Revised and Expanded Edition of Wooden Bowls from the Scroll Saw coming soon!

The materials are due to go to the printer by the end of the week, and the book should be available about mid-May.  I've completely rewritten the first chapter to bring it up to date with new tools and techniques.  Some of the original projects were removed to make room for nine new ones, which include three that have never been published.

I was pleased to have been given the opportunity to share my new projects and techniques in an organized and systematic manner, and hope the material in this new edition gives readers many hours of pleasure at their scroll saws.

Checking for spaces

Anyone who makes scrolled bowls knows that rings that don't lie flat create unattractive lines when glued up.  I usually include a caution in any of my bowl projects to check for and correct any spaces, since omission of this step can lead to disappointing results.

There are two ways to check for spaces.  The one that's usually sufficient is to stack the rings, hold them up to eye level, and look for any light coming through.  Occasionally a bulb or flashlight is needed, but that's no big deal.

The second method, which is easier and may actually be more reliable, is to see if a sheet of paper can be pushed through the rings at any point.  The rings in the photo passed the light test, and it was only a matter of luck that I decided to use the paper, as well.  What a surprise!  It was actually a quick fix using the old reliable sanding tile, and will result in a much more uniform effect once the interior is sanded.

When you've already put a lot of effort into a bowl, don't cut corners just as the end is in sight!

A different kind of rim

I'm always looking for ways to keep scrolled bowls fresh, and decided to play around with the top rim.  I've seem versions around that did this, but none that involved contouring by sanding.

The principle is pretty simple.  The ring is sized extra wide, and the outside cut is made vertically, rather than at an angle.  Some people leave the extra wood plain, others use fretwork.  I decided to round it to create a soft look, and found it quite attractive.  My own preference if for softened or rounded edges, which I think gives a more finished appearance than knife sharp ones.

This bowl had curved sides which made the designing a little tricky, and the sequence was different since you can't work as well once the top ring is attached, but everything else was standard, and I'm going to see how far I can take this before I run out of ideas.

New use for old scraps

It's hard enough to throw away scraps without having your partner go through your trash bin and remove what you've put in.  Joe regularly eyes my scraps, particularly those from bowl blanks, and removed two sets not long ago.

He re-sawed each the pieces to create thinner pieces that were book-matched, glued up some veneer for the inside decoration, then created an outside frame to pull everything together.

Now I don't even both throwing larger pieces away.  I just set them aside and look forward to some creative recycling.

Blade entry hole bypass--an informal experiment

I've always drilled blade entry holes when making scrolled bowls. However, sanding out the drill marks can be tedious, so I decided to try an alternative approach--cutting into the ring along the grain instead of drilling.  I wanted to see what it looked like, and whether it could serve as an alternative.

I used a pine bowl whose rings had been cut conventionally, except for the smallest ring, which remained to be cut.  Instead of drilling, I cut into the ring along the grain at the designated cutting angle of 27˚, continued the cut around the ring, then glued up the cut.

I noticed immediately that although the grain at the top and bottom of the ring matched nicely, the cut on the side was a vertical one and could not be completely hidden, no matter how well it was glued.  It reminded me of a scarf joint, which is used to join the ends of two pieces of wood, and means that no matter how neatly you join the ends, or how much you sand, there will always be a scar.

Here are photos of my results.  The view of the underside clearly shows what happens when you make the cut, and why the ends can't be completely hidden.

Another use for the Wixey DRO

I decided to get more precise and use the DRO for cutting a very basic bowl.  I usually add on an additional degree to compensate for imprecise angle settings.  For this bowl, it would mean cutting at a 28˚ angle instead of the more correct 27˚ angle.

This time, using the Wixey, I set the table to a precise 27˚, after making sure that the blade and table were square to each other before I adjusted the angle.

The results were amazing.  I cut two simple bowls, and this is the way they looked when I stacked the rings.  Now there's no going back to using the under-table angle gauge when precision is needed.

Dizzy Bowl experiments

One great way to use up scraps of wood is to make a dizzy bowl, so named because of the swirled look created by rotating the rings.

My first attempt was a small bowl, about 6-1/2" diameter across the top.  I left it plain, since it looked pretty nice just the way it was.

