Making a Petal Bowl, Part 2
01 / 19
Welcome back. At this point I relocate the original slot that is the starting point of the petals. the plastic gizmo is used to adjust the cutter to realign with the slot. Putting cutters in and out, and tightening them, usually moves the router a few thousandths. this gets me back to zero.
02 / 19
After locating the starting point i reset the router to the proper depth and start the cutting processes. On this bowl I will be cutting on the 24 hole circle. I can do any number divisible by 96. That is 6, 8, 12, 24, 48 and 96. The blue tape is to remind me to leave out that cut. the reason will become apparent.
03 / 19
After cutting the petals I remove the 1/16" cutter and replace it with a 3/8" one and move the jig to the bottom radius stop. Taking .150" cuts I remove the remaining mass from the center.
04 / 19
I then reset the router to copy the back radius. This will enable me to locate the back radius when I turn the piece for finishing the bottom.
05 / 19
At this point all the cutting is done. I sand the whole piece to 220 grit. as you can see the skipped petal is located where the grain meets the rim. I made this decision when I saw how the grain played on the rim.
06 / 19
This is a side view of the finished piece. I then remove the bowl with the waste block and adaptor.
07 / 19
The next step is to round off the petals. for this processes I use a radius template. By placing the template against the petal I select one that I think is pleasing. the radius i chose in this one is between a flat top and a complete radius. the full radius, from past experience isn't great.
08 / 19
I use a 1" belt sander to cut the big waste from the petal. I have glued a post to the housing for stability. The belt is dulled so that it is not too aggressive.
09 / 19
The preliminary cutting stays on the far side of the line.
10 / 19
If you look back two frames you can see that I am using a 7/16" radius to mark the piece. This translates into a 7/8" diameter. Using a 7/8" forstner bit I drill a hole in a piece of scrap wood, band saw and sand the block to size. The hole is on the end grain so the edge of the block is stable.
11 / 19
Over the past years I have evolved a design to the block that includes a "handle" in the center. This gives me more control while sanding. I then remount the bowl on the lathe.
12 / 19
I fit the block with 80 grit PSA sandpaper. By folding the ends of the paper over the ends it doesn't come out when sanding. Here you can see how it all comes together.
13 / 19
The final step before I start to sand is I mark the ends of the petals so I know when to stop sanding. I bring up my tool rest, that has a post inserted into it, up behind the petal for support. If I try to sand the petals without support, guess what, they break.
14 / 19
This is the finished bowl. I use a 320 grit "sanding mop" from Klingspore. This gets rid of the fuzz created by the router without destroying the edges. I then finish sand to 600 grit. You can see how the skipped slot focuses the grain.
15 / 19
With the faceplate removed I then mount the piece on a vacuum chuck. the "Stubby" has a vacuum port built in. Using the same tool rest with the post, I get the piece perfectly centered by rotating the piece and adjusting half the difference.
16 / 19
A few frames back I set the router to the radius of the back of the bowl. Here is why. With the bowl concentric I set the jig so the cutter just touches the bowl. The jig is now on the same radius used to cut the back. I then start to remove the waste block.
17 / 19
Because the router has been set the way it was, I can now cut the foot so the thickness of the base and he line of cut is on the exact line of the bowl. For this bowl it isn't critical, but on bowls with an open foot it is, and besides I like the detail. As you can see I am exactly where I wanted to be.
18 / 19
I then undercut the foot so that it is the same thickness as the body. I now sand the back to completion and the bowl is complete. Two coats of tung oil and carnauba wax finish the piece.
19 / 19
Finished piece. The final statistics are Matl: Padauk Size: 7" diam x 2" high. For those of you that are interested all tolerances are within .010"