Thread: Carving flutes on inside of bowl

What size will it be?

Ask the Ornamental turners, I suspect it was done on an indexing lathe.

Ugly task which I'm not prepared to try. For one thing, so much of it would be nearly end grain carving and I find that exhausting. What size (diameter, sweep and thickness)? What sort of wood? Done by hand, it will be a chore to keep all the ridges intact. Could be pieces popping off all over the shop.

Don't take this as rain on your parade. Very problematical carving.

However.
Step one is to hollow out the basic form (Forstner bits) and use spoon-bent gouges and a mallet to refine the shape. Even a cardboard template of the sweep would help. Maybe an 18/13 (like a 9/13 but bent) and a 15/13 to smooth out the form.
Step two would be to lay out the pattern with pencil.
Step three would be to carefully plow all the compass point directions then "fill in" the gaps between those. Maybe an 18/6 or an 18/8 would look nice.

It could be done but the price might be prohibitive. Even DIY, you will need $200+ in gouges, mallet and sharpening supplies.
Maybe ask in the CNC forum, those people have XYZ machines.

Originally Posted by Hermit

What size will it be?

About 200mm diameter and 60mm deep

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

Ask the Ornamental turners, I suspect it was done on an indexing lathe.

Can't fit table on lathe

Sabastiaan is right that appears to be Ornamental Turned using a Rose Engine or an indexed set up on a lathe or Rose Engine.

If the table is already made and the bowl is yet to be turned or gouged out then it maybe a case of where to head next ??

On a table top it is possible also as I see your saying the bowl will be in the centre of a table top? Have you turned the bowl out to shape or is this yet to be done?

One of the Ornamental Turners did make a large Rose Engine to do such it was an experimental one.

If you have a swivel head lathe or access to one it can still be done using and index plate and either a router set up or OT cutting gear.

Another way would be a large CNC router lathe set up.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Step one is to hollow out the basic form (Forstner bits) and use spoon-bent gouges and a mallet to refine the shape. Even a cardboard template of the sweep would help. Maybe an 18/13 (like a 9/13 but bent) and a 15/13 to smooth out the form.
Step two would be to lay out the pattern with pencil.
Step three would be to carefully plow all the compass point directions then "fill in" the gaps between those. Maybe an 18/6 or an 18/8 would look nice.

Fantastic clear directions, just what I was hoping for, thank you very much.

Timber is old good quality red cedar.

Okay, I've just about ruled out a carved finish on this job Unless I was to have very small short scoops all following the direction of the grain, to give an uneven textured effect. A more realistic project perhaps, given the wood and my limited selection of carving tools (none of them bent).

Thanks very much for the replies, much appreciated.

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Sabastiaan is right that appears to be Ornamental Turned using a Rose Engine or an indexed set up on a lathe or Rose Engine.

If the table is already made and the bowl is yet to be turned or gouged out then it maybe a case of where to head next ??

On a table top it is possible also as I see your saying the bowl will be in the centre of a table top? Have you turned the bowl out to shape or is this yet to be done?

One of the Ornamental Turners did make a large Rose Engine to do such it was an experimental one.

If you have a swivel head lathe or access to one it can still be done using and index plate and either a router set up or OT cutting gear.

Another way would be a large CNC router lathe set up.

Bit confused by all this but I think I see where you are coming from. Thanks for the tips.

The photos incidentally come from English cabinetmaker Alan Peters' 1984 book, which also shows this photo:

Originally Posted by JB

About 200mm diameter and 60mm deep

I asked the size because I was wondering about hand-carving it. Fairly hard, but in Red Cedar it could be done, if you take your time and work carefully. Just keep the CA glue handy for chips, just in case.

The only other real option is a CNC router, as mentioned by others.

This style of carving looks more suitable, given the wood and the carver's minimal skills and tools

Bowl is to be appx 30mm deep by the way

Originally Posted by JB

This style of carving looks more suitable, given the wood and the carver's minimal skills and tools

Bowl is to be appx 30mm deep by the way

That would be more doable, Rusty, but you never know.
Perhaps a bit of practice on some scrap? You could try both methods. I think that with time and care, the fluted one wouldn't be as hard as it looks. Red Cedar is pretty easy to carve. My first taste of woodworking was carving Red Cedar, an elephant in a saucer, about the same size that you're planning.

Elephant 1.JPG

It wouldn't need to be perfect. Mine was pretty rough, but it's the effect you want, not necessarily the detail. Most of the elephant was done with a pocket-knife.

Can you good folks give me a proper name for what you you call red cedar?
This common , local name stuff has to stop somewhere.

At 53N, Thuja plicata is western red cedar. This an abundant and large conifererous softwood with difficult carving characters. Despite the color and the figure, I suspect that you have something very different in mind.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Can you good folks give me a proper name for what you you call red cedar?
This common , local name stuff has to stop somewhere.

At 53N, Thuja plicata is western red cedar. This an abundant and large conifererous softwood with difficult carving characters. Despite the color and the figure, I suspect that you have something very different in mind.

Sorry, Robson, we don't all speak Latin. How does Toona ciliata sound?(Australian Red Cedar)
Toona ciliata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Australian red cedar

rc.jpg