# Segmented bowls



## JC WOODTURNING (Jun 6, 2012)

My first attempts at segmented bowls. I don't have a surface sander so it is hard to glue up layers. Any suggestions on how I can do it without the surfacing sander?


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Very nice. Way to come into the forum with all these awesome projects. :thumbsup:


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Very Nice. do you have a planer. I run much of my stuff through my planer and the finish is good enough. For flattening rings I used to just use a 2x4, jointed and with sandpaper on one face. I would flatten one side of a ring and then glue it to a stack of rings already on the lathe. Then I could flatten the other side while on the lathe.
Now I do have a drum sander so I do it that way.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

i REALLY like the one far right front
but i like them all
:thumbsup:


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## JC WOODTURNING (Jun 6, 2012)

I do have a surface planer but because the grains go in different directions I never was able to get a smooth side on those 15 degree segmented sectional rings. I tried to make a press that kept the rings flat while I used a strap clamp to glue them together but that really didn't work either. I tried something close to your idea by gluing a base to the ring at the same time and then attaching it to my lathe to smooth one side, glue it to my piece then true up the other side. It was time consuming but I did get one glued up but as I was cutting the last bit out I had a catch and the bowl became expensive firewood. I even tried a belt sander but learned quickly I wasn't that steady of a belt sander to make it work. I think I need to save up and get a small surface sander.
Oh darn, I have to buy another tool (and a couple of nice dinners out with the wife for her approval) for the shop. A man has to do what a man has to do I guess.......


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Looks like you've done well so far. What's the problem? I see smooth looking bowls.


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## JC WOODTURNING (Jun 6, 2012)

I want to try some of those designs from 2nd and 3rd generation cuts to make up rings that form those patterns I see from other turners. I bought books and studied some videos on how to do it but they all had or made reference to a surface sander to make sure the rings were flat for stacking and gluing together. Mine were made with flat pieces of wood all glued together at the same time so the flat surfaces were there to begin with.


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## Jesus Saves! (Oct 11, 2011)

Those look great to me.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

*Nice bowls*

You are doing well considering you do not have a sanding tool.

Nice looking bowls, I am planning on trying a segmented bowl soon.

I flatten pieces/assemblies either by hand or on a type of drum sander with the drum UNDER the table, called by the manufacturer a Flatmaster.

http://www.stockroomsupply.ca/shop/drum-sanders.html

The by hand method is with PSA abrasive on a 12in x 18in granite slab I purchased from Grizzly. I see Woodcraft selling smaller slabs now.

I use 3 strips of 4 1/2 in 80 grit paper and rotate the piece as needed. I normally use this for pieces too small for the Flatmaster or for edges.

Although I have not yet attempted a segmented bowl, I just completed by first laminated bowl. In this case the pieces can be made flat with the table saw.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

i have seen some of these guys make a sanding disc for their lathe that they used to flatten their segments
i do believe (dmb) did this and posted it


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## dmh (Sep 18, 2010)

JC, just make you sanding disc for the lathe. Simple, cheap, and easy.

Nice looking bowls!:thumbsup:


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

dmh said:


> JC, just make you sanding disc for the lathe. Simple, cheap, and easy.
> 
> dmb dmh same difference lol


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## dmh (Sep 18, 2010)

robert421960 said:


> dmb dmh same difference lol


Close counts.:laughing:


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

I got one of THESE Beall taps so I can turn any piece of wood into a faceplate -- just drill it and tap it, then screw it onto the lathe spindle and square up the face as needed.

I think I'll make a few sanding disks myself, have them ready for when I get ambitious and try segmented turning :yes:


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## JC WOODTURNING (Jun 6, 2012)

I think you,re right. This could be the way to go. I can make one up and mount it to one of my extra face plates. How do you attach the sand paper so it can be removed for a different grit or replaced when worn out?


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 21, 2009)

If all else fails glue a sheet to a glass plate and sand the piece on that facedown.


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## dmh (Sep 18, 2010)

JC WOODTURNING said:


> I think you,re right. This could be the way to go. I can make one up and mount it to one of my extra face plates. How do you attach the sand paper so it can be removed for a different grit or replaced when worn out?


