Turning a Bowl from a Chunk of Sequoia

Frank Howarth makes great build videos on his YouTube page. In this case, he had milled some big slabs of Sequoia with a friend, but had some odd pieces leftover. He decided to take one and turn quite a large bowl from it.

Featuring a workshop with one of the largest band saws I’ve ever seen, Frank made a circular jig to cut the piece to size. After some initial turning on the lathe, he let it dry for a year.

After hollowing it out, he had to fabricate a large chuck so he could work on the bottom. He did this by cutting a circular piece of MDF, then attaching small cleats that matched the curvature of the bowl.

After some intense sanding and a finish of linseed oil and beeswax, the bowl was completed. Take a look at his video to get even more detail on the build.