Bowl Blank Jig for Bandsaw

[Steve Chaplin]

I had a jig for cutting blanks into circles. Can save turning time, but had some shortcomings. Many logs are too small to get a large flat and the curve of the log makes roughing harder because of the air time and uneven surface.
My buddy had an idea to cut at an angle to remove more material for easier roughing, so I built it. The idea is the side of the jig where the log pivots can tilt.
Use is cut the blank like normal. Then move the center out (how much depends on blank diameter), and re-cut at an angle.

Here is the blank already cut level. The center has been moved out in preparation for the angle cut.


Here is the blank tilted just before the angle cut:


Here is the finished blank:


Here are a few cut and wrapped till I get to them:


--sdc

 

[Mark Jundanian]

Clever.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Not to be offensive but this seems like a lot of work and limits bowl design when turning. I can see, but do not use , the circle cutting jig on the BS . Guess I just never thought of using a jig for turning blanks.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Agree with Gerald - It kind of limits design options and/or re-centering or re-aligning for grain pattern.. I've gotten so used to using chainsaw to get them "trimmed" to sort of roundish and then rounding/balancing on the lathe, it keeps pushing a floor model bandsaw further down on my "equipment I need for the shop" list... and I am beginning to wonder if I will ever really NEED one - it's becoming more of a "Like to have one, but Meh..." situation for me..

Of course, if you are gonna be running a production "run-of-the-mill" bowl turning shop, then sure such a jig might be handy....

But there's been a time or two when I fully expected to turn an ordinary "plain jane" blank into an ordinary bowl, only to discover a very interesting grain pattern within the blank that didn't start showing until I was part way into it.. if I'd had it cut down ahead of time, I'd have missed out on a lot of that grain... So, I guess, to each his own..

 

[hockenbery]

I agree with @Gerald Lawrence and @Brian Gustin if your goal is hemispherical bowls.

my guess is your goal is trumpet shaped bowls like my friend Phil Brown was known for. He used a similar jig.
phil passed away a few years ago - this is an overview of phil

https://www.woodturner.org/common/Uploaded%20files/MemberProfiles/20160331Brown.pdf

the first page of David Frye’s article, April 2016, on phil shows his typical forms. You and Phil cut away the full part of the typical bowl. Phil’s wall curves are opposite those of a hemispherical bowls.

 

[Odie]

@ Steve Chaplin

Very creative....I love to see when others think up purposeful tooling modifications. This is how we evolve!

The others here, have applicable thoughts to contribute, as well.

-----odie-----

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

@ Steve Chaplin

Very creative....I love to see when others think up purposeful tooling modifications. This is how we evolve!

The others here, have applicable thoughts to contribute, as well.

-----odie-----

Odie don't you remember our non friend George from the U P telling us how to reduce the turning time by band-sawing the blank on a tilted table so as to remove the high parts of the blank ??.
I do and it was not something I wanted to do, a larger blank screwed to a faceplate is rounded pretty fast, not worth the hassle I thought and never attempted to do that.

Oh he was then later known under aliases like Micky Mouse and others ;-))

 

[Odie]

Odie don't you remember our non friend George from the U P telling us how to reduce the turning time by band-sawing the blank on a tilted table so as to remove the high parts of the blank ??.
I do and it was not something I wanted to do, a larger blank screwed to a faceplate is rounded pretty fast, not worth the hassle I thought and never attempted to do that.

Oh he was then later known under aliases like Micky Mouse and others ;-))

Hi Leo.......

Ha.....Now that you mention it, yes I do remember him. The thing I remember most about him is his method of stabilizing the interior of bowls by the central "pillar" he left while he removed the waste material......very unusual!

It's been a long time since he's posted here......what ever happened to him?

Wasn't he "Michael Mouse"? (I just did a search for him, and...nothing. I guess this is because he last posted long before the last couple major upgrades in the AAW forums.)

-----odie-----

 

[robo hippy]

I considered circle cutting jigs for prepping blanks, but after a few attempts, I discarded the idea. In my years as a production turner, I didn't make pieces the exact same size unless it was an accident. I am one who takes a log section and gets the most useable bowl blanks from it that I can, which means they are all different sizes since all logs are different sizes as well. I guess I could make an exception for a circle jig if I did natural edge bowls.

