It’s easy to overlook the need for lathe maintenance. That applies to other workshop equipment too, here is my post about dust extractor maintenance. Recently I have noticed a problem with my lathe. The tail stock has become harder to move, and so has the toolrest holder (the ‘banjo’). I tried lubricating the bed, which helped, but it was still not as it should be. The movements should be as near effortless as possible. Time for some more serious attention! Closer examination revealed a deep scratch along the bed. A bit of grit must have got caught under the tail stock. I could feel the raised ..read more

Back in 2020 a large beech tree fell in a storm. It was growing in a private garden in Mill Hill, and I was able to get a lot of useful timber from it. The tree was rotted at the base, so it was no surprise that it fell. Higher up, the fungus had caused some spalting, and I used the wood from this part of the trunk to make a number of bowls. The branches were still sound, unaffected by the fungus. With a friend, I cut them to manageable lengths and stacked them in a patch of woodland on site. We wanted more spalted beech, so we put them on a bed of dead leaves on the ground. We covered the pil ..read more

Many bowl makers use sanding discs in an electric drill to sand bowls. The idea is to start with a coarse grit disc, then use a succession of finer grit discs to remove scratches left by each previous one. Each disc leaves its own scratches, getting finer and finer as you work through the sequence. But it can be hard to tell whether a scratch was made by the current disc or the previous one. If you sand with 120 grit, then go on to 180, which disc are the scratches from? If you go from 120 to 100 or 150 grit, those discs will be more effective than the 180 at getting rid of sanding scratches ..read more

Band saw blades last quite a long time, but they don’t stay sharp forever. Probably most people throw them out when they get too blunt to use. They just put in a new blade. That makes sense. Who has time for sharpening band saw blades? A blunt blade isn’t safe (though nor is a sharp one if care is not taken!) because it makes you push too hard to force the cut. Blunt blades shouldn’t be used. Re-sharpening means a potential saving in cash if not in time. And it can save delay if you don’t have spare blades to hand. My Startrite 352 has a blade 112″ long, and I normally use a 3/8″ or 1/2 ..read more

This is a very simple workshop aid that eliminates the risk and possible errors associated with using dividers. I made some of these templates to help beginners during my bowl turning classes, but they are so convenient and accurate that I now use them for my own work. A chuck sizing template helps you to make the chucking tenon or recess on a bowl the right diameter for the chuck. It should fit when the chuck jaws are almost closed, because that’s when they have the best grip. The usual method is to use dividers set to the correct diameter to scribe a circle on the work. If the ..read more

Probably most bowl turners generally use blanks cut from green wood. They either make green turned bowls or rough outs to be turned again when dry. Some, particularly beginners, work with dry, seasoned timber, from which a bowl can be made in one session. Drying bowl blanks may be easier than you think! Most of my own work uses green wood. But in my bowl turning classes I rely on dry bowl blanks that I buy from turning suppliers. My students generally work with a blank of about 7 inches by 2 inches (175 mm x 50 mm), which I find is a good size for a beginner to make a useful small bowl ..read more

Getting the wall of a bowl the right thickness is very important. The wall doesn’t have to be the same thickness all the way down, but it must look right and feel right. An experienced turner would likely rely entirely on their sense of touch and not use calipers at all for small bowls. But calipers can help, and simple, non-adjustable homemade calipers are useful. They are quick to make and use. Calipers are normally adjustable, and made of steel. But adjustability is only necessary if you need to get the wall to a specific thickness. I find that when using ordinary steel calipers to check th ..read more

Until recently I operated a website at www.turnedwoodenbowls.com. Because of technical problems with it, I set up my new website here. I think it already looks and works better for visitors than my old one, which I have now closed. It’s easier to manage too, though I still have a lot of work to do on it. I haven’t yet republished all of my old posts, and I still have to transfer some images. I have migrated my list of subscribers. So if you are one of them, you will be notified when I add new posts, and I thank you for your interest. I’ve published a couple of new posts here so far, on sharpen ..read more