Spherical Segmented Bowl

welcome to LJ's. neat variation on the typical segmenting. thanks for the video, it was very instructive. The bowl is a beauty.

Steve, welcome to LumberJocks! I've gotta visit my local bowling alley.

First off welcome to Lumberjocks you'll Love it here!!!! 2nd, that is one cool turning, the video is great. What an interesting and cleaver way of doing this. You Turners do some amazing work… Very creative…..

cool looking segmented bowl and nicely turned…well done.

Welcome to LJ. I have been following you for years after I found your gear cutting system. I cant wait to see more of your projects

Nice work, my favorite combination of wood.

Steve,
The video, plus the Ebook, makes the concepts easier to grasp than either by themselves.j The bowl you made is amazing!

Spencer

Thanks for the compliments and comments. I agree that the video helps grasp the concept better than just reading about it and seeing some pictures. I found several used bowling balls in good condition in a second hand store for $3 each the other day.

Steve,
Have you cut enough bowling balls to advise what to look for as far as easier or cleaner cutting based on appearance of the ball material and which band saw blade tooth configuration to use or to not use?

I don't have a lathe. As an alternative to bowling balls, and for a variety of radii, I was wondering if I could buy styrofoam balls to cut and paint with a coat of epoxy as an alternative… what do you think?

Spencer

Hi Spencer, I have only cut just a few of them. They seem to have a core of lower density grainy-looking plastic material (easier to cut???), and a higher density outer layer - I think they vary the weight of the ball by using a larger core for a lighter ball. So if that's the case then a lighter weight ball should be easier to saw through. I used a 6tpi hook tooth blade which got the job done, but was dull afterwards. Maybe a metal-cutting blade with more teeth per inch and lower hook angle would work better - just a guess. Modern bowling balls are plastic all the way through. You can also look into the finger holes to see how thick the outer layer is.

I don't see why a coated styrofoam ball wouldn't work as long as the surface is smooth, hard, and very spherical. I am skeptical of a foam ball being round enough though. The router jig I describe in the eBook works very well for making spherical forms for any radius you want to use. They can also be re-mounted on the jig and re-surfaced to a different radius if needed.

Steve