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NEWS SEPTEMBER, 2002 Demo: Bob Skinner Segmented Bowls |
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| A fine group of club members gathered to look and listen to Bob's demonstration on August 3rd. |  |
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NEWS SEPTEMBER, 2002 Demo: Bob Skinner Segmented Bowls |
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| A fine group of club members gathered to look and listen to Bob's demonstration on August 3rd. | |
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Bob makes his bowl ring segments by using solid wood, by cutting and laminating strips of various thickness, and by cutting slots and gluing in strips. He then prepares the segments to be glued into rings by cutting according to his segment chart. By flipping the strip with each cut, minimum wood is lost.
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Bob mounts his base with a screw in the middle, and three screws on a screw circle about 1 1/2 to 2" from the center. If you notice Bob's trademark penny in the center of the base with the three felt pads surrounding it, you now know these are functional, hiding the mounting holes. Bob then builds up the base, and usually puts in a surprise before he starts adding rings. Bob does his inlays by putting two pieces of wood together with double sided tape, then cutting on the scroll saw. To fill the slight gap from the saw kerf, Bob glues the inlay in with epoxy which is dyed with water-based black artists paint. |
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To glue the segments together, Bob places a piece of tape on a bench, then uses a steel rule to align the segments as he presses them on the tape. He then wraps the tape and checks that the segments line up and there are no gaps. He then places glue between each segment and wraps the tape around the segments, holding them in shape. He then places a clamp around the ring and clamps it tight. If there are gaps in the ring, Bob leaves the glue out of the two segments at the 180° positions and glues the rest of the segments. He then takes apart the ring into the two halves and sands the ends on a belt sander, making sure the two halves fit perfectly before re-aligning and gluing. Bob uses Tightbond 2 for his adhesive. |
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When the rings are glued, Bob places the ring in a chuck, such as with Cole jaws, and faces one side. He then glues the ring onto the built up bowl (with the mounted base) and faces the other side to prepare for gluing the next ring. |
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| With a little imagination and some patience and care, an almost infinite variety of shapes and patterns can be achieved. |
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In answer to a few questions: Bob uses a 10" table saw to cut his segments. He has no particular preference of blade, but is currently using a 40 tooth blade. He uses almost exclusively Titebond 2 for adhesive. For finish, Bob prefers Waterlux or oil base urethane. Bob warns against using green wood for segment work. The wood must be dry and stable. |