When considering cutting the bowl blanks out, I cut a parallel flat on the back/bottom side of the bowl or platter blank. I would make it at least half the diameter of the finished blank so it wouldn't rock as I cut the circle. I would mark a circle with a compass/divider, and then, since the bottom was flat, just use the scribed line to cut out the blank. No one method ever seemed to get the blank perfectly centered, but it would always be close enough.

As for cutting the bevel, that makes for 2 operations. By using my scrapers and the Big Ugly tool, I could rough it out far faster with them compared to setting up the second cut on the bandsaw. I guess another reason for not cutting the bevel is that some times I have one design in mind, but the wood has another.....

As for the Mouse, I think he got, shall we say "censored" from every woodturning forum except for WoodNet. Not much room for some one who is one of those "only 2 ways to do things, my way or the wrong way" people.

robo hippy

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Leo.......

Ha.....Now that you mention it, yes I do remember him. The thing I remember most about him is his method of stabilizing the interior of bowls by the central "pillar" he left while he removed the waste material......very unusual!

It's been a long time since he's posted here......what ever happened to him?

Wasn't he "Michael Mouse"? (I just did a search for him, and...nothing. I guess this is because he last posted long before the last couple major upgrades in the AAW forums.)

-----odie-----

Ha. yes he's still around on woodnet forum, as Reed is saying, it was always his way or no way, very abrasive and got shown the door everywhere

 

[Randy Anderson]

Steve, clever idea and setup. Don't think I'll go that far with my circle jig but I'm always interested in new jigs. They're a big part of the challenge and fun in woodworking. I too often reposition my pieces once I get the very rough shape done but do use my traditional circle jig to get the corners off of big pieces before I start turning them. Most of what I turn are natural edge so I want as many adjustment options as I can have when I start. My chainsaw skills are not great and have learned from more than a few ruined bandsaw blades that an uneven bottom on a piece can ruin a blade in a fraction of a second.

 

[Doug Freeman]

A plus if turning “trumpet” style as @hockenbery pointed out (may have to steal that style), bit as others said limiting for most other shapes.

Early in my development as a turner I thought I needed a big bandsaw, but as my chainsaw and roughing skills improved I started to see a bandsaw as slowing the whole process down. It would help cut spindle blanks but I dont use a lot of them. A big bandsaw is not hi on my wish list.

 

[Steve Chaplin]

It isn't really for trumpet shaped bowls, you can adjust the angle and how much is cut. The idea is not to shape the bowl as much as to get rid of wood that has to be cut off anyways.
The center on the one shown should have been further out to cut less. The jig is new so I'm not fully up to speed with it.
This is not a huge time saver with small bowls but with big bowls really worth doing.

Here is a better example:

 

[Ed Jarvis]

I use circles cut out of Masonite or plastic for templates laid on the wood traced with pencil. they were made on a cnc router.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

I can do that faster and safer on the lathe. Especially on a blank the size that you are showing us, it will be just seconds, 3 passes max.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

There may be other ways to prep a blank for turning, Steve, but this is a clever idea for someone who wants to use a bandsaw.

And I think there could be applications beyond blank prep. It seems to me this would be a good way to make a cone where an exact angle was required. If the wood strut were replaced with one made of two threaded rods and a turnbuckle you'd have a lot of fine adjustment.

 

[Steve Chaplin]

Good idea Mark. I was going to do different length wood supports but the turnbuckle idea may be better.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

About 25 years ago I made a similar jig but without the tilting table and I still have it although it is just gathering dust now. The main problem I had was where to set the stop relative to the center pivot, but no matter where I put it the cut usually moved in or out of the desired cut radius especially on very thick cuts into green hardwoods. The wondering usually happened both ways on a single blank.
The best simplest, quickest and others have also stated is the disk pivoting on a nail or scratch awl, then free hand cutting with the disk as a rough guide.

 

[Jason Goodrich]

removing some of the mass like this would be really helpful for people turning on a smaller lathe. If you have a big lathe you can just do it on the lathe like Emiliano said.

