Bowl Progress

I've just fitted the second of the two wide ribs that complete the bowl. These were much trickier than the narrow ones and even when bent as accurately as possible they seemed to twist out of shape when gluing them up - I think the the mould is at fault here and that the next mould needs to have this section at exactly right angles to the top. I will also add a removable section to the mould to give something to push against when fitting these last two ribs.

Luckily, I managed to get the untidy part of the joint to be at the front of the bowl where it will be covered by the end cap (which I'm going to fit next).

The thirteenth rib

We had a trip away last weekend, so there was no chance to spend any time in the workshop. However, this weekend I managed to do another couple of ribs on the bowlback. I am definitely getting better at the process, but I still find it tricky. The key seems to be getting a really accurate shape when bending the ribs, and then marking the sides to be shaped carefully with a thin flexible metal straight edge fixed to the bent rib with small spring clamps.

The other thing is the glue... I have taken to squeezing some Titebond onto a piece of polythene and then folding this in half. I then drag the thin stringer through the glue inside the polythene to coat both sides of it at once and then trap this glue soaked strip between the existing bowl and the new rib before hammering in the tacks.

Four more ribs to go!