This bowl is 7" in diameter and about 4.75” tall. Each row including the base has 16 pieces, so there are 181 pieces (counting the 2 pieces I had to create again) 🫤
The main body came from some wood I salvaged out of an old piano, and I’m guessing it’s cherry. I’m not great at identifying species unless I’ve bought them myself, so if anyone recognizes it, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
The stripe is wenge with maple on both sides. The base is wenge as well, with a maple outline for the butterfly. I’m not sure what the orange wood is, but the yellow is Osage orange and the red is bloodwood.
This was my first time adding artwork to the inside of a bowl, and it definitely stretched me a bit. Everything has to be done in a pretty exact order so all the pieces fit correctly without gaps. Also there’s a limit to how small you can go before things just burn away.
I originally did multiple small butterflies in the base and didn’t fully account for how much of it would actually be visible once everything was assembled, so some of the design would have ended up partially covered.
I ended up going with a single butterfly, and even that gave me some trouble. Grain direction bit me and a couple pieces snapped off. I replaced them, but you can still see the repair if you look closely, and the color match isn’t quite perfect.
Finished it with OSMO since it’s food safe once cured, and I have no idea how my wife is going to use it yet. Either way another lesson learned, trouble is I might forget it tomorrow,🥴
Thanks for looking, and I’m always open to feedback.
Great segmented bowl. If course the butterfly draws attention and is a great detail, more than a detail. Also like the use of the maple to accent the we get ring. Great job.
The butterfly, of course, is an excellent touch, I like the simpler designs you tried for just the reason you mention, burning up! Small parts are a pain and you never know which way they fit after dropping them.
When trying fine detail with veneers, I'll get a good fit after about 5 reject parts. Doesn't scale either so any change in overall size means starting over.
Nice bowls! I love the butterflies. The wood you call "maybe cherry" is likely Port Orford Cedar, which is used in a lot of pianos. It kind of looks like Beech with the fleck figure. Can't tell- is there an fleck in that wood?
That is awsum (echo)... you guys knock these projects out of the ball park. Damn, I always see the negative... if you use the bowl, you can't see that great butterfly and if you wanna see the butterfly, why make a great looking bowl.
Don't know how you segment, however, if you haven't got one, this Mitreset segment is a worthy investment if you do a lot and want quick accurate setup. Just set the two pins,, and adjust your mitre guide on those pins, for the correct 16 segment °.
Not sure how small your little larva butterflies were, and I'm assuming you are lasering, I used inlays in this project, and not my "normal" Timbermate backfill. To give a sense of size,, in the "Muzz" the "M" is 28mm x 23mm and the "u" is 14mm x 13mm, so they are not overly big and "intricate"...
If I'm preaching to the converted I apologise, but there may be someone that will find the following informative.
I cut out the recess for the inlay in the base. I have come to an acceptable laser kerf of .2mm which I use to increase the inlay by that amount ("Contour" command in CorelDraw)... making the inlay .4mm bigger. I then work on the principle that the kerf entry is a tad wider than the exit (no scientific evidence, just a gut feeling), I invert the inlay and cut that way. After righting the inlay I lay it on the base... it is snug on contact. Using a flat piece of wood on top, I genlty hammer it in place with a 20lb sledge... just kidding, tap it in with a small mallet. You just have to remember to keep the little in between pieces of the letters cut out from the base to hammer into the inlay
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Wow! The butterfly is a beautiful surprise. Hope you find a way to use the piece with the smaller butterflies too.
Barb, thank you for the nice comment. I'm pretty sure I'll eventually find a way to use it.
Thanks Tony, and Petey
Great segmented bowl. If course the butterfly draws attention and is a great detail, more than a detail. Also like the use of the maple to accent the we get ring. Great job.
Thank you Ron very nice of you to say.
Thanks Ryan
Small parts are a pain and you never know which way they fit after dropping them.
When trying fine detail with veneers, I'll get a good fit after about 5 reject parts. Doesn't scale either so any change in overall size means starting over.
Thanks for your review Bruce. Your comments are proof you've been there before. I can't tell you how many parts I cut and dropped and lost only to have to make the piece again. Even the same piece of wood will sometimes cut or engrave differently from the previous cut.
Nice bowls! I love the butterflies. The wood you call "maybe cherry" is likely Port Orford Cedar.
Thank you Steven, much appreciated. I would have never guessed cedar, but when it comes to identifying lumber I’m terrible.
Thanks Steve, Pottz, and Jim
Damn, I always see the negative... if you use the bowl, you can't see that great butterfly and if you wanna see the butterfly, why make a great looking bowl.
That is exactly what happened when I handed the finished bowl to my wife. She suggested I make a stand and just use it for display. Oh well, most of the time I just make things to keep myself busy.
The procedure you describe is exactly the way I do my segmented pieces. I use a permanent jig for 16 segments because that's what I use most of the time.
It took a tone of patience to make that - absolutely magnificant!
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