Howard Lewin explains how to turn bowls from green wood in this informative article with step-by-step instructions. Lewin offers techniques for rough-cutting bowl blanks with a chainsaw and preparing the blanks for mounting on the lathe. He demonstrates how to choose and bandsaw the blanks, how mount a bowl blank on the lathe, and then goes into detail about turning the inside and outside of the bowl. Creating a bowl with thin, even walls is essential, and he shares tool choices and techniques. You’ll also find advice for cutting face grain vs. end grain and drying and finishing green-wood bowls.

From Fine Woodworking #147

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Rockler Deluxe Panel Clamp

These clamps can handle glue-ups between 10 in. and 36 in. wide, and boards up to 3 in. thick. Sliding feet attach to the lower bars with magnets, letting you position them quickly for stability on any surface. The spring-loaded jaws adjust easily, dropping into notches along the bars. And the powerful clamp handles clear the benchtop.

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Rikon 10-3061 10-in. Deluxe Bandsaw

The 1⁄2-hp motor has all the power needed to resaw at its maximum capacity of 5 in.

The saw has two speeds: 3,280 sfpm (surface feet per minute) for wood and 1,515 sfpm for soft metals and some plastics.

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Grizzly G0495X Industrial Helical Cutterhead 8-in. Jointer

Regardless of the board’s grain, this jointer produced excellent results. Its fence was totally flat, worked smoothly, and locked well, staying in place even after jointing multiple edges. Getting the fence to 90° was very easy, but the 90° stop was a little tricky to set and the fence did not go back to square when using it. For those who would use it, there is also a digital depth-of-cut scale.

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