# What do you do with a bowl blank this size.



## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

This is a cherry blank. It is 10-1/2 wide by 6-1/2 deep. I just can't get the curve to look right.






Note I turned it with the guard down, and the tailstock on. I just removed them for the picture.


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## Scott E (Jan 25, 2015)

No one can tell you how to shape a bowl, it is what is pleasing to the eye once you get the bark off and see what is inside. There are books out giving ideas on shapes but I turn whatever I want. Keep turning and have fun.


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## cuerodoc (Jan 27, 2012)

Looks ok to me. Just cut a tenon & get it done. I reshape on the fly all the time. That's part of what makes it fun.


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## Syd Sellers (Feb 2, 2013)

hwebb99, the creative juices don't flow everyday, wait a day or two and have a look, then give it a go...I bet you get what you are after!!!


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Hold a chain up by both ends and let it droop in the middle. Move your fingers apart and together to watch how the curve changes. Shorten the chain and do the same thing. This will give you a good idea of a nice design for a bowl. It's called a catenary curve. then just add a foot.


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## Bonanza35 (Jan 20, 2011)

First, judging from the apparent spray line on the wall it's a very green blank so I hope you wrapped it in plastic until you can get back to it. 

As for shape, I like to form my tenon and speculatively use the shoulder of the tenon as the bottom of the bowl. Once the bottom is established then any smooth curve connecting the rim to the base will look ok, it's just a matter of taste. 

It looks like you've got a nice curve going. If it were my bowl, I'd be planning to lose most if not all of the sapwood on the bottom of the blank as it is in the picture and increasing the curve from the midpoint down to the base. Hope that makes sense. I'm not saying that's the right way, it's your bowl so your way is the only way that counts. Just don't be afraid to make the bowl shallower if needed to make the curve more pleasing.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

Bonanza35 said:


> First, judging from the apparent spray line on the wall it's a very green blank so I hope you wrapped it in plastic until you can get back to it.
> 
> As for shape, I like to form my tenon and speculatively use the shoulder of the tenon as the bottom of the bowl. Once the bottom is established then any smooth curve connecting the rim to the base will look ok, it's just a matter of taste.
> 
> It looks like you've got a nice curve going. If it were my bowl, I'd be planning to lose most if not all of the sapwood on the bottom of the blank as it is in the picture and increasing the curve from the midpoint down to the base. Hope that makes sense. I'm not saying that's the right way, it's your bowl so your way is the only way that counts. Just don't be afraid to make the bowl shallower if needed to make the curve more pleasing.


I plan to turn away most of the sapwood. I have it under a large pile of chips.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

hwebb99 said:


> Note I turned it with the guard down, and the tailstock on. I just removed them for the picture.


 I tried turning with a guard similar to that one between me and the workpiece once, and found that for me there's something about trying to look through those "bars" which made it almost impossible to judge the emerging profile of the work. I had to keep flipping it up out of the way to get a sense of what was really happening and that was, for me, really annoying and distracting.

I suppose it's not the kind of thing one is supposed to say on a safety-conscious forum (and I'm all for being safe, and strongly recommend full face shields when turning) but I think those guard things are worse than worthless. 
They're not adequate protection against small debris which can knock an eyeball clean out of your head, so you should still wear proper protection anyway, and if you do that, you won't need the guard in the first place.
They're something designed by corporate lawyers, not woodturners.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I hate the guard on my table saw, I removed it. I hate the hold down on my scroll saw, I removed it. If my drill press had one of those stupid chuck guards,I would remove it. The guard on my lathe and jointer doesn't bother me, I also wear a face shield when turning.


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## jgilfor (Jan 25, 2013)

As others have said, creativity is a very personal thing.

You might want to peruse some of the turner's showcases on sites like the AAW and Woodturners Resource, or just do an online search for "woodturnings" and limit the results to images. Maybe something you see will spark your interest, and you can emulate it or personally modify it for your use.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

I'm sure you also wear a DUST mask as well when turning, a person may think it's ONLY chips, but lots more than that flies off a lathe, IMO.

Dale in Indy


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

smithbrother said:


> I'm sure you also wear a DUST mask as well when turning, a person may think it's ONLY chips, but lots more than that flies off a lathe, IMO.
> 
> Dale in Indy


The bowl is so wet it is slinging water out when it turns. There can't be that much dust. Dry wood is another story.


