HELP! Making a Scroll Saw Bowl

[HeidiJhnsn]

I'm new to this forum but figured if anyone could help me....you guys could! I bought the book on how to make scroll saw bowls and started my first project. The book states to tilt the table to the left....I have a delta P20 and it does NOT tilt to the left....only the right. I still began my project figuring left? right? Who cares, right? WRONG! When I cut the first circle it cuts into circle #2 and the angle is wrong even though it's been squared to 28 degrees as described in the book. So does this mean I can't make a scroll saw bowl on my saw since it only tilts right? Or is there another way to accomplish making a bowl? I've cut everything from a chess set to decorative boxes and this just has me stumped! Thanks for your help!!!

[DWSudekum]

Heidi it really makes little difference on cutting the rings. One of the things you might want to try is get a practice board and cut some rings first cutting clockwise and then cutting counter clockwise. You will see the difference immediately between the two. Your ultimate goal for making a bowl here Heidi is to cut the rings so that one ring stacks on top of the other as smoothly as possible. If you take your table and tilt it RIGHT side down you will need to go in the clockwise direction when cutting out the rings. Hope this helps a bit.

DW

[handibunny]

Heidi, you've come to the right place. I received a question about this very same problem just last week, and there's a very easy solution.

If your table only tilts to the right, you need to cut COUNTERCLOCKWISE whenever the instructions call for cutting clockwise (which is almost always). This means that you feed the wood in a clockwise direction which makes the blade look like its moving counterclockwise. Instead of the wood being mostly to the left of the blade, it will be mostly to the right of the blade.

The ring that you cut will be wider at the top than at the bottom. To be sure you've got this right, draw a small circle on a piece of wood and cut around it, going counterclockwise. If you've gotten it right, the top will be wider than the bottom.

There are certain situations when you'll need to cut in the other direction, but those are for projects at the end of the book, and are for special effects.

If you have any other questions or problems, you can ask me directly in the section of the forum for author's questions. Or, you can email me at my blog email, which is [email protected]. I have a lot of bowl videos posted on my blog, but you can also access them from Sections to the left of the forum posts, under Videos. You'll also find a video that goes through the whole process of making a simple bowl.

And by now, a lot of folks here have been making bowls for a while, so there's a whole bunch of people who can help you out.

Let us know how you make out, and please post pictures when you make your first bowl.

[Jim Finn]

I get confused thinking of the wood going clock wise or the blade going clockwise....right tilt or left tilt? Maybe someone can explain this by pointing out that one must have the inside of the bowl pattern on the LOWER table side of the blade..... I imagine directions like that would be less confusing but I am not sure. ( This is the way I think about it when setting up double bevel inlays)

[DaveVanEss]

You want to cut so the rings taper towards the middle. Rhat is the rin is smaller on the botton than at the top. Any clearer.


Dave

[handibunny]

Jim, I actually had included your suggestion in my post to Heidi, but in terms of the side of the blade where most of the wood lies.

Actually, it's far simpler than it seems if you keep in mind that in any step-by-step article, or in my book, there are many pictures of what the wood and table look like as you cut. I take my process shots from the perspective of the scroller, which makes it easy to see what it should look like. I've had my share of mishaps, too, when I was not able to visualize what things should look like.

I had considered including something in the book about the relationship between direction of table tilt and cutting direction, but decided that that would be too confusing for someone just starting out. Since most scroll saws either tilt both ways, or give a full tilt left side down, I decided to go with the most common situation.

Even now, if I've been away from bowl work for awhile and am trying something new, I have to think hard about how to steer things. But I'm always on the lookout for people whose table is a right side down only, since it's a problem that's easy to fix.

[HeidiJhnsn]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and prompt answers to my questions. I have successfully cut my first bowl and I am now in the process of sanding it! I'm so excited. It turned out just like the book said it would - once I quit confusing myself with clockwise - counter clockwise scenario. Thanks again and I hope you all have a great Christmas!!!!
Heidi

[handibunny]

Glad it worked out, Heidi. Don't forget to post pictures of your success, and have a great Christmas!

[ChuckD]

Carole your gooooood. Merry Christmas

[PatteM]

NOW you've got me determined to try a bowl -- they are SO beautiful but just looking at people's comments and questions made it seem a bit more complicated than I cared to deal with. Thanks to your specific instructions on locating the video AND your wonderful basic video, plus Heidi's success, it all makes sense to me now, and I'm really eager to make my first bowl!!! I've got a little time tomorrow (Christmas) plus the day after before I have to return to work, so that should be plenty of time for a new project. THANKS!!!!

[handibunny]

Patte, it's not really complicated at all. If you have any questions, just give a holler and we'll come running.