9 Steps to Shear Scraping Perfection Bowl Gouge Technique
Shear Scraping to the rescue. Do pesky tool marks plague your final turned bowl surfaces? Well, this article is going to be a treat for you! The shear-scraping bowl gouge technique is probably, initially, the most awkward and yet useful wood bowl turning move ever conceived. At first, the shear scrape feels 100% wrong, but […]
7 Wood Bowl Woodturning Books – Favorites
Knowledge is the key to almost every success in life. And it’s especially true for learning how to make a wooden bowl. While the steps for making a wood bowl can be quickly explained, the incredible amount of details each step contains can take a lifetime to master. One of the best ways to gain […]
Salad Bowl Finish – Food Safe? Surprise – 3 Safe Options
If you’re like me, you think the term “salad bowl finish” seems pretty straightforward and understandable. However, the truth about salad bowl finish is much murkier. As a turner of wood bowls, I want to find the best truly food-safe salad bowl finish for my bowls and for my customers, period. I do not want […]
3 Surprising Round Nose Scraper Hacks – Fix Inside Curves
Have you wondered why a round nose scraper is useful for turning wood bowls? I know I did. Afterall, it’s a scraper and scrapers can do more harm than good sometimes. However, a round nose scraper is a valuable tool for fine-tuning the inside curves of a wood bowl. The catch is, you need to […]
Wood Bowl Turning Trouble Zone – Dirty Little Secret
The wood bowl turning trouble zone is a dirty little secret seems to mention. It is a very real wood surface issue that occurs on almost every turned bowl and must be addressed. Both the outside and the inside of a wood bowl turning have two locations each where tear can occur, even if all […]
Make Shellac – How To – Wood Bowl Finish
Learning how to make shellac finish is an easy and satisfying process. Making your own shellac feels like a natural extension of the do-it-yourself foundational personality of most woodturners. Besides being easy to make, self-made shellac has many advantages over store-bought inferior versions of branded shellac. Ease Of Making The most time-consuming part of making […]
14 Ways To Avoid Grain Tear Out With Wood Bowl
How can I avoid grain tear out on a wood bowl and get a good smooth final surface? Wood bowl grain tear out can be frustrating. There are many ways to address this issue including using sharp tools, cutting with the supported grain, speeding up the lathe, changing angles, and even treating the surface. This […]
Drying Green Wood Bowls – 6 Methods For Success
How do I start drying green wood bowls? There are many approaches for drying green wood bowls once they have been turned or roughed out, including using paper bags, a microwave, kiln, denatured alcohol, even desiccant drying beads, or just simply waiting. Inside Drying Green Wood Bowls In a dream world, we could find a […]
How To Make Or Turn Wood Bowl – Illustrated Step By Step
Turning Wood Bowls is one of the most enjoyable creative processes I know. However, to get started we need to know the procedures and techniques to make a wood bowl. Yes, there are plenty of videos and websites about turning wood bowls, but when I was learning there didn’t seem to be one place with […]
My Favorite Food Safe Wood Finish – Waterproof Almost
Ah, My Favorite Food Safe Wood Finish? There are several criteria to meet for something to become a favorite. For a wood bowl finish, I believe it needs to naturally look good, protect the wood bowl, be food-safe, non-toxic, water-resistant, ready-to-go, and easy to apply. Wow, if that’s not a tall order for a wood […]