The one in the picture was just glued on with spray adhesive. The paper didn't have a sticky back to it. Its pretty much worn out now and I don't use it any more. The paper just tore when I tried to pull it off so I just cut out a new disc.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

All of my early turnings were segmented. I didn't know you could turn green wood and dry wood that thick was unattainable. 
I did segmented work a lot back then and have always done a piece every now and then. I can't sell them for the time it takes to make them so I seldom do one anymore although that's going to change now that I retired. 
I'm telling you this because until last year I have never owned a thickness sander. I did make one many many years ago. It was a wooden drum that I turned on the lathe. Glued sandpaper to it and made an adustable wedge table to go under it to support the work and adjust for thickness. It worked but was a pain. After you do about 20 rings your fingers are killing you from pushing the work under the drum. Of course your lathe was also occupied so you couldn't do anything else on it until you were done sanding.
I probably did most of my rings by gluing them up on a formica cutting board that I built for this purpose. I waxed it and would clamp the rings up in a hose clamp. Then I would tap each segment with a mallet to make it sit flat on the formica. That more or less flattened one side. All you had to do was clean off the glue and maybe take the wood down a little to truely flatten it. I did that with the sandpaper jointed 2x4. I tried sliding the whole ring along paper glued to flat surface. Worked fine for small rings. it was too easy to make a large ring slightly convex. 
A disc sander works great. 
When gluing up rings if you can't get them perfect glue up 180 or 90 degrees at a time using what we call a rub joint. Rub two pieces together to thin out the glue and then hold the wood until it tacks, about 20 seconds works for me with titebond. After you glue up 90 degrees worth, check it and true it up I use a 2x4 held against the side of my workbench with the partial ring flat on the workbench. 90 is hard to get dead on but 180 is very easy. Of course a disc sander is faster but it's awfully easy to take off too much.
The sandpaper glued to a flat surface works well for flattening stave construction pieces if you glue up 180 degree sections.
If your cutting a gluing up leaves a ring really out of flat I purchased a Saf-T planer. It looks sort of like an odd drill bit that you put in your drill press. you feed the wood under this. It does a good job of flattening but leaves a pour surface that needs more attention with sandpaper to get it ready for glue up. However in an emergency it does work.


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## Nate Bos (Jan 11, 2012)

Are you taking pictures of these as you make them? If so you are fast! Nice work!


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## JC WOODTURNING (Jun 6, 2012)

Thanks John. You answered my questions about what would happen if I used this method or that method. The dishing and uneven rings were my biggest concern and doing them with a make shift device or with hand held tools made me shudder. I am going to try the lathe disc set up since it would be easy to create and I had in mind to make a holder to use to press the ring up against the disk evenly, or at least more evenly than using my hands. If you know what a "hawk" is for drywall mud application (old school) that is what I was thinking of as a holder. If I could put small button stops at the bottom and sides of the ring to the "hawk", sort of like the jumbo jaws uses to hold your work on the head stock. The buttons would be wood and smaller in depth than the ring. I could hold the handle and press then entire ring, all at once, to the disk. In my mind it sounds like it would work as long as I took off some of the glue drops from the other side and had it fairly smooth. I thought by just touching up each side a little at a time I could end up with a flat ring, equally proportioned in thickness. 
I am not really that great at expressing myself on paper because my mind seems to go faster than my typing fingers and what I think I explained turns out to be more confusing to others. If I go this way I will take pictures and post them. I am leaning towards those dinners for the wife and a new machine for my shop though! Thanks again.


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## JC WOODTURNING (Jun 6, 2012)

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## JC WOODTURNING (Jun 6, 2012)

Nate,
This is the third time I have tried to reply with a post to you but I keep doing something wrong and it doesn't show up. So if you get several replies that is why.
Thanks for the comments. I can do about 2 to 3 goblets a day if I push myself but finishing can take up to 10 days with drying time and sanding so I have to stop and concentrate on finishing to clear my finishing table off. Since the economy crunch 4 years ago my business dropped 66% overnight so I had plenty of time on my hands to do more wood work. I have been turning for 10 years, self taught, but got serious on it 4 years ago. I planned on doing wood working in retirement and since I am now forced into early semi retirement due to the economy I have been going at it strong. I started taking pictures of my work so I could look back and see what I could do to change them. Since I don't use stain and prefer to let the natural colors of the wood blend together I can look back at the pictures and say to myself "I wonder what that would look like if I used these types of wood" etc. I have made over 160 goblets as well as many bowls, dishes, platters. etc. Sometimes they are fresh off the lathe and some pictures are from my archives. I just pull out out a picture and post it if I think someone might like it or I want to share with everyone some story about it. I am going to try and add to my album more pictures of other work I have done so if anyone has a question on anything it is there to refer to. I believe in no secrets and sharing techniques and tricks used in the shop to everyone. I feel that unless you have a business making a living off this hobby and by sharing you would hurt your income by exposing a special technique then a forum is not where you should be. 
Now I hope this reply gets posted and like I said, this is the third time so if the others show up, my apologies in advance. Thanks again for you comments and interest.


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## JC WOODTURNING (Jun 6, 2012)

*duplicate*

aaaaa


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