Holy bowls?

[Duiker]

Hi all,

I've been playing with the idea of turning something with a few "man made" strategically drilled holes to form the odd pattern etc. I would like to turn something a little different from the stuff I've managed so far. My problem is finishing and splitting etc From your experience would you drill the holes before or after turning?

On this note it reminds me of another dilemma:

If I wanted to dowl or inlay a blank in another colour wood how do you go about it? I guess inlaid pieces are routed out and jammed in with a little glue but the dowl idea seems a little more tricky? I know some of you have produced work like this and was hoping you could let me know the technique?

Thanks again all,

Groetjes,

Mick

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Mick
The dowel bit is relatively easy, drill hole, glue in dowel, allow to dry and trim off ends. (It's probably easier if you make the inserts before turning the blank.
If you're intending a regular pattern u'll need some kind of indexing system (some chucks have them 'built in'). You could always re-drill to give the overlapping ring effect :idea:

:idea: Depending on the size of the bowl you could turn small discs to the same size as any of your forstener bits an glue them in (oyster)

:idea: If you put the dowel in at an angle you'll end up with an elliptical shape.

Try it on a bit of scrap ...ideally all pieces should have the same moisture content...

 

[Duiker]

Hi Oldsoke,

Dont you have to get the dowls and the holes ridiculously snug fitting in order not to get gaps all over the place etc? It seems perfectly straight forward to drill a hole and fill it with a different coloured wood but I guess I thought it would be more technical if I wanted it to fit correctly?

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a go tonight with the practice piece I have been working on.

Cheers,

Mick

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Mick
the dowel needs to be a good fit with only enogh space for a film of glue... if there is a slight gap at the finish stage you could use a repair type wax (Liberon do them) that either matches or contrasts
let us know how you get on...

Differential sanding... it's a beggar on softwoods but a light touch sometimes helps to avoid the problem.

 

[Alf]

How about tapered plugs? Never done this sort of turning myself, but I merely toss it into the pot to be dismissed... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

Alf's suggestion of tapered plugs works well for shallow inserts that are only visible from one side of the vessel e.g. oysters in the bottom or on the sides... but... a tapered plug would show a poor fit on the inside of say, a bowl or goblet

 

[Alf]

a tapered plug would show a poor fit on the inside of say, a bowl or goblet

Depends on the thickness; if you don't break through to the plug on the inside - no worries. :wink:

Cheers, Alf