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Woodturning an Incurved Winged Bowl Page 1

Trying to get a full circle log section turned to a bowl led to something between a hollow form and a bowl

woodturning big wing image

As I was cleaning the shop, a never ending but sometimes paused event, I picked up this little piece of tamarack I had once had on the lathe for some reason. It had a bit turned on one end and a crack all the way down the side. Obviously it was fire wood.

wood turning project wood

But, from the end it was clear that the crack only followed the pith a little way. Besides, tamarack is really pretty, the contrast between the heart and the little band of sap wood is spectacular, tamarack is a challenge to turn because it dulls a tool so quickly, this piece would have extra challenge because the pith is so off center with the resulting compression wood, and I hate throwing out a piece of wood that made it into the shop.

project wood preparation

So I took the chain saw and cleaned a strip down one side by cutting through the pith. This will give a good surface for the face plate.

mounting faceplate

A 3" faceplate gets mounted with 4 #14 1" long self tapping sheet metal screws and the wood goes to the lathe. By the way, the wood is about 10" long and slightly over 5" in diameter.

woodworking lathe

Obviously this is going to be fun to turn. Look at the ghost here even at 400 rpm.

woodturning project video

And even better with a video clip.