Mary Ostler

I hate turning plywood bowls. They are horrible to hog out material, and they never finish very well. The plus side is they are very pretty. I have had my arm twisted behind my back to make a bowl for my aunt.

14 images of tedious details on how I make plywood bowls

Cut strips of plywood down to even lengths. These are from the end of my Bedouin bed platform

Wet each side of the plywood so that its damp.

Spread an even coating of polyurethane glue on the sides.

Clamp the block together.

Once the glue is set, I chisel off the outside residue.

I drew a series of circles with a compass, and then cut them out on the bandsaw.

Using a center finder rule I mark out the center point.

I drill out a 2″ hole to hook up to my lathe chuck.

Chucked.

With the bowl turning I marked out a 2″ space on the flat. This get hogged out to attach to the chuck for the inside turning.

The bottom has been turn till it had a nice profile.

Starting out the inside howling. Loud, nasty, dirty, dusty tiring work…blaaaah

The inside is now completely hogged out, and the sanding is about to start.

First coat of white shellac.