Typically, when creating a wooden bowl a crafts person would do so on a lathe. A chunk of wood would be bolted to the head stock and the bottom of the bowl turned to an appropriate shape. Then the half-bowl-shaped wood is flipped around on the lathe so that the material on the inside of the bowl can be removed. This traditional method of bowl turning requires a lathe, turning tools, and the serious technique and skill required for the task.
The master maker of weird wood working tools, [Izzy], decided to make a wooden bowl without the use of a lathe. He created a unique fixture to cut the shape of the bowl on a table saw, a piece of equipment that is a bit more common for the average DIYer to have. The fixture itself is made of wood and supports a standard hand drill in a vertical position. The soon-to-be bowl is bolted to the drill and hovers just above the table saw blade. The table saw is turned on and the fixture allows the work piece to rock back and forth creating the bowls outside shape. The drill rotates the piece so that the contours are consistent around the bowl.
The bowl is then flipped over and re-attached to the drill. This time to cut the inside of the bowl, the fixture is locked in the vertical position and the wood is dropped straight down on the spinning blade while being rotated. The saw blade cuts a perfectly hemispherical cavity in the wood. The final bowl looks great after a little sanding and an application of oil. Check out the video after the break.
This isn’t the first time [Izzy’s] projects have been here on Hackaday, check out his DIY Band Saw and Wooden Sphere Cutter.
This seems like less “how to make a bowl without a lathe” and more like “how to make a lathe out of a drill”. Regardless, it does show just how handy knowing how to make versatile jigs is. Kudos.
it’s more of an indexing jig
It’s obviously a lathe, it seems more like a “How to replace a chisel with a tablesaw” :)
At 2:39 it definately becomes a lathe.
so i made it too :D just by using WoodPrix plans:)
Holy moley! I thought table saws were scary enough without putting a side load on the blade!
Yeah I didn’t think that seemed like a good idea but hey it worked!
It’s still not a good idea.
Yeah, no, I have to concur on this with experience in the wood shop, jig or no jig this is incredibly dangerous. Interesting ‘concept’, but still not a ‘good idea’.
Hardened saw blades are rather brittle, what this guy is doing is NOT a good idea. Heck, he came right out and showed us a knot in the workpiece he did not know was there! Flying shrapnel is inevitable. Be smart, only use tools as intended; especially big high-speed spinning sharp tools.
I agree, dangerous. However this is Hackaday. “only use tools as intended” sounds like the opposite of Hackaday.
Using a table saw to cut a parabola by passing the material over the blade with a sled set at an angle isn’t uncommon.
Usually the cutting teeth on modern tool bits are made from something like tungsten carbide, brazed onto a tough & softer steel back, so they are unlikely to shatter.
Meanwhile, here is something truly both reckless and dangerous!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qt5ui3P9QA
This is better :P https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Mod_92VZA
Just because it is hack a day doesn’t mean a person should be stupid with dangerous power tools. Body parts are not replaceable.
Using tools as intended to hack things without hurting or killing yourself seems quite Hack-a-Day-ish. Using tools NOT as intended and hurting yourself (or worse) is Bad – for any reason. This guy got lucky, this time…..
See also: http://woodgears.ca/
Shattering blade similar to high speed CDs on another post? The warp is being induced in this case….
Nice result tho…
Who is going to combine the 2 projects? I want to see how fast you need to spin a table saw blade to make it explode like the CDs.
You’d probably need a military bunker to do that safely though ^^
It’s more a case of how much side-load will a blade take before it shatters, as well as speed. He has a blade guide (bowl guide) which minimises warp I guess…
Nothing on youtube yet for table saw blade explosions. I wish I had a good place to try it out.
The jig on the top photo is not the one used in the video. Why to put another jig there?
It is the same jig. The screenshot at the start of the video is from 3:06 in the video when he is almost done shaping the bowl. You can’t see the top bracing for the drill because the jig is rotated.
With a couple chisels and a little leg strength (and years of practice) you can out preform a high end lathe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDgIGzw4VtA
Anyone considering getting into turning should consider a pole lathe for their first few attempts. Lets you build skills and your own tools. Unless you have more money than free time, in which case buy what you can afford.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4qB6n1cm04
I have heard that people in countries who control or ban satellite TV dishes turn locally made parabolic antennas by attaching blank sheet aluminum discs to car axle tire lugs and bending the discs with a hand tool against a bending guide. When they are done turning antennas they put the tire back on a drive the “factory” to somewhere else to avoid being caught.
and then the deluge of awesome hacks, all on the “not safe” side of the tracks began :-)
Of course it is unsafe. What part of “HACK” dont you get? If it was safe and especially easy you wouldn’t need to hack it.
Needs an arduino, however.
This is just what the senior center wood shop needs.
I’ve done the safety callout myself before but I really don’t see a serious problem here. Circular saw blades aren’t brittle, they’re made of brittlte bits welded to a ductile core. The high speed and hardness difference mean that the blade removes material from wood very quickly. As long as you don’t advance the work piece enough to jam the saw everything should be fine. You should of cousre wear eye protection and keep parts of your body you like out of the plane of the saw’s rotation as a general principle, but this isn’t that egregious an abuse of the equipment.
Crazy Cool! Always like seeing people who think WAY outside the box…
If you want to see some real bowls, send me your email.
Having spent 35 years in wood shops
And making jigs to get tools to do things
They were NOT meant to do this doesn’t
Seem all that crazy or dangerous.
Anyone ever put a chain saw chain between
Two washers on a bolt chucked into a
Die grinder and carved out a bowl