Turning Natural Edge Bowls

Turn natural edge bowls from wet local hardwoods recently cut and provided by instructor. Students will receive a refresher in the fundamental gouge and scraper cutting techniques. We focus on developing an eye for making a pleasing shape while incorporating the bark of the tree as the rim of the bowl. We touch-up your graceful bevel-guided cutting technique thus helping you to form the smooth curves of the bowl. 

This bowl requires a steady hand as cutting the rim is interrupted--you cut a bit of the high part of the rim then skip to the high part of the other side. We focus on careful aim to get a graceful curve through this interrupted cut. Blanks of wood will be mounted between centers and the “bowl inside the wood” will be visualized before cutting so you control that the grain pattern and bark rim position in the finished bowl. We shape the outside of the bowl, remount the blank in a chuck and cut the inside. At home, the bowls will dry and easily can be sanded with a round pad in a drill. 

Prerequisite: Basic bowl turning