Part of the fun of bowl turning is working with many different materials. Here’s your chance to work with very unique materials, epoxy and wood composite.
In order to work through this process it’s imperative that you choose the correct type of epoxy, your shop environment is right for epoxy and you’re mixing and using the epoxy correctly. All of that is covered in this class.
The molds used are items you can readily purchase at a home store, and they work great for bowl molds. The best aspect of the mold is that it creates the negative space that becomes the interior bowl saving you a lot of epoxy and a lot of turning time.
Epoxy is expensive stuff. It pays to make sure you have everything you need before starting a pour, and make sure that your shop is an environment in which epoxy can do what it needs to do. The temperature and humidity of your shop have a large effect on epoxy’s ability to perform.
It’s imperative that you choose the right epoxy for any epoxy project you’re doing. In this case the bowls are what would be called a deep pour because of the depth of the bowl molds. If the wrong product is used it can exotherm and get crazy hot. Read the directions!
The molds used in this class are not specifically epoxy molds, they’re everyday items that you can get almost anywhere. The beauty of one of the molds is that when you pour the bowl you create the wall of the bowl. So, you don’t waste a bunch of epoxy that’s going to end up on the floor when you hollow the bowl.
Pressure pots and vacuum pots are handy, but not imperative for casting bowls, provided you choose the right epoxy. When doing any epoxy work it’s good to know and understand what the pots are all about, but you can cast bowls without using them.
Before pouring your bowl you need to understand how to correctly mix epoxy. It’s not an approximation; it needs to be precise. Next you need to calculate how much epoxy you need. From there you can add wood blocks to the mold, mix and tint epoxy and pour it into your bowl mold.
Getting the bowl out of the mold isn’t difficult but there are tips that will make releasing the bowl easier, and we’ll cover those tips.
Dummy boards need to be added to the bottom of the epoxy bowls so a faceplate can be used to mount the bowl on the lathe. A small about of prep will have the bowls lathe ready. A test mount on the faceplate indicates whether or not the faceplate is correctly mounted.
As with many woodworking tasks choosing the right tool for the job is important. In the case of turning epoxy on the lathe this means using negative rake chisels for the best results. They can be purchased, or existing tools can be ground to a negative rake.
Now we’re ready for fun! Negative rake chisels will produce incredible shavings. It’s going to look like it’s snowing in the shop. Turning involves cleaning up the rim, rounding the outside and hollowing the interior. PPE is important, and we’ll discuss that.
Sanding goes quickly with a sanding disc on a cordless drill. With the epoxy composite bowl sanded smooth you’re ready for finish, which will really pop the epoxy and grain. This is a very fun part of the process.
George Vondriska
Formally trained in technology education, George Vondriska has been teaching woodworking since 1986. He has been the managing editor of Woodworkers Guild of America since 2007. In addition to classes at his own Vondriska Woodworks School, George teaches at woodworking shows across the country and has taught woodworking for the Peace Corps, Andersen Window, Northwest Airlines and the Pentagon.
Casting and Turning Epoxy Bowls
Bonus Materials available for download after purchase.
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