Reuleaux Bowl
Reuleaux triangles are shapes of constant width. They have lots of interesting mathematical properties, one of which is that they can't be turned on a lathe. This bowl is another ZedSled project.
12
Decor
Files Included (2)
reuleaux triangle bowl inside.svg
31 kBreuleaux triangle bowl.svg
24 kB
Materials
150x150x50mm block of wood (Thuya Burl in my case)
Tools
Shaper Origin
ZedSled
8mm round nose bits (60mm overall length and 100mm overall length to get the deep cuts)
12mm upcut bit for stock removal
1mm upcut bit for optional engraving
Instructions
NB. This is a ZedSled project. If you don't know what that is, there is a separate Hub project that explains it here: https://hub.shapertools.com/v2/creators/63b611f2fbe48653c207db8d/shares/6632aa366036cdb4caa5a7c6 The curves are achieved by cutting at 1mm intervals with a round nosed bit. The ridges left by this appraoach are, at most, 0.1mm deep (4 thousandths for our American friends) so just require a bit of sanding. To make it easier on the cutters, I precut every 5mm as a pocket hole, clearing out most of the waste wood in the process. I also cut the outer perimeter down 20mm from the top before turning the block over and regridding to cut the outer bowl shape from the bottom. The first 25mm is reachable with a normal length cutter but then I switched to a 100mm long 8mm ball nose that protrudes below the router base. That gave me the full 50mm depth I needed to sculpt the outside. The inset base is just a pocket cut of the 1mm tier of the SVG with a 3mm offset to leave a broader edge. NB I pocketed it but didn't do a finish cut afterwards. The engraving is one of my spirograph SVGs. Again, there's a separate Hub project on how to create them.: https://hub.shapertools.com/v2/creators/63b611f2fbe48653c207db8d/shares/65d63632f9bd0a149e85e988