Salad Bowl - No turning required

[shoottx]

LOML walked up and said "That is very cool" followed by you have some walnut that pretty! So the thought that I might has changed to ok drawings or pictures of the bottom please!

[poolhound]

LOML walked up and said "That is very cool" followed by you have some walnut that pretty! So the thought that I might has changed to ok drawings or pictures of the bottom please!

Mike,

Will try and take some pics of the underside later today. I have no plans (note current thread on plans ) but I can write up some construction notes.There are definately a few gotchas to watch out for. I could either post here or send to you by PM or email.

[pelligrini]

Post it! please

[radhak]

Great bowl!

What is the thickness of the sides and the bottom? I assume you used the planer (or may be drum sander) extensively?

[SARGE..g-47]

A beautiful piece, Jon. I really like your funky approach and thanks for the link as I am a paying customer of FWW on-line as $14.95 is a really good price and especially for beginners to intermediates.

Now... I love the bowl and may want to do one for my SIL who is the dedicated cook and host of my wife's family. I cannot tell in the pic but how did you attach the edges of the sides of the bowl?

Again... quite striking and another Xmas gift idea as I am fully involved in those task for the next few weeks. Knife holders yesterday and maybe a salad bowl today. All will by given anoynomous as if the women in my lovelies family see anything... the in-famous cry goes out, "I want one too" which doesn't always fit my schedule.

Regards and again... well done, sir......

[poolhound]

Great bowl!

What is the thickness of the sides and the bottom? I assume you used the planer (or may be drum sander) extensively?

The pieces are thicker than you may think as the sculpting and sanding of the edges into a thinner profile give the impression of thinner. The sides are 3/8" and I used the planer, the base is similar or maybe a tad thicker but as I used a hand plane to flatten it I was more concerned with flat than the exact thickness (couldnt be bothered to setup the planer for such a small piece). The base started out as a small piece of 4/4 which I resawed and bookmatched so its certainly no more than 1/2" thick.

[poolhound]

Now... I love the bowl and may want to do one for my SIL who is the dedicated cook and host of my wife's family. I cannot tell in the pic but how did you attach the edges of the sides of the bowl?

Regards and again... well done, sir......

Thanks Sarge, as there seems to be an interest from a couple of you to make one I will write up my design and construction notes and post later as I need to head out for a meeting now.

The basic construction doesnt really take that long. Stock setup, practise cuts and hand tuning, to ensure everything lines up perfectly took a lot longer.

[cgallery]

I like it because it breaks the mold and is absolutely outside the box thinking. And it looks terrific, too!

[MilDoc]

Funky is good. I like it!

[poolhound]

OK guys, you asked for it so here are my notes on how to make the funky bowl. Its long - sorry

First decide on basic dimensions

1. Size & shape e.g. Sq or rectangle of base, mine was approx 7 1/2” sq.
2. Angle of sides, mine is 45 degrees
3. Height of each side, perpendicular to table surface. Remember Pythagoras and that this is not the same as the height (width) of each piece e.g. at 45 degrees to have a side be 5” high the dimension of the stock would need to be ~7” (first gotcha). Mine is ~7” at the highest point at the back and 3.25” at the lowest point of the front. These dimensions will, of course dictate the eventual slope of the side pieces.
4. Once you have the base size, angle and heights this will determine approx finished size at the top of the bowl e.g. using 45 degrees if the base is 6”sq and its 3” H at front and 7” H at back, a side would be 6” (base) + ¾” (thickness of front+back) + 3” + 7” = 16 3/4”
5. Thickness of side stock, I used 3/8. All sides must be same thickness or miters won’t work (2nd gotcha)
6. Thickness of base. Not critical except to the look, mine is 3/8 or a tad thicker. This is really a design element and a thicker base would raise the bowl like on a plinth. I waited until the sides were complete and then set it on various thickness blanks to decide what I preferred.

Next step is to make a rough sketch of each side so you can figure out the dimensions of the blanks for each side. Length is basically as in step 4 and the width should be calculated using Pythagoras as noted in step 3. Because of the compound angles things are not always what they seem so do make the blanks oversize, you will see why later.

Figure out how you will cut the compound miters that match your chosen angle from step 2. I wont go into that here but if you have access to the FWW method I posted then it makes life easier as there is basically no math or angles to measure.
Whichever method you choose make a mockup (I used MDF see pic) so you can practice the technique.



Due to the multiple angles, miters and bevel (to fit the base) involved its really easy to make the wrong cut so be sure of your technique and the order of cuts as it is important and very very easy to &*^*&^ UP!! GOTCHA #3

To end up with a height of 7” you will need a blank at least 10” wide so unless you have a 12” jointer you will need to edge glue at least two pieces. Do this very carefully as you want all pieces to be perfectly flat, any major twist and it will make the miters a real PITA- Gotcha #4.

Carefully mark the pieces with chalk, inside/outside, front/back, direction of miters (on both sides of the stock) its really easy to cut one wrong and then the air will be blue!!

DO NOT be tempted to sculpt the edges before cutting the miters, both long edges must be parallel, Gotcha #5. In the technique I used you must first cut the bevel for the joint with the base which must be at the same as the chosen side angle so the base will be flat. This requires that you run the opposing edge along the fence hence the first need for parallel edges. The second reason is that the easiest way to ensure accuracy is to set the blade bevel and miter tilt first and then do one set of cuts to the left of the blade and the second to the right. This means registering the opposing edges against the miter fence to get the correct cuts. To ensure a perfect fit you must have the opposing sides identical lengths (at base). You can do this with a stop block but that means the 2nd miter cut must be the one that registers the base edge against the fence – Gotcha #6.

Once all the cuts are made perfectly the edges should all match up. Join together with masking tape to check alignment. Its easiest to attach the tape to the back of 3 joints while the pieces lay flat, then pull them together and check joints. Even having practiced with the MDF model, when I started with the real stock I cut the side miters on the long side (i.e. longer than my desired base measurement) to check my setup and assuming everything worked, cut to final length – hence cutting the blanks longer than necessary in the earlier step. Once you are happy with the fit you can sculpt your edges.

Now to glue up. As I am sure you have already figured, clamping is a virtual impossibility. I used the same taping the corners technique but this time with reinforced packing tape. Its very strong and pulls the joints together tightly. I did consider using some pins to hold the joints but with all the angles didn’t want to blow one through a face so decided against using them. I was going to add some splined miters afterwards but ran out of time. I know the joints are end to end grain but they are quite long and the bowl shouldn’t be under that much stress. Once the base is on it adds strength to the construction.

Once the first glue up is fully cured you can add the base. If your cuts were dead on perfect the beveled base of the bowl will be flat (mine wasn’t, last gotcha) so tune the bottom bevel with a sharp plane until it does sit flat. Then take your base and cut it so its at least a ¼” oversized. Glue it on using the same tape for clamping. When its dry chamfer the edges with a plane to match the side angle.

Now it’s simply a matter of sanding and finish.

Good luck to all that intend to make one and I hope I got my notes right.

[poolhound]

Here are some pics of the base

[shoottx]

Jon

Thanks for the plans!

I will let you know if I am pleased you posted these or If I have other language to use!

[poolhound]

In case some of you dont know the tape I used for clamping its reinforced with fiberglass strands that run along the length of the tape. I tried to find a good pic, this was the best one I found

http://www.myop.com.au/img/productImages/3m/8934.jpg

[smorris]

That is sweet! Bookmarked as a future project.

[warrenp]

Hey...that looks great...and I really like funky, though most of my family "don't get it."