The Woodturning Forum - Woodturner's Resource - Finding the bottom of a bowl

Ron Radliff Junior Member Offline Posts: 33 Gender:	Finding the bottom of a bowl 02/08/12 at 12:52:16 Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to or
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JimQuarles WR Administrator WR Patron Offline WR Rocks, BIG Time! Posts: 10832 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #1 - 02/08/12 at 19:07:42 Great tip.
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David Hamann WR Global Moderator WR Patron Offline Be yourself-every one else is taken! Posts: 5360 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #2 - 02/08/12 at 20:22:34 simple and elegant.
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Chuck Beland WR Supporter Head WR Twit Offline I got my eyes on you. Posts: 12447 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #3 - 02/09/12 at 14:24:52 David Hamann wrote on 02/08/12 at 20:22:34: simple and elegant. Ditto.
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Mike Baber WR Addict WR Supporter Offline When all else fails, ask someone who knows! Posts: 5952 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #4 - 02/09/12 at 19:28:12 Great tip, thanks for sharing RH.
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Rev. Doug Miller WR Patron Offline Working flat so I can support my addiction. Posts: 9602 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #5 - 02/10/12 at 13:41:40 Too easy. Rev. Doug Miller
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Mike Watson

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Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl
Reply #6 - 02/10/12 at 16:57:59

Don't know if its simpler, but works for me.
I have a mark on the bed near the extreme end so I can park the tailstock in exactly the same place every time.
A 1/2 " dowel approx 42 inches long is used to mark on a
piece of tape on the top of the tailstock for each set of chuckjaws I use. One end of the dowel in the center of a turned bowl, the other end laid on top of the tailstock, shows me exactly the distance from the bottom of the bowl to the jaws.

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Bert Delisle WR Supporter Offline All my fire wood is round! Posts: 316 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #7 - 02/12/12 at 12:17:53 Great tip, I'm a newby and fortunately I have only made one funnel wide mouth funnel (maple) so far. Since then all my bowls tended to be a bit on the heavy side on the bottom. This tip is so simple, and accurate too. Thanks for sharing.
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Peter Fabricius

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Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl
Reply #8 - 02/13/12 at 15:37:14

HI Ron;
Nice tip but, there is an even simpler way.
Take a stick about 12" long 3/4 x 1/4 and drill a 1/8 hole in the middle through the 3/4 wide section.
Now using a 1/8" dowel through the stick just place the dowel in the bowl with the stick across the bowl opening. Then place the stick across the bowl with the dowel outside the bowl and sight to the bowl. The end of the dowel is the bottom of the bowl.
Hope that helps.
Peter F.

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Ron Sardo WR Administrator WR Patron Offline Chief cook and bottle washer Posts: 7794	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #9 - 02/13/12 at 15:39:09 That's the way I do it Peter
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Bob Hamilton

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Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl
Reply #10 - 02/13/12 at 17:42:20

The problem with a single dowel is parallax. If you aren't sighting at exactly 90 degrees to the lathe axis you won't get a true reading of the bottom thickness. The larger the bowl the more the error for the same misalignment.

Using two dowels through the stick, as Bill Grumbine demonstrates in his video "Turned Bowls Made Easy" and seen in many of my videos, gives two reference points that you can sight across much like sighting a rifle and should eliminate the parallax errors.

Take care
Bob

P.S.: Hi Peter!

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« Last Edit: 02/13/12 at 17:42:46 by Bob Hamilton »

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Peter Fabricius WR Noob Offline Posts: 22 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #11 - 02/13/12 at 18:11:41 Hi Bob; +1 for the two dowels through the stick. The paralax can be an issue for larger bowls. Peter F.
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Walt_Nollan WR Patron Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 961 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #12 - 02/15/12 at 07:04:59 Finding the bottom of the bowl usually isn't a problem for me. Its when I go through it that it becomes a problem!
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robo_hippy WR Addict Offline Posts: 1319	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #13 - 02/15/12 at 08:37:59 I did see a post some where, and the turner made a big gulp type of hood for his dust collector hose from a lamp shade. robo hippy
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Michael Meredith WR Business Sponsor Offline WOOD SHOULD LOOK LIKE WOOD Posts: 26 Gender:	Re: Finding the bottom of a bowl Reply #14 - 06/28/12 at 08:13:34 Walt_Nollan wrote on 02/15/12 at 07:04:59: Finding the bottom of the bowl usually isn't a problem for me. Its when I go through it that it becomes a problem! I'm with Walt on this one. Of course, the funnel is a much under appreciated form.
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