A Pictorial study of the Process

Starting the Vase Construction

To get started I used the plan from Woodturner Pro to dimension the maple and the cherry. The thickness is 3/4" and each strip of wood represents the material to be used for a specific ring.  As you can see the lengths and widths vary for each ring.



At the compound miter saw a stop block is clamped so that the vertical spacers can be cut. White oak is used in this instance and as you can see there is a 3/16'' crosscut section. The grain direction of the vase construction is all horizontal. The reason for this is to maintain stability of the glue joints while minimizing wood movement.

Ring segments are now being organized on the workbench. Each segment has a unique width and length so it is imperative to keep the segments for each ring seperate.

Applying the Finish

Here are the six dinner salad bowls and the large bowl. I used various coats of "Tried and True" finish on them. Be sure to use very light applications when using this product. It leaves a very nice natural looking finish.

The vertical spacer...walnut

The walnut vertical spacers are 1/8" and are being cut to length.

Cutting the maple staves

The first stave is cut with a bevelled angle of 15 degrees. As you can see the saw is crosscut at 90 degrees. Once the first bevel cut is made the board is then flipped edge for edge and it is then measured for the appropriate segment length. A stop block is clamped on the right side of the blade to guarantee accurate successive cuts.

Creating Salad Bowls...a study in Segmented Woodturning

These salad bowls were created using flat boards of maple and walnut. There are 12 staved segments of maple along with walnut vertical spacers in between.