Segmented Bowl Project

[KenH]

Someone asked for a tutorial on how I made one of my segmented bowl, so listed below are a lot of pictures and a few words on most of the steps in the process for this bowl (4” tall x 12.5” across).



This picture is of my compound miter segment cutting sled. This sled is for a 12 segment bowl with a basic wall angle of 50°. The two key angles of this sled is the angle of the platform (9.57°) and the fence angle of 78.56°.



Using the sled I cut the 12 main segments of cherry. For this bowl I selected walnut as the contrasting wood. These 12 strips are about 3/8 inch thick and a little wider that the ¾ inch thickness of the cherry segments.



The first step in assembling the segments is to glue a walnut strip to each of the cherry segments. I do not clamp these, just apply some pressure and let the glue do the rest.





After gluing up all of these pairs and letting them dry I begin assembling the segments of the bowl. The first step is to tape them all together.





Once all of the segments are taped, I flip the group over to make sure everything lines up.



Then I go back and apply glue in between each of the segments.



Next I adjust the segments into the bowl shape. I attach a small C-clamp to the first and last segment so I can pull these two segments into place. Getting everything lined up at this point can be a little madding. Even with the tape the segments can move out of place, so at this point it is critical to make sure all the segments are in the right place or the whole thing could come apart while turning it latter.




Once the glue has dried I flatten the bottom of the bowl using the plainer. Because this bowl is over 12 inches wide I use a sled to avoid the plainer guides.



Next I prepare the bottom section by gluing it to the faceplate.



After this dries I turn the bottom plate and then glue this to the bottom of the bowl. After that dries I flatten the top edge of the bowl on the lathe.



I then cut and glue-up the top 12 segment walnut ring,



Next I glue the bowl to the segment ring.



Then it’s back to the lathe for a little turning, sanding and finishing.



Resulting in the finished bowl.



Thanks for reading.

Ken

[rcflyer23]

Great how to... Thank you. One of these days I will attempt something like that... Very beautiful bowl by the way.

[Trent Mason]

Ken,

Thanks so much for taking the time to document all of that and post it here. That is beautiful work and now it seems within the realm of my understanding.

Trent

[Tar Heel]

Very interesting Ken. Thanks for posting that. It would appear that there are some critical cuts in the process and those angles have to be exact in order to get a successful end product. Good job.

[RandyJ]

Ken, THANK YOU so much for posting this thread. I have been curious about the whole segmented turning aspect and never had anyone explain it. It makes so much more sense now!

That is a beautiful bowl.

Thanks again for taking the time to post it.

[woodArtz]

That's a great project Ken! Thanks for sharing.

[McRabbet]

Very neat work, Ken -- glad you showed that one at last month's WNC Woodworkers Association meeting on jigs -- but as a non-turner, I must ask a question that I'm very surprised the turners in the crowd have not asked... "How do you calculate the angles for the segments"?

[Dutchman]

Good looking bowl Ken.
Those pictures tell the tale about how much work goes into a segmented bowl. Not quite the same as just chucking up a big ol hunk of wood.

[ErnieM]

Ken,

This is fascinating and the end result is quite beautiful. Thanks for taking the time to document this build for us.

The two key angles of this sled is the angle of the platform (9.57°) and the fence angle of 78.56°.

One question: How did you build the sled with angles precise to the hundredth of an inch? And how did you calculate these angles in the first place (I guess that's two questions)?

Ernie

[gritz]

Thank's for the insight. I will give this a try.