Using by BT3100 to 'round' bowl blanks

[Martin_S]

Any good suggestions on how to prepare bowl blanks without the benefit of having a band saw? Can I do this using my BT3100? I have not tried it yet I figure I can turn my 2 or 3 inch thick 6 x 6 square into an octagon without too much trouble. Will this suffice? On my lathe I can turn 6¼ inches over the bed but only 4¾ over the tool rest. Would I need to try to get the blank into a shape even closer to round before starting on the end grain? I think I might be able to get an offset tool rest so that I can mount my octagonal blank and then reduce it to round before starting on the actual bowl work.

Thanks

Martin

[Jbridge337]

Hi, Jim Tolpin's book "Table Saw Magic" has a circle cutting fixture in it that looks like it will do exactly what you need. I have never used it nor do I have a way to scan the pages for you. Hopefully someone you know or a library has the book you can borrow if you don't already have it.

Jim

[davehenry]

I built 3 jigs/sleds to use on my table saw. Jigs 1 and 2 handle spindle work that is 3 or 4 inches square. It is nothing more than two 45 degree Vs that have the open side up and mounted to a piece of plywood. Just lay the wood in the Vs, raise the blade up all the way and run it through to cut off the corners. Turn and repeat 3 times.

Jig 3 handles bowl blanks. Again just a 45 degree V cut in a thick rectangle of wood. The flat side rides the fence with the open V towards the blade. Scribe a circle on the work piece so you don’t take off too much.

Sometimes the blade won’t cut all the way through so you only get a partial cut. Just flip the piece over to complete.

This saves a lot of time and wear and tear on your roughing gouge.