Turning Bowls from Laminated Beams

Wood turners are consistently a resourceful bunch, particularly when it comes to sourcing materials for their next turning project. We’ve seen George turn everything from synthetic countertop material to deer antler, and now his latest choice might be his most outrageous selection yet as he turns a beautiful bowl from a section of laminated beam (lam beam). Doesn’t sound possible to create art from laminated beams? Watch this video to see for yourself! If this gets your juices flowing and you want to learn more about turning and why it’s one of George’s favorite forms of woodworking, then check out the large collection of woodturning videos that WWGOA has assembled.

Tool choice matters.

Laminated beams are loaded with glue—lots and lots of glue. As you can imagine, glue can dull a steel tool in a jiffy, so you should either plan on spending a fair amount of your project time in front of a grinder, or as an alternative, you can use a carbide turning tool as George does in this video. A carbide turning tool will hold up to the rigors of roughing out laminated beams, and you’ll be able to spend more time in front of the lathe than the grinder. With a good, sharp carbide lathe chisel, you’ll be able to make short work of turning bowls from laminated beams.

Dust mask or other filtration.

Be prepared—this project will generate some dust, and that dust is loaded with glue. This is no time to use your lungs as your air filter! Instead, be sure to use a good dust mask, and ideally an air filtration system as well. Keeping the air clear also makes your turning experience much more pleasant.

If you like this and want to explore some other great woodturning projects, WWGOA has you covered!