Thread: How to glue a VERY simple segmented bowl?

Huon and purple heart are very different hardnesses, which might be a little "interesting". (Not in a good way. Maybe try some woods that are more similar hardnesses first off at least.) The colours would be kinda nice together. The basice idea is just to clamp two bits of wood together, but you have to finish the edges that are to be glued pretty well so they go together with no gaps and no huge distortions in the clamping. If you rely on the clamp to overcome any little crookedness, it will go crocked again as you turn wood away. Yellow glue I think, is better than white glue, although I have used "exterior" white glue and it hasn't fallen apart yet. You don't want to use epoxy as this is one time when you want the glue to flex with the wood. If you want to turn it off centre it might be an idea to glue "waste blocks" around the wood (just of radiatta ) so that you are in effect turning a HUGE platter with you little off centre bit in the middle just so you don't have to turn to much fresh air. Cut off the waste parts at the end. . (Although I'm not really with you on what a clover leaf bowl is. )

Hope that helps.

Ditto what Anne-Maria said. Your glue surfaces must be smooth and flat. TB I or II is best. For oily woods, wipe the surfaces with acetone just before gluing. Clamp for four hours before turning. Overnight is better.

Just to clarify, it's the Huon that'll benefit most from a wipe with acetone to remove the surface oils. And I'll stress the "just before gluing" ...if you leave it too long the oils seep back to the surface. And overnight is waaaay better.

Originally Posted by tea lady

(Although I'm not really with you on what a clover leaf bowl is. )

Clover-leaf bowl? 3 seperate hollows, each offset 120° to the others, with all touching. So they make a shape like a clover-leaf.



Nathan, I'm sure that you will get some bleed from the Purpleheart into the huon during sanding, and the difference in hardness could well result in some bleed during turning! But it should be doable, with sharp tools & a bit of care.

I'd try to get as good a finish as I could possibly manage off the tools and if necessary sand any problem areas by hand with the lathe stopped, using seperate bits of paper for each wood type and making sure not to "cross the border" between them. (Sealing before sanding can minimise the bleed problem, but I doubt it'd work well enough with this particular combo of timbers.)

Good luck! s

Another great detaled answer Skew have a greenie.

Would like to see it when it is done or a picture of one already done just for ideas.

Thanks everyone for the great, detailed replies.

I'll make sure to get the two glue faces nice and square and flat.

I'll try the colour bleeding on some glued up scraps first, and will use this to see how it goes turning two timbers of different densities.

The idea looks good in my head... so hopefully I can pull it off!

Thanks very much again!

Nathan.

G`day here is a sample of Huon and Purple heart.
Mick

Hi Mick,

Those photos show up the two colours very well. Although that was no doubt turned by a turner much, much more experienced than me, I will most likely jump in the deep end without my floaties. Let's see how I overcome the challenges mentioned above. (Ahhh, optimism. It should say "if I overcome the challenges above").

I'll try one with a single piece of timber to have a little practice with the off-centre clover-leaf concept first. I'll post a pic up here when done.

Cheers,
Nathan.