First you have to figure out what woods you want to use and how many layers there will be in your bowl.

Second, determine how many segments you want in each layer as this will determine what angle you will use to cut the segments that go in each layer.

It is a good idea to determine the diameter of the bowl up front as this will determine the size of the layers and also determine the number of segments in the layer. For example; if you wanted a bowl 10 inches in diameter then you would take the formula: diameter X pie (3.142)=circumference dvided by the number of segments you want. If you chose 10" in diameter and wanted 12 segments in each layer then it would like this: 10x3.142=31.42/12=2.618 which means you would need an accurate calipers to determine the length of each segment once it was cut on a table saw or chop saw or radial arm saw whichever you prefer. I use a table saw.

I am posting a picture of a bowl that I did on this page so you can see as an example of what a design can look like if you use contrasting type of material in your bowl design. I used box elder wood that was resin impregnated with turquoise material in my featured layer. As you see it really makes this bowl design stand out and depending on where you live might be a good selling point.

Depending on how exotic you want your design to be, experiment with other woods to see what you can come up with. The other woods in the bowl above are: Curly Maple, Blood Wood, Wenge, Holly and Panga woods.

You can use other woods for a different contrast in this same bowl design. For example you could use Sepele wood instead of Blood Wood and it would give you a much toner look than the Blood wood does.

There are a number of software programs out there on the internet that can assist you in your bowl design (at a cost of course).

If you are interested in seeing other segmented designs of mine or have any questions concernining bowl design, check out my web site at: http://www.woodcraftsplusllc.com.

Happy Segmenting!

John Orban Jr.

CEO Wood Crafts Plus LLC