 

[hockenbery]

A circle cutting jig can be useful especially if you have a smallish table on the bandsaw.

i do a lot of NE bowls and hollow forms with natural edge openings. A key element for me is centering the opening in the bark edge.
i find this center, mark it, and drill a shallow hole through the bark with an 1.25“ Forstner bit. I then put a guide disc centered on this hole with scratch awl. The circle cut along the outside of this disc centers the opening in the blank. This is real quick and I have a nice size table on my saw.

this is a crotch being sawn for an NE bowl.
View attachment 40955

 

[Steve Chaplin]

removing some of the mass like this would be really helpful for people turning on a smaller lathe. If you have a big lathe you can just do it on the lathe like Emiliano said.

I do have a large lathe. The reason for creating the tilting table was to deal with blanks that have less than optimal form. Sorry about the poor example, that first blank I cut was not really a problem blank.

 

[Steve Chaplin]

i do a lot of NE bowls and hollow forms with natural edge openings. A key element for me is centering the opening in the bark edge.
i find this center, mark it, and drill a shallow hole through the bark with an 1.25“ Forstner bit. I then put a guide disc centered on this hole with scratch awl. The circle cut along the outside of this disc centers the opening in the blank. This is real quick and I have a nice size table on my saw.

Good idea, will try it on my next NE bowl.

 

[Matt Radtke]

I agree with @Gerald Lawrence and @Brian Gustin if your goal is hemispherical bowls.

my guess is your goal is trumpet shaped bowls like my friend Phil Brown was known for. He used a similar jig.
phil passed away a few years ago - this is an overview of phil

https://www.woodturner.org/common/Uploaded%20files/MemberProfiles/20160331Brown.pdf

the first page of David Frye’s article, April 2016, on phil shows his typical forms. You and Phil cut away the full part of the typical bowl. Phil’s wall curves are opposite those of a hemispherical bowls.
View attachment 40930

Phil's jig also had many different angle settings! I can get photos of it if there is confusion on his jig. Phil also saved the cut offs for possible sculpture projects.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I'd like to see the pictures of Phil Brown's jig.

 

[Tom Lucas]

I like it, Steve. Obviously not for everyone. I prefer to rough on the bandsaw rather than with a chain saw. But, then I only turn a few bowls a year. I have a similar jig but it doesn't tilt. I made one that I can use to rough out bowls or make a circle out of anything else too. When cutting flat stock, to keep from putting a hole in it, the pivot bolt on my jig can be replaced with a concentric plywood ring that spins freely around a fixed center piece. It's 1" round center with a threaded insert on the back and a 1" wide ring of plywood around that. The plywood ring is double-sided taped to the work piece. I apply past wax to the rotating faying surfaces so the piece rotates easily. One jig, 2 uses. Works great.

 

[Steve Chaplin]

I like it, Steve. Obviously not for everyone. I prefer to rough on the bandsaw rather than with a chain saw. But, then I only turn a few bowls a year. I have a similar jig but it doesn't tilt. I made one that I can use to rough out bowls or make a circle out of anything else too. When cutting flat stock, to keep from putting a hole in it, the pivot bolt on my jig can be replaced with a concentric plywood ring that spins freely around a fixed center piece. It's 1" round center with a threaded insert on the back and a 1" wide ring of plywood around that. The plywood ring is double-sided taped to the work piece. I apply past wax to the rotating faying surfaces so the piece rotates easily. One jig, 2 uses. Works great.

I like the idea of the rotating plywood ring. The tilt is really only needed when you have a log that doesn't have a flat or has a small flat which happens a lot when trying to maximize size, then it is invaluable.

 

[Tom Lucas]

I like the idea of the rotating plywood ring. The tilt is really only needed when you have a log that doesn't have a flat or has a small flat which happens a lot when trying to maximize size, then it is invaluable.

I usually mount on worm screw using the same hole from the circle jig. Then flatten/dress the bottom and put a mortise or tenon in it. I prefer mortises (finished and embellished) so I don't have to turn it again to finish the bottom. Of course, sometimes a tenon is better. And sometimes you can just make a flat spot using a big forstner bit.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

I considered circle cutting jigs for prepping blanks, but after a few attempts, I discarded the idea. In my years as a production turner, I didn't make pieces the exact same size unless it was an accident. I am one who takes a log section and gets the most useable bowl blanks from it that I can, which means they are all different sizes since all logs are different sizes as well. I guess I could make an exception for a circle jig if I did natural edge bowls.

