. Then he turns them on his lathe. He also shows how builds vase or hollow vessel shapes. This is a very unique technique and adds some wonderful color to his turnings.
In this article, Don describes a process that he learned from the famous Australian woodturner, Vic Wood. By using sacrificial blocks glued to four sides of a square bowl blank, you can avoid the sharp edges of a non-round wood blank.
It's a very clever technique and can really make turning odd shaped pieces of wood very safe! And also thereby increase your likelihood of success.
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