I started working with wood at a very young age. I would help my father out in his workshop. We built mostly furniture as a hobby. When I married and got my first house, I turned my garage into my workshop. I continued building furniture as a hobby. I have built most of the furniture in my house.
I got my first lathe, a Craftsman, to turn table legs and such. I tried turning a few bowls when I had free time. They turned out nice, but it really was not that much fun for me. About four years ago, I saw a picture of a segmented bowl. I just thought it was beautiful and I had to try one. It did not turn out too bad, but it was fun to do. I bought a bigger lathe from Harbor Freight. I did not want to spend too much on new tools until I found out if I would like turning segmented bowls or not. I found out I loved it, and I soon out grew that lathe. I needed a bigger and better one. My wife, who has been my biggest supporter, told me to get the one I wanted. I now turn on a Jet 1644 woodworking lathe.
I turn three types of bowls: segmented, open segmented, and regular solid wood bowls. I do not turn that many solid wood bowls. If I do, it is usually as a gift for friends and family. If they have a piece of wood or tree from their house or just have something that is special to them, I will turn it for them. By far my favorite bowls to turn are segmented and open segmented.
I find pieces of wood that have nice color or special features to it, and come up with some kind of design for it. That can be the toughest part of bowl turning. I cut the wood and assemble the pieces into the design. Then I turn the bowl on my lathe. Coming up with the design and building the bowl can take several days. Turning and finishing only takes a few days.
A lot of my turnings I have given away to friends and family as gifts. I have several on display and for sale at the Aiken Center for the Arts. I also have quite a few around the house. I try not to make the same bowl twice unless someone really likes it and wants me to make them one. But every bowl is a little different and unique in some way.
Up until this year, all of my bowls have had 12 segments per ring. And as many rings as it takes to make the design of the bowl. This year I am adding more segments to give me a greater design span. The more segments per ring, the longer it will take to make a bowl. But I think it will look so much better in the long run.