When considering cutting the bowl blanks out, I cut a parallel flat on the back/bottom side of the bowl or platter blank. I would make it at least half the diameter of the finished blank so it wouldn't rock as I cut the circle. I would mark a circle with a compass/divider, and then, since the bottom was flat, just use the scribed line to cut out the blank. No one method ever seemed to get the blank perfectly centered, but it would always be close enough.

As for cutting the bevel, that makes for 2 operations. By using my scrapers and the Big Ugly tool, I could rough it out far faster with them compared to setting up the second cut on the bandsaw. I guess another reason for not cutting the bevel is that some times I have one design in mind, but the wood has another.....

As for the Mouse, I think he got, shall we say "censored" from every woodturning forum except for WoodNet. Not much room for some one who is one of those "only 2 ways to do things, my way or the wrong way" people.

robo hippy

I remember him....i was quite new to turning and he responded to newby posts. He was a proponent of unsafe SRG use and as not a veteran turning it was easy to listen. Luckily I never tried any if his approaches......there are many things that can imperial things but basic tool use is a 1st day learning experience.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I had a jig for cutting blanks into circles. Can save turning time, but had some shortcomings. Many logs are too small to get a large flat and the curve of the log makes roughing harder because of the air time and uneven surface.
My buddy had an idea to cut at an angle to remove more material for easier roughing, so I built it. The idea is the side of the jig where the log pivots can tilt.
Use is cut the blank like normal. Then move the center out (how much depends on blank diameter), and re-cut at an angle.

Very smart solution, Steve. The bowls and basket illusions that I turn are generally shallow so it probably wouldn't help me, but as Al said for trumpet shaped or deep bowls it would work well for shaping your bowl blanks. Also, if you are starting out with a large oddly shaped hunk of wood, your method would help get it closer to being balanced.

Odie don't you remember our non friend George from the U P telling us how to reduce the turning time by band-sawing the blank on a tilted table so as to remove the high parts of the blank ??.

He went by various pseudonyms ... over on Sawmill Creek he went by George Tokarev. I don't recall his other screen names.

It's been a long time since he's posted here......what ever happened to him?

Wasn't he "Michael Mouse"? (I just did a search for him, and...nothing. I guess this is because he last posted long before the last couple major upgrades in the AAW forums.)

-----odie-----

Odie, you almost got it right, but the only reason that you didn't find him is that his username was "MichaelMouse" -- no space between Michael and Mouse. While he was knowledgeable and sometimes even helpful, as most everybody can attest, he tended to behave like the north end of a southbound mule. As to what happened to him, he was shown the door because his confrontational know-it-all demeanor was driving good people away from participating in the forum.

.... As for the Mouse, I think he got, shall we say "censored" from every woodturning forum except for WoodNet. Not much room for some one who is one of those "only 2 ways to do things, my way or the wrong way" people.

robo hippy

Ha. yes he's still around on woodnet forum, as Reed is saying, it was always his way or no way, very abrasive and got shown the door everywhere

It is interesting that although he went by different identities on the various woodturning forums everybody knew it was the same person.

I remember him...I was quite new to turning and he responded to newby posts. He was a proponent of unsafe SRG use and not being a veteran turner it was easy to listen. Luckily, I never tried any of his approaches......there are many things that can imperil things but basic tool use is a first-day learning experience.

Glad your inner voice told you to be careful.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

he tended to behave like the north end of a southbound mule.

LOL!

 

[robo hippy]

Um Bill, I like mules..... The Missouri Elk!

robo hippy

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I do remember George Tokarev posting on the Rec.Crafts.Woodturning forum, it's his real name, as in those days you did need to give your real name and website address, and that is at least 20 years ago probably 23 years, the site was without pictures and people moved to the forums where pictures were allowed and shown, then all the scum got in and spammers, it is better on forums now with the active policing.