The book is a collection of photographs of a wide variety of bowls, from the simple and elegant to the seemingly impossible. The photography is very good. There is a brief description of each bowl, typically limited to the name of the artist and photographer, the name of the piece and the type of material used. Occasionally there is a statement by the artist. Each page is pure eye candy. Paging through the book will give you so many ideas and motivation to try new techniques and forms. It will also open your eyes as to what is possible in turning a bowl.

One of my favorite books to browse through and I’d highly recommend it.

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This book is about form and what you can do with it. The book is illustrated with many beautiful photographs of bowls by Raffan and many world class turners. The eye candy of the images is good enough reason to get the book, but there is a lot of valuable information on what makes a bowl design work and what doesn’t. Raffan starts with wood and blank selection, describing where to get wood and how best to prepare a blank. Illustrations show how he plans cutting of logs so as not only to optimize the quantity of bowls from a log, but also the quality of the bowls.

The bulk of the book is a discussion of form and function. All the elements of bowl design are covered, from walls to rims and bases. The premise behind a lot of the design of a good bowl is that the shape of the bowl should make it both visually and tactile appealing. The colors of wood will change over time, so a bowl design that is going to survive over time can’t just rely on a stunning piece of wood. If the wood were painted black and the bowl still looks and feels good, then the design of the bowl is good.

Raffan recommends taking some of your bowls, both good and bad, and band sawing them in half so that you can study the profile. A leap of faith indeed, but something I plan on doing.

He also discusses green-turned bowls and how to work with and plan for warping. There is a chapter on surface decoration including coloring, burning and sandblasting. The final chapter covers decorative reshaping where he looks at techniques like carving and piercing and discusses how they can embellish good form.

In summary, this book is going to help me make giant strides with my bowl turning. While it didn’t give me any tips on using a bowl gouge it encouraged me to think more about the final outcome of any bowl I plan on turning.

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