Square Bowls

[Big Mac]

Having turned lots of round bowls i thought i would try turning square bowls. These are 3 that i have done. They are all 150mm Square. The first is N.G. rose wood ,the other 2 are Qld. Maple. Not shore how i like them,as i am so used to seeing round bowls. Neil

[Doughboy]

Well done Neil

I prefer the last one most of all but they are all excellent. I expect that square bowls would propose a lot of different hurdles.

Oh how I long to turn...


Pete

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

They're a nice change to round 'uns, aren't they? :D I don't know why more people don't turn 'em... probably a bit wary about sticking their fingers in the prop, I guess.

When it comes to winged forms, I prefer 'em more like the first one but with the wings dropping down to become feet as in the second.

How'd you finish them, Neil? Wax? Oil? On the lathe or by hand?

Questions, questions... ;)

[lubbing5cherubs]

Neil they are gorgeous great Job.

Pete don't long to turn.. just go play. Enjoy it. Go for a walk pick up some wood and bring him home mount him up and play to your hearts content.
bye Toni

[ss_11000]

brilliant work,.

is turning square like turning natural edge? how do you round it over, without getting catches?

[chrisb691]

Bearing in mind that I am a turning neanderthal, can you explain how you go about turning a square bowl. :)

[Terry B]

Very nice.
Did you start square like a natural edged bowl or trim them afterwards?

[rowie]

brilliant work,.

is turning square like turning natural edge? how do you round it over, without getting catches?
very carefully!:p
go easy, start from the solid wood and work your way out to the edges,taking light cuts of course;)
having a light background(even a sheet of paper)under/behind the bowl, helps u to see the position of the edges as they fly around.
you can glue scrap peices onto the square and then cut a circle from the resulting larger square to make it safer:Dthen ttrim and sand the edges once finished. the great Vic Wood was a pioneer in this technique:cool:

[Farnk]

Excellent work, must try that myself, I have just the thing in the shed...

So, what was the bowl / finger ratio?

[macca2]

This my first effort at a small square edged bowl.
I did this some time ago and got the idea from the projects area of the Teknatool website.
Fun to turning but you can end up with very sore fingers if not careful when sanding.

Macca

[Gil Jones]

Fine work, Neil.
I like the left one best.
******************
Macca, your square bowl is cool too.
What species is it?

[ss_11000]

very carefully!:p
go easy, start from the solid wood and work your way out to the edges,taking light cuts of course;)
having a light background(even a sheet of paper)under/behind the bowl, helps u to see the position of the edges as they fly around.
you can glue scrap peices onto the square and then cut a circle from the resulting larger square to make it safer:Dthen ttrim and sand the edges once finished. the great Vic Wood was a pioneer in this technique:cool:
thanx rowie. i've seen some fotos of vics work and thought they were some of the best turned pieces i have seen.

macca, i reakon that is a fantastic first attempt

[Christopha]

IMHO the easiest way to turn "square" is to glue scrap to the outsides of your blank so you can cut a round blank, turn as for a normal bowl and when ready cut off the waste.

[Big Mac]

Sorry for taking so long to reply.
I cut blocks square to size i wanted and attached to face plate,set revs 1000
used bowl gouge and took it slowly. Turned bottom of bowls and sides,added dovetail,sanded bottom using rotary sander, changed ends, turned inside and
and again sanded with rotary sander. Sanded the sides using sanding disc on lathe. Finished with EEE and shellawax. Sounds easy? wasnt too bad.
Neil

[ss_11000]

sounds easy, but would be a bit intimidating at first i would rekon. if i get a piece at the wood show i'll try it, thanx for your telling us how you do it.

[Tornatus]

I'm with the "Scurrilous Cur" - having turned a square bowl the hard way, and having had great difficulty turning the tips of the "wings" without taking chunks out of the edges (let alone out of my knuckles!), I could have just spat when I saw someone glue pine scraps to the edges of his quality blank and happily turn his bowl in the round with the tool on wood all the way. This method makes it easier to turn the wings down quite thin toward the tips, which I think looks better. The only drawback is the final size of bowl (wingtip to wingtip) you are aiming for, as the scrap "extensions" can make the overall diameter of the blank quite large.

[Caveman]

Hey Neil, nicely done. Always good to see something out of the norm.
Really like the one in the first pic.

[Christopha]

I'm with the "Scurrilous Cur" - having turned a square bowl the hard way, and having had great difficulty turning the tips of the "wings" without taking chunks out of the edges (let alone out of my knuckles!), I could have just spat when I saw someone glue pine scraps to the edges of his quality blank and happily turn his bowl in the round with the tool on wood all the way. This method makes it easier to turn the wings down quite thin toward the tips, which I think looks better. The only drawback is the final size of bowl (wingtip to wingtip) you are aiming for, as the scrap "extensions" can make the overall diameter of the blank quite large.

Torn, me old china, the bowl blank WITH scrap attached is no larger in diameter than the square bowl will be tip to tip ;)

[Harry72]

You can do them offset from centre like that too... I been watching the WWchannel!

[Tornatus]

Torn, me old china, the bowl blank WITH scrap attached is no larger in diameter than the square bowl will be tip to tip ;)

Point taken, Chris - but only if the corners of the square go right up to the edge of the composite blank. In the example I saw, the turner wanted to make the "wingtips" quite thin, so the extensions he added completely surrounded the square to support the quality wood. The overall size might not be a problem for all those rich buggers with their VL300s and the like, but with my modest lathe, like the fattest Knight of the Round Table I have to try and limit my circumference!:o