My second attempt was a larger bowl, about 9-1/2" diameter, with a slightly different glue-up.  I decided, this time, to add a contrasting top ring and base that would set off the bowl without competing with it.

I'm not sure where I'll go from here, but I sure am cleaning out my scrap pile!

Preparing for Fox Chapel's Open House next week

Made a new project, a larger version of one I'd tried, especially for my advanced bowl class, and have also made a totally unglued version of it to show how to handle multi-blank bowls.

The larger version was made the same way as the smaller one, but with slightly thinner wood, and one extra ring for the lower section to give it better proportions.

Not too difficult, and a really fun project!

Face grain segmented bowl

Quite by accident, I tripped on a way to make a segmented bowl that had only face grain showing, without needing to cut angles.  This one was made from some 1/2" oak and padauk strips that I had lying around.  It's meant as a prototype, but I plan to see how far I can push this technique now that I know it works.  So many new things to explore . . . . .

An easy way to figure out the cutting angle

If you're having trouble understanding how the cutting angle for bowls works, take a look at this photo.  The two parallel lines on the edge represent the ring width, in this case 1/4".

To get a rough idea of the correct cutting angle, tilt the saw table, left side down, so that the tensioned blade meets the right line on the top edge of the wood, and the left line on the bottom of the wood.  That angle, with the thickness of the wood in the photo and 1/4" wide ring, is about 20˚.  If the wood were thicker or thinner, the angle would change.

If you go to scrollmania.com and look at the diagram for the Angle Calculator, you can get a clearer idea of what that diagram represents.  Remember, the angle you are computing is actually the amount the saw table is lowered from its normal level position.

Hope this clears things up a little.  And yes, there are people who just use the method in the photo to "compute" the cutting angle.  If you're precise enough, it should work just fine, but I'd rather double check with a calculated angle.  With a neat online tool like the Angle Calculator, there's no excuse for not being precise!

Some tips for better gluing-ups

In working on a new bowl lamination, I realized that I now do some things automatically that are important in obtaining a good glue-up. Here's a video that contains some tips that you might find helpful.

Open Segmented Bowl in Woodworker's Journal

For anyone curious about making an open segmented bowl with the scroll saw, check out my article in the October, 2014 issue of Woodworker's Journal.

I was pleased when I finally figured out how to do this type of bowl, and encourage bowl makers to give it a try.  Nice thing about it is that you can use many profiles, not just circles.  The bowl featured in WJ has a wavy edge and curved sides, and makes a nice first project of this type.

Two tips for gluing up bowl rings

Here are some tips to help you get better glue-ups of your bowl rings.

The yarn bowl--final version

Here, at long last, is the final version of the yarn bowl I've been working on.  Patterns and instructions will be appearing in Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts, probably late this year.  I'm very pleased with the project, and hope that many knitters make good use of it.

For the bowl maker, it provides a new shape to work with, and a new technique--decorative cutting of the finished bowl. I took advantage of the few warmer days we had last month to get it finished, and am really looking forward to getting back to work in my shop.

First project from the new shop

It seemed fitting that my first project would reflect my intention to continue work on more advanced bowls.  These are bowls that typically use two or three blanks, have curved sides, and are more time-consuming to make.  They may also have to be glued up in stages to allow access for sanding the interiors.

I included a picture of the completed bowl, as well as a picture before any exterior sanding was done.  For sanding the interior, I used both the regular and mini sized round inflatable, as well as the long inflatable drum.  For sanding the exterior, I used the regular round inflatable for the "valleys" and the 2" flexible pad sander for the rest.

I brought the bowl to the NWA show at Saratoga Springs this past weekend, and had fun teasing the turners, many of whom had no idea you could do this with the scroll saw.

Shop is up and running!

Finally got a chance to start a new project, at long last.  It's one of the "next generation" bowls that I had started working on before the box book took me off into a different direction.  I intend to get instructions out, one way or another, for those looking for some new ideas for scrolled bowls.

The new setup, at this point, is just like the old shop.  However, we ordered a drum sander and dust collector, which should be here in a week or so.  The drum sander is truly essential for my glue-ups, and the dust collector is truly essential for the drum sander.  The sander I had used in the community shop was a disaster--abused, mistreated, and barely usable.

Hopefully, the coldest days of winter will be past, and I can spend more shop time with my new toys and projects.  I look forward to an exciting spring and summer!