Shopsmith Forums

texomawood wrote:Very nice job. Where did you get your Ring Master from? I have been looking for one but have been having trouble finding one. Can't wait to see your follow-on projects.

I haven't seen many great deals on used ones, but you can still buy them new. Here's a link.

Just as a side note.
A ringmaster is NOT required to make a bowl from a board.
Here is my lumberjocks Blog that describes how I do it. (I'm too cheap for a ring master)

and a couple of finished bowls
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/93796
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/87955

Fantastic work for more talent then I have developed. Those are beautiful bowls. My goal is to get that good some day.

Good looking bowl !!

Well I got my PAG and new blades in last week. The precision angle guide is fantastic and worth every Penny (IMHO). New blades nice and sharp. Turned first bowl no problem other than user error. Somehow I missed calculated the angle, still getting use to the PAG. A small error may not be significant at first but as you cut the rings it magnifies as you go. Small at the bottom or base but big at the top. Lesson learned double check all numbers before applying angle. Now for the bad part of the day yesterday. Having corrected my mistake in the math part I was eager to turn my next bowl. Having glued up (taped) my board using a 3 & 3/4 inch face plate from last week cut round and ready to mount I put on my new blades and mounted the board. Got the ringmaster in place and turned on the shopsmith. POW went the board and my new blades. The board was warped and enough that it caught the blades and broke them off and then broke loose from the face plate and flew off the shopsmith fortunately in the opposite direction. Nothing injured except my pride and ego. First time having that happen to me. I have heard the exploding bowl discussion but that was my first experience. I quickly assessed the damage and seeing everything was ok except the blades I had to go inside and sit for awhile to gather myself. Lesson learned never put a warped board on the spindle. Qustion is it look ok and I assumed since I cut it and mounted it last week and I know it was flat then how could I have known ? Made myself a sticker and taped it to the shopsmith to check for roundness and flatness before mounting. Scary to say the least. Fortunately I didn't get hurt. I did have all safety items in place and I am sure the safety shield on the ringmaster helped tremendously. So I am out $50 bucks for new blades but that is cheap compared to an ER visit. The board was poplar and I found another pieces I cut was warped even more. It was 1 x 12 cut in squares 11 x 11 from a 6 foot board. Seems as I cut the board last week it released some tension on the board and several pieces warped. All help and comments welcomed please. Definitely a learning curve for me, so please I need the suggestions. Good news I am not discouraged nor giving up. Will order new blades today and give it another try. It may take awhile before I can call mine a Ring Master !

A little out of scope but here is some system that can be used for baskets and little bowls without a lathe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfHE69OXkCQ

Hans Meier discusses various ways of producing a basket using the scroll saw. He goes over 5 different methods (with a bonus!): step, twist, stack, folding and weave. Worth watching for the tips alone.
Full Video (1:28) Filmed and uploaded in HD.

Terry-
What do you use to actually cut the rings? I was looking at your posts at: http://lumberjocks.com/TerryDowning/blog/series/6521
Thanks,
V.

A little late, I just saw this.

I use a shop made narrow parting tool.

Cutting edge is made from a reciprocating saw blade.

Do you or anyone have the spreadsheet tool to use with the Precision Angle Guide? I know you need to measure the thickness of the board and use the tool to set your angle using the PAG. Thanks, V.