How To Use A Wood Lathe To Make A Bowl

This idea can be used as an alternative way to make a wooden bowl without a lathe.

How to use a wood lathe to make a bowl. Hold the bowl gouge with both hands and start to begin slight cuts gradually. There is no exact ideal speed for turning wood bowls. Make very gradual cuts to remove the center material focusing on developing an inner shape to the bowl that matches the outer shape of the bowl until you have the desired consistent thickness of wood between the inner and outer shapes.

Let the lathe turn slowly and your bowl starts rotation. A chunk of wood would be bolted to the head stock and the bottom of the bowl. I used niangon wood for this project.

Use two hands on a bowl gouge and gradually begin making light cuts to start hollowing out the center of the bowl. In this video I show the techniques and tools needed to turn a simple wooden bowl. Then apply Danish oil to the outside of the bowl using the lathe and a rag.

When I couldnt go any further on the table saw I removed the rest of the material on the bandsaw. Simply hold the sandpaper against the bowl and let the lathe do the work. The hole is so you can work your chisel from the inside to outside toward the rim of the bowl.

For this step youll need to remove the tailstock and connect a faceplate and tenon. While the lathe is still spinning sand the bowl using 100 150 and 240 grit sandpaper. On the internet looking for wooden bowl ideas I could find many blogs or videos where they make beautiful wooden bowls.

Typically when creating a wooden bowl a crafts person would do so on a lathe. Back the speed down until the wood lathe vibration subsides and the bowl blank rotates smoothly. Chisel away until you reach the depth of the bowl.