Thread: Camphor Laurel bowl

Hello Todd, Good attempt at the bowl. Tool control comes with practice, ie do more bowls.

Best chisels - Bowl gouge and Negative Rake Scraper.

Brand is up to you and your budget. P & N, Woodcut or Thompson are my favourite bowl gouges. 5/8 (16mm), 1/2 (13mm) and 3/8 (10mm) are my most used sizes, although I do have 7/8 (22mm), 3/4 (19mm) for bigger bowls and 1/4 (6mm) for smaller work.

You can grind any scraper into N/R profile, again I have P&N and Woodcut, but I also have a Gary Pye set of Heavy Duty scrapers, of which I ground the smaller one into a N/R scraper. I find they are the best for final removal of tool marks prior to sanding.

A suggestion, get some scrap soft wood (pine is best), laminate to a reasonable bowl size, depending on your lathe, and practice on the blanks. The soft wood is notorious for being difficult to get a good surface unless your tool control is good.

I like the Wood Art clock!

Thats the best part about CL easy to turn and even better for sanding and with stunning colour. Keep going you can only get better and dont be too hard on yourself. Its fine effort for a first bowl, remember we all started out where you are and some of us didnt do so well as you have done on this one.

Now there's a clock I can like!!! Neatly done Todd.!!!

Just want to back up what the others have said about bowl turning. Sharp tools and rubbing bevel make a big difference.

If you turn the bowl gouge slightley on its edge you can get what is called a shearing cut which is good for finishing work with. I think that I have some guides on wood turning, will have a look and then let you know. If you have a local mens shed I would join up with them as they can show you how to sharpen tools and help you with your bowl turning