Segmented Bowls

A segmented bowl is created by cutting multiple small pieces of wood and gluing them together to form a ring. Each ring makes one layer of the bowl. The rings are flattened and then glued first to a base, and then glued one on top of each other. Once the gluing is completed the vessel is turned on a lathe to cut it to final shape.

Preparing the wood

The first step is to mill the lumber to the desired size; length. width and thickness making sure each board is flat and square

Cutting the segments

The segments are cut. the diameter of the final ring as well as the thickness of the bowl walls will determine the segment sizes.

Sanding and gluing

Segments are then sanded to allow a tight joint and glued into rings and clamped.

More sanding and gluing

The rings are sanded flat, again to create a good joint between each ring. The first ring is then glued to the base (what will be the bottom of the bowl). The weight is used to apply clamping pressure to ensure a good joint.

Rings are stacked, glued and bowl is created

The rings are added to the bowl, and then the whole assembly gets put on the lathe for cutting the bowl's final shape. After the bowl is complete, it will get a good sanding using multiple grits of sand paper. Once sanded the bowl gets a bath in a finish.