Not the Usual

[Captain Jack]

I know this is a little off the beaten path... I made this yarn bowl (holds a ball of yarn for knitting and feeds it through a hook in the side) by cutting rings of 1/2" thick cherry wood at the scroll saw, with different outside angles. The rings were glued together, and some work with a rasp (well, okay, a lot of work with a rasp!) to smooth it over. Amber shellac and beeswax gave it a nice finish. 

[Denny Knappen]

I have to ask, Did you make this on a scroll saw?  No matter, it is a great looking bowl.  Lots of sanding!

[Captain Jack]

I have to ask, Did you make this on a scroll saw?  No matter, it is a great looking bowl.  Lots of sanding!

Yup... I sketched the outside curve on graph paper, then cut a series of rings adjusting the outside angle to match to give it a bowl shape. It was a lot of sanding... I kept dropping squares of sandpaper as my hands cramped up. Probably won't make another one this way. 

[Denny Knappen]

I completed five bowls on the scroll saw.  I have a flex Drum Sander, so it helps in the sanding process.

[Scrolling Steve]

That is very nice !....Love the wood!

[Birchbark]

wow, yeah, lots of work i'm sure.  How did you decide on the inside cut angles?  I'd think those would be the toughest to get right.  Is it six layers not including the bottom?  Very nice project for sure.

 

Russell

[Captain Jack]

wow, yeah, lots of work i'm sure.  How did you decide on the inside cut angles?  I'd think those would be the toughest to get right.  Is it six layers not including the bottom?  Very nice project for sure.

 

Russell

It is, six layers plus the base. I sketched the bowl from a side view on graph paper, then drew straight lines where the curves intersected horizontal lines every half inch to get an idea of what the lines looked liked. I glued the paper to card stock with spray adhesive, then cut out the side with the straight edges. Then I held the card up to the scroll saw and adjusted the cut angle for each ring by lining it up with the card. I used a compass to get the diameter right. Once I glued the bowl up, it was pretty rough, so I used a rasp to the get curves fair and smooth, before sanding the bejabbers out of it. 

[heppnerguy]

It is, six layers plus the base. I sketched the bowl from a side view on graph paper, then drew straight lines where the curves intersected horizontal lines every half inch to get an idea of what the lines looked liked. I glued the paper to card stock with spray adhesive, then cut out the side with the straight edges. Then I held the card up to the scroll saw and adjusted the cut angle for each ring by lining it up with the card. I used a compass to get the diameter right. Once I glued the bowl up, it was pretty rough, so I used a rasp to the get curves fair and smooth, before sanding the bejabbers out of it. 

 

Captain Jack,

     When i saw the little photo of the bowl at the bottom of your post, my first thought was that you had turned it on a Lathe but then I read your post and I became very interested.  You have done a marvelous job with it. That being said, I would hate to see you not make more of these, I would think a lot of people  would be after one of these and you have all the difficult planning work done. I would suggest that you get an inflatable sander for your drill press, as that would make your life a whole lot easier. 

   One question though,,,,,,,,I understand the hole for the yarn to go through but what is the function of the long slot on the side??

 

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[newfie]

That looks great thanks for sharing

[Lucky2]

Nicely done Jack, I can well understand how you feel about making more of them. I made a few bowls of this style, and the sanding is a total pain.

Len

[Ron Johnson]

Fantastic Jack. Love The color and grain of cherry. Well done. A carving chisel and cabinet scraper would've saved you a lot of time finishing the inside of bowl.

[wombatie]

Wow that looks fantastic, you did a great job.  Well done.

  I know two people straight off that I could sell one of those to, but I'm not showing them. :lol:

 

Marg

[amazingkevin]

It is, six layers plus the base. I sketched the bowl from a side view on graph paper, then drew straight lines where the curves intersected horizontal lines every half inch to get an idea of what the lines looked liked. I glued the paper to card stock with spray adhesive, then cut out the side with the straight edges. Then I held the card up to the scroll saw and adjusted the cut angle for each ring by lining it up with the card. I used a compass to get the diameter right. Once I glued the bowl up, it was pretty rough, so I used a rasp to the get curves fair and smooth, before sanding the bejabbers out of it. 

Frank,you've done such a great job on this you might as well call it a Trompe-i oeil,fool the eye ,In french.it's hard for the eye and brain of us seasoned scrollers to fathom you doing this on a scroll saw.You certainly know your stuff you old wood wizard.

[worbler]

I was playing around with this sort of idea, the angles of the cut, for doing a boat hull. To get the angles right I found a cutaway image of a boat hull and loaded it into Inkscape. Inkscape has a tool for measuring angles which made it kind of easy to get right. I would then draw some straight lines through the image to make some layers. If the angle was greater than 90 degrees then I would just subtract 90 from that to get the inverse angle and go with that, or something like that. I'd have to find the paperwork I made when I did this. As long as the wood is not overly thick then the sanding can be kept to a minimum.

[JimErn]

Very very nice,

[lawson56]

Captain Jack,that is Fantastic.  

[Dave Monk]

Wow Jack. I would not even think of attempting to do that project. Nice job. dave

[Phantom Scroller]

Stupendous work.    Roly

[DukeNukem]

That dud come out very nice. Look like lots of sanding. Jerry

[penquin]

That looks super, one of our daughters gave my wife one of these for Christmas and it really works great.  Not sure where she purchased it but my wife loves it.  She is a knitting nut.

jim

penquin

[ike]

That's a good looking bowl. I have never tried making bowl's , but it looks like a lot of work.,

IKE

[Captain Jack]

[...]   One question though,,,,,,,,I understand the hole for the yarn to go through but what is the function of the long slot on the side??

 

 

Dick

heppnerguy

I don't think it's clear from the picture, but the slot goes all the way around to the hole, forming a kind of "J" shaped opening in the side of the bowl. It makes it faster to change the yarn, because you just have to flip the end through the hook shaped hole instead of threading it. That way, if you're knotting or crocheting something with multiple colors, you can quick-change and keep the needles clacking. 

[daveww1]

nice job

[meflick]

Beautiful work.  I can imagine how hard that was on your hands to sand.  I agree with getting a better tool to help you on the next one (and there needs to be more!  )