Turned a bowl from a bowl

[tigerturnings]

Some months ago, a friend of mine mentioned that his bowling club was to throw out some lawn bowls. He said they were very old, and he thought they may be lignum vitae. When he offered to save me a few, I jumped at the chance.

It took me a while to muster the courage to cut into one, but eventually I decided to half it on the bandsaw and turn a bowl. The idea was to keep the outside original with its well used look whilst turning the inside smooth. I started by coring out some of the centre with a parting tool as I couldn't abide wasting that much as shavings. I was amazed at how well the wood turns, nice shavings even came off when scraping the end grain. When time came to deal with the chucking recess, I turned a small disc from the core I took out earlier and glued it in before trimming to size.

Here are some pics (sorry the focus is not brilliant on the first one):
(1)The outside of the bowl

(2)The inside

There are a couple more photos here

 

[Woodmagnet]

Nice work Neil :wink:

 

[Paul Chapman]

Very nice, Neil.

Just a thought, one of those might make a nice trophy for the bowling club.

Paul

 

[tigerturnings]

Just a thought, one of those might make a nice trophy for the bowling club.
Paul

Thanks, yesterday I gave this bowl to the gentleman who saved me the wood and mentioned your idea to him - he was quite enthusiastic. I think another similar design from the other half will be in order.

 

[trevtheturner]

Nice innovation, Neil, producing a lovely result.

Interesting to see, from the rim your turning has produced, the bias that was created in the original wood.

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Johnboy]

I play bowls and have an old lignum bowl in the shed somewhere. I must try this, as has been said it could be made into a great trophy.

John

 

[Chris Knight]

Old bowls of Lignum Vitae make excellent stock for turning beautiful mallets.

 

[mudman]

Just been up to the market and was reminded of this thread when I saw some old lignum vitae bowls. I was having a look and thinking of carver's mallets. "Five pound for the two mate if you can do anything with them". Saw another two, and he let me have the four for £8.
Hopefully a good price.

 

[Colin C]

Its a good price for lignum vitae as I payed about £ 5 for the bit I got and it just made two but one was smaller

 

[mudman]

I think the bits I saw at Woodex were even more.
I think a couple of nice mallets with ash handles are a must.

 

[Colin C]

From what I have used dont make them like most of the ones you can buy, I mean with a bolbous face. Make it concaved and you will have more control.
I will post a pic of mine if it makes it more clearer

 

[mudman]

Colin,

I think I know what you mean, concave from top to bottom. I might try that. I made one from beech that I shaped to flare out from bottom to top. It works and handles quite nicely and has a nice heft to it.
I wondered if the bulbous shape was all that efficient. Hitting the chisel with the top part would tend to impart a glancing blow which is what the shape is supposed to avoid.

 

[Colin C]

Hi Mudman
That is what I think as I have use both types and much prefer the concave type that I made for myself.
I will post pic of mine as you might like the handle as well ( got it from one of Tobias Kaye's articles in an old ww mag he used to write for ).
I find it very nice to use

 

[mudman]

Colin,

Yes please, I'd like to see it.

 

[Colin C]

As asked for pic of my mallet

The handle is beech but it was stained blue when I made it ( easier to find )

 

[Colin C]

Hopefully you can also see that the base of the head is concaved too

 

[mudman]

Colin,

Thanks for the pics.
I see that it's actually quite a gentle curve.
Does the hollow at the base of the head allow for a more comfortable grip when holding it close to the head?

 

[Colin C]

Colin,

Thanks for the pics.
I see that it's actually quite a gentle curve.
Does the hollow at the base of the head allow for a more comfortable grip when holding it close to the head?

Not a problem, we are all here to help if we can and yes the hollow does help for more comfort when holding near the head.
A small tip is to use your fingers more then your wrist when using it ( opening and closing your fingers), this way you have more control.
I have had that mallet for about 12 years and use it all the time