Segmented Woodturning
A few years back while reading a book on wood turning a style of segmented woodturning caught my eye. Fascinated by the pattern, I was equally if not more intrigued by the technique used to create bowls like the one pictured above. So, I read on and began studying the process which struck me as actually quite creative.
Believe it or not, this segmented woodworking technique starts out with a flat board (planed & parallel) comprised of laminated strips of maple and walnut. The next step requires some layout work and drawing of concentric circles on the board followed by a trip to the band saw. Then the table of the band saw is tilted (in this case…45 degrees) and the layout circles are then carefully cut.
Here’s where is gets interesting. When the cutting of the circles is completed they are now ready to be stacked. There’s an order to the process. Small circles on the bottom followed by the progression of larger circles on top. Of course, these segmented rings need to be glued and aligned as they are stacked. As a result, they take on the shape of the bowl that you see in the segmented woodturning pictured above. From here it’s just a matter of heading to the wood lathe and turning the bowls. Then it’s on to sanding and finishing the segmented woodturning.
Watch Woodturning Videos:
Let’s Turn Salt and Pepper Mills – How to Woodturn
Segmented Wood Turning – Fruit Bowl…part 1
Segmented Woodturning – Fruit Bowl – part 2