Contents:

  1. Cutting the stone
  2. Band saw to shape
  3. Reinforcing the stone with glue
  4. Mount stone to wood blank and start to shape
  5. Hollow out the middle
  6. Reinforce the hollowed out bowl
  7. Finish hollowing out the inside of the bowl
  8. Example of laser pointer
  9. Cutting the wood rim pieces
  10. Gluing the wood rim pieces together
  11. Complete the ring
  12. Glue the wood ring to the top of the bowl
  13. Shape the wood ring to size
  14. Shaping the bottom of the bowl
  15. Sand and finish the bowl
  • Appendix: Recommended Books & Videos

    • 6. Reinforce the hollowed out bowl

    Once I get the walls to be 1/2 inch thick, I like to reinforce the bowl in the glue bath one more time. This step might not be necessary, but it seems to help. By removing a lot of the stone, we have introduced new cracks and fissures into the stone.

    Let the stone soak for awhile, remove from the bath, wipe clean, and allow to dry overnight.


    (Figure 6. Reinforcing the hollowed out bowl.)

    7. Finish hollowing out the inside of the bowl

    Continue to finish hollowing out the inside of the bowl. I like to start up near the rim, remove some material, and then move "into" the bowl a little bit more and remove some more material. Work down near the bottom of the bowl last. This is because if you removed a lot of material near the base and made it thin, yet the rim was still thick and had a lot of weight, you run the risk of breaking the piece.

    In the image below, you will see a laser pointer and a cutter. This is another tool that I made that I use for hollowing out bowls. You can find many examples of this tool online. Here is one example... This allows me to get the wall thickness to be exact. You can also use woodturning calipers to judge the thickness of the bowl, or you can even use light. If you shine a light through the piece, you will be able to "judge" the wall thickness.


    (Figure 7. Finish hollowing out the bowl.)

    8. Example of laser pointer

    Here are a couple of images that show you how the laser pointer is used to determine wall thickness. In the top image, the wall is still fairly thick, so the laser pointer is sitting "high" on the bowl.

    As I remove more of the material, the laser pointer drops "lower" on the bowl, and as soon as the pointer drops off the bowl, I know that the wall thickness is the same distance as the laser pointer is from my cutter (as in figure 7, above.)


    (Figure 8. Example images of laser pointer.)

    9. Cutting the wood rim pieces

    Now that we have the bowl turned to the shape we like, we can now start making the wood rim that goes on top. We will create the ring by using wood "segments" instead of one solid piece. This is due to the fact that if you used a solid piece of wood, it would expand or contract and would crack or shatter your piece. By using segmented wood, it removes the stress from the wood and allows the wood to "move".

    Determine how many pieces of wood you want to use to make up the rim. I use 12 pieces, but you can probably get away with 8. I like to use a wood that does not have to many "open pores" in it's grain, as it is difficult to remove alabaster dust from the open grain. So, try to use a closed grain wood if possible.

    I will not go into too much detail on figuring out at which angle to cut your segments. There are many links online that explain how to cut segmented pieces. This is the plan that I used (and recommend). You can see this sled in the image below.

    You do not need a "sled" to cut the pieces. You can use a standard mitre gauge, but the sled makes it so much easier, and it is so quick, I'll cut enough pieces for 5-10 bowls. So, if you think you might make more than one or two bowls, I recommend spending the time to make the sled.


    (Figure 9. Cutting the wood rim pieces.)

    10. Gluing the wood rim pieces together

    Gluing the pieces together is actually quite easy. I lay a long piece of tape sticky-side-up on a scrap piece of wood (I use any kind of masking tape. In the picture, I am using "painters tape" as it is not quite as sticky) (keeping the tape from sticking to your fingers is the hardest part!) Then position the first rim piece so it is "halfway" off of the tape (see image below.)

    Place each next piece by "sliding" it down the face of the first piece, and then laying it flat, sticking it to the tape. See animated gif for an example...

    Once you have all the pieces laid out, do a test "fold-up" of all the pieces to make sure they all fit together nicely, before adding the glue..


    (Figure 10. Gluing the wood rim pieces together.)
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