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## pburri (Jan 17, 2014)

*How to shape a bowl*

Contrary to what someone else said, Richard Raffan's book on bowl design is excellent. Read it; your bowl designs will improve.
Paul Burri
Santa Barbara


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

pburri said:


> Richard Raffan's book on bowl design is excellent. Read it; your bowl designs will improve.


Couldn't agree more, it's a wonderful resource.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I already read both of these books. Are they the one you are talking about.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

No. 
The book we're referring to is called "The Art of Turned Bowls" and is about form and design considerations almost exclusively. It doesn't discuss turning technique or tools hardly at all.

Here it is on Amazon.

If there's a better way to spend 20 bucks on improving one's bowlmaking skills, I swear I don't know what it could possibly be.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I will check the local library, the local wood turners club also has a library. I will check both resources before buying. The best money I have ever spent on turning was a face shield, and a double ended caliper.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

I think you'll like the book, but fair warning, one of the strategies Raffan recommends very highly is cutting some of your completed bowls in half, especially the "very good ones", in order to evaluate technique and design more effectively.

I imagine that just like a whole lot of people, I resisted following that advice for quite some time. 
More than a year if I recall correctly. Just the thought of taking something I'd made, and that I was kinda smitten with, to the bandsaw was plain creepy.

Now, many years later, I still cut a bowl in half now and then. It's a real powerful technique for evaluating what's _really_ happening by contrast with what I might _think_ is happening. 

Raffan may not be everyone's cup of tea, and he sure recommends some practices which make some other turners nervous, but I think he's one of the best teachers around when it comes to acquiring an overall skill set at the lathe. 

By the way, I know you said the guard on your lathe doesn't bother you, and I respect your viewpoint. 
But I truly think you're mistaken.

The main reason I think so is that the pattern of the bars creates optical illusions which distort the perception of the curves you're trying to make, and thus distorts understanding of what's actually happening. (We've all seen those "optical illusion things where there's a "grid" of lines in the illusion which draws the eye in such a way that curved lines look straight and vice versa. It's kinda like that.)

Since you wear a full face mask (so do I, and so should everyone) you don't really need the guard for meaningful safety reasons, so once you've got all the bark and junk off the workpiece, I'd encourage you to turn without the guard to see if you don't find evaluating the curves to be much easier.
You may have to remove the guard altogether, because you don't want that grid pattern in the background either, 'cos it will have a similar effect there too.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I would have a really hard time cutting anything I made in half. You are right about the guard, I have turned about 15 bowls since I made this post. Now, I round out a blank with the guard down . Unless the blank has a large crack, or something just doesn't feel right I remove the guard. I saw a YouTube video once where the guy cut a strip out of his bowl. He replaced it with a piece of segmented walnut. It looked really cool, I would try that.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

hwebb99 said:


> I would have a really hard time cutting anything I made in half.


I totally understand, but truly, it's worth it.
Potters do the same thing, especially in the early days of learning how to throw on the wheel, to "train" their hands into accurately interpreting what they're feeling.
Of course, they can just re-wedge the clay and make something else from the same material in just a few minutes, so they're usually easier to persuade than woodturners.

Anyway, onward, eh?
:smile:


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

pburri said:


> Contrary to what someone else said, Richard Raffan's book on bowl design is excellent. Read it; your bowl designs will improve....


Amen to that. Learning the aesthetics of good design is essential in progressing beyond the "beginner bowl" phase of turning. A couple bits of advice: let your design take advantage of the piece of wood, but don't let the size of the blank dictate the form.

Begin with a clear plan for the size and shape and deviate if you must only as a last resort to salvage a piece for a reason such as discovering a hidden defect or a self-inflicted design opportunity. The idea of "letting the wood speak to me" and the feeling of instant gratification are undeniably beneficial in fueling one's enthusiasm when first starting out, but going for a well-defined objective always trumphs putting a piece of wood on the lathe and hoping for inspiration while wood is being wasted.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I always remove all defects before deciding the shape. I am working with wood a sawmill gave to me, so it has a lot of defects.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Remove the sapwood from the foot because it will make a weak tenon and my personal opinion is that the bowl will also look better if it isn't as tall.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

Bill Boehme said:


> Remove the sapwood from the foot because it will make a weak tenon and my personal opinion is that the bowl will also look better if it isn't as tall.


I did, I agree shorter bowls look better. I may have to shorten it more, it still has some of the pith in it. I'm pretty happy with this shape.


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