Bowl Turning Process
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Various stages of tree to bowl - it all begins with a log, split in half and remove center, rough bowl, lengthy drying
process and then returned to lathe for final turning.
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Logs ready to become bowls - I cut logs to length equal to the log diameter to yield the largest bowl blanks.
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Preparing logs to become bowls with pith removed to minimize cracking. Because logs typically shrink most during
drying nearest the center of the tree, I remove the center and 1-2" to either side of the center to minimize
chances for cracking as my blanks are drying.
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Rough blank mounted on lathe. I try to knock off the edges with the chain saw to help balance the blank and
minimize the amount of wood that I'll need to remove during the turning process. At this stage, the better
balanced the blank, the easier it will be to turn a rough bowl shape.
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Rough blank turned round - the outside of the bowl shape has been formed. Note that I turn a spigot on
the bottom of the bowl so that I can grip the blank in my four-jaw chuck when I finish turn this bowl.
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Rough blank turned round on outboard side of lathe. This image shows that the outer half of the log has been rough
shaped. Note that the screens beside the lathe are in place to minimize mess since the amount of water that is
sprayed from a green wood blank can be considerable and can create quite a mess in the shop.
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Oneway coring tool cutting small bowls blank from center of larger bowl blank. For really large trees, I like
to use a coring system to maximize the yield from the tree and minimize waste. I use the Oneway coring system
to remove consecutively smaller bowls from the center of the tree. This allows me to produce two or three bowls
from each half log section.
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This shot shows the smaller bowl blanks removed from the center of the larger bowl blank. For this half log,
I'll get one large bowl, a smaller bowl and a tiny bowl from the centermost portion. Note that at this point,
the bowls are turned extremely thick - I typically turn 1-2" thick. As these blanks dry, they will become
somewhat oblong and I'll need this extra thickness to finish turn these bowls back to a round shape.
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Roughouts complete. As you can see, this process can produce quite a mess!
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Completed bowl blanks ready to be dried.
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Roughed blanks coated with Anchorseal and ready to be dried for 6+ months. Anchorseal is a wax-like product that
I use to coat the blanks to slow the drying process in an effort to minimize cracking. I like to rough out my
bowls in the summer months when it is most humid where I live in New Hamphshire. Then I let the blanks dry for
a minimum of six months - by preparing the blanks in the summer, the seasonal changes in New Hampshire work with
me to help dry the blanks slowly.
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This is another shot of additional bowls that have been coated in Anchorseal and ready to dry.
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