beginners woodturning How to turn your first bowl
Turning a wood bowl is a beautiful and rewarding woodworking project. The process involves selecting a piece of wood with an interesting grain pattern and turning it on a lathe to create a functional or decorative bowl. To turn a wood bowl, woodworkers must use a lathe and various chisels and gouges to shape the wood into the desired form. Sanding and finishing the bowl with a food-safe finish completes the project, resulting in a stunning, one-of-a-kind piece. These easy steps will have you turning your first bowl in no time.
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I do interactive remote demos through Zoom for clubs and to the public. Visit my website to for more details and a schedule of upcoming pay per seat public demos.
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There are risks involved with woodturning. My videos are only for entertainment purposes. If your not familiar with the turning techniques I use consult with an experienced instructor or mentor. Always use appropriate eye, face, and lung protection while woodturning.
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Some of the tools I use in my shop.
Grizzly G0766 lathe amzn.to/3kiHBhX
Hurricane turning tools bowl gouges amzn.to/3CY32Mp
Hurricane turning tools skews amzn.to/2YrfkxQ
Nova Supernova 2 chuck amzn.to/3kmeoT8
Grizzly 17” bandsaw amzn.to/3qh1ee4
Wen slow speed grinder 8” amzn.to/3D0YfK6
Nice job Chris. I really appreciate you showing the pull cut and explaining how your fingers were pulling the gouge. I wouldn't have noticed what your did unless you pointed it out. That is helpful info.
Glad it was helpful!
thanks for posting this!
Wow ! What a great video, clear and concise. Love the form of your bowl as well. So tired of seeing bowls with 1" thick sides. Your bowl is much finer.
Thank you very much!
Thank you sir for keeping it real..(simple)..Your vid was extremely helpful,,Greetings from the uk
Glad it was helpful!
Nice work , wish more turners would explain each step as you did, to many are just silent when showing a video
Thanks 👍
Beautiful
Thank you! Cheers!
Thank you for sharing this nice video.
I've watched a lot of different channels with wood turning in them, and a vast majority of them either don't talk, or they have some awful music attached, and at times its a toss up of either the music, or the lathe sound overpowering the other. THIS video, I love how you explain each process and how/why you use it that way! Sub from me!
Thank you
nice job, good explain..., thanks...
You're welcome!
Brilliant video for a novice turner like myself
Thank you for watching and the kind words.
One step I make sure to do with every single bowl when turning the inside, is to break or ease that outside rim edge. If you leave it square, it will slice your hands if you even get close to it. I did that once....
Well explained. Thank you for sharing
Glad it was helpful!
Good basic instruction.
Thanks Doug been trying to put out more instruction based videos instead of just watch me turn.
Really. Nice work
Thank you! Cheers!
❤👍🏻
Excellent instructions and video. Thank you. Can you recommend what type wood lathe I should look for as a beginner?
It all depends on your budget. If your on a tight budget but want something that will last you can get a 10 inch rikon that you change pulley positions to adjust speed. The best bang for your buck is the nova comet 2. Its variable speed by a dial and has a 14 inch swing but is a little more expensive.
If you know what you want to turn, look for a lathe suited to that. No need for a huge lathe if you're going to turn pens and tops. I bought an ancient lathe from a school that was selling off old shop equipment. After a year, I had a good idea of what I needed and didn't need. Bought at Laguna 12/16, not expensive, but it will do all I need it to do. Find a club near you. Members will be happy to help, maybe even give you some hands-on with different lathes.
Great work am curious where you learned these methods?
Thanks for watching. I am mostly self taught most of my turning methods are from adapting techniques that work for me through trial and error.
Where did you get that 90 degree straight edge?
I made it from a piece of high speed steel I purchased online. Its not difficult to make with a grinder and is unhandled. The bar is about 2 1/2 inches wide and 1/8 inches thick.
what speeds do you turn the bowel
I tend to turn bowls on the faster side. Something this size i tend to turn between 600 and 1000 rpms but you should turn at a speed that feels comfortable to you. The larger the bowl the slower you want to turn. If your lathe starts to shake you should turn the speed down if the blank is off balance. If the lathe starts to shake in the middle of turning with no change to the speed you need to stop the lathe and evaluate the bowl. Hope that helps.
thanks!@@BlackLabelwoodworks
What is sanding paste? How, When & Why do you use it? What's it do?
Its a wax and oil mix that has a fine food safe grit in it. I use it as a polishing step before i put my final wax on it.
I listened twice at 2:00 to be sure you said 3/8 drill bit rather than 5/16. At 8:22, with tailstock removed, there is an obvious wobble, and at 9:00 you said that the piece had loosened on the screw. I doubt that would have happened if you pilot hole had been 5/16. That's all I ever use because that's all I've seen anyone else use, and if the wood is soft, maybe 9/32. Curious as to why you used a 3/8.
Because he really never seen a professional.
Are you left handed? Or is it normal for the right hand to be closest to the work?
I am left handed but switch back and forth. I always suggest using the hand that feels most comfortable. There is no right or wrong hand closest.
Crazy.. Why o why does my gouge ALWAYS catch whenever I do the inside or under side of the bowl? No matter what technique I use it ALWAYS grabs and rips chunks out of the bowl
Sometimes its hard if you don't have a mentor to point out whats wrong. It could be something with your grind or the way your presenting the gouge to the wood. If your in an area that has woodturning clubs my best suggestion would be to join one. Turners are very willing to share there time and knowledge with new turners. Here is a link to the American association of woodturners website search page. You can put your location in and find clubs in your area. woodturner.org/Woodturner/Woodturner/AAWConnects/AAW-Connects.aspx?hkey=1c4d6fa8-6094-4dd1-888a-e0c3e2809c3e
Thank you very much :) @@BlackLabelwoodworks
Practice cutting a straight sided bowl , cone shaped and not too steep so you don't have a bottom. Watch the video at 11:30 you can see he can't continue to cut to the bottom and has to change the way the tool cuts, any further in and the unsupported edge of the tool would catch. Don't give up you will get there
I enjoyed watching. I'm just starting out with turnings.😊, Is there a way to subscribe?
Thanks for watching you can subscribe with this link. kzhead.info/tools/MQQWUnkbcKridN_te_DbPg.html
Why didn’t you round off the outside first
What is "sanding wax?"
Sanding paste is a mixture of an oil, wax and food safe powdered grit to make it abrasive. My wax can be found here if interested and i will be adding the sanding paste shortly. www.blacklabelwoodworks.com/wax-and-sanding-pastes/
Thank you for correctly pronouncing "compass," and not "cumpiss."
Thanks for watching
Could you make a video without the boring background noise Why do you think you have to do that anyway, it adds nothing and frankly it sucks
I'm out of here