Not sure I should post these after seeing what Rusty is just "throwing together".

 

Seems I may have a problem. Almost everything I make recently is full of large holes. Maybe I'm not doing something right?

 

A little more mesquite and red oak.

 

 

Gorgeous! Love that "star" bottom detail!

Not done intentionally. That's just the remains of the routed sections that create the slots. You can kinda also see them on the bottom side of the lowest ring in the top pic.

excellent

I was looking at your post this AM and my wife looked over my shoulder and said “you need to make me one like that one on the right”. I’m it was a segregated bowl, but it looks like a router was used as well?  If you have time can you shed any light on the process?

Great job on those. 

Gordon,

 

I'm in a bit of a time crunch at the moment but will give you a descriptive write-up with pics later this evening.

 

Stay tuned.

Okay, Gordon. As threatened, I'm back.

 

First off, these were made on the Ringmaster. Not sure they could be done by traditional methods due to the numerous opportunities for catastrophic catches. Not sure how familiar you are with the Ringmaster so I'll give the basic premise based on my normal use.

 

Flat stock approx. 3/4" thick cut to about 11" diameter with a 1/2" hole drilled through the center. Mount on the Ringmaster and adjust the cutter head to the correct angle based on the exact thickness of the blank measured to 0.001". Turn on the machine and cut as many rings as desired. Assemble and glue said rings into a bowl shape and sand smooth when dry. Apply finish and sell (hopefully).

 

This process will give you a smooth sided bowl with a basic funnel shape. There are techniques to make curved sides and even perfect spheres using two or more blanks. I don't do this because the math needed makes my head hurt. So, I stick to simple shape bowls and try to make the initial blank more interesting.

 

I started making open segment bowls about 10 years ago and have evolved the technique several times since. This latest method uses a router flattening sled and a cutting template that lets me route out different angle spaces that show up as slots in the finished rings. These particular bowls were made with 60* spaces with an approx. 1/2" 'rib' between them. This is what allows the rings to be glued to each other. I offset the spaces from the top to the bottom of the blank by 30 degrees so that I could stagger the slots.

 

If you look back at some of my previous slotted bowls, you will see that the slots all line up with each other. This is due to the routed pieces being cut as individual sections and then glued into the final blank. Looks pretty nice but kinda limited in design options.

 

These pics show the two blanks that I started with. The one is how it was laid out for routing and the other shows how it looked after routing. I just use a little trim router with a bowl carving bit on a router flattening sled I made for another project. I cut a guide template with different angles (45, 60, 90) to give me options without having to use individual templates. No pics of that available yet but can get some if you want.

 

Both bowls were done the same way and the upper ring was made from a 12 segment red oak blank. I oopsed on cutting the upper rim but was able to make them work anyway.

 

This is probably clear as mud so let me know if I can clear anything up for you.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I understand about the “star”

@Headhunter Thank you for the detailed reply.  I had never heard of the Ring Master before so that took me down another rabbit hole. I'm assuming the Ring Master gives better results over say Ron Browns bowl from a board, because of the accuracy of the angle cut and the duel cutting heads (front and back). 
In my searches, it looks like Ring Master has quit producing these. I’d love to find one for the Shopsmith. In the meantime, you’ve given me some ideas to play with. 
Gordon

9 hours ago, Gordon said:

@Headhunter Thank you for the detailed reply.  I had never heard of the Ring Master before so that took me down another rabbit hole. I'm assuming the Ring Master gives better results over say Ron Browns bowl from a board, because of the accuracy of the angle cut and the duel cutting heads (front and back). 
In my searches, it looks like Ring Master has quit producing these. I’d love to find one for the Shopsmith. In the meantime, you’ve given me some ideas to play with. 
Gordon

Look on Facebook , there is a group for Ringmaster. You will find machines for sale there often. They may not be for Shopsmith but there are many freestanding units showing up. 

On 7/8/2025 at 11:47 AM, Headhunter said:

Seems I may have a problem. Almost everything I make recently is full of large holes

I'm guessing you've been perusing too many donut advertisements.

Finally getting caught up on my reading; missed this thread completely.

 

Those are absolutely amazing Tony; just plain cool. No need to have reservations about posting them; glad you did. Thanks.