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Turning & Carving Calculators

Calculate lathe speeds, bowl blank sizes, spindle dimensions, and tool selections for wood turning and carving projects.

8 free calculators in Turning & Carving

Wood Turning and Carving Calculations

Wood turning and carving require careful planning to get the most from your materials and work safely. From calculating safe lathe speeds to sizing bowl blanks and working out segment angles, these calculators cover the maths behind the craft.

Safe lathe speed is crucial — an out-of-balance blank spinning too fast can fly off the lathe with dangerous force. The general rule is that larger diameters need slower speeds. Our turning speed calculator determines the correct RPM range based on blank diameter, accounting for roughing versus finishing passes.

Segmented turning involves gluing together precisely cut pieces to form rings that are stacked and turned into bowls, vases, and vessels. The maths for segment angles, ring diameters, and piece dimensions can be complex. Our segmented turning calculator works out all the cutting angles and dimensions for any number of segments per ring.

Bowl blanks need to be carefully sized to account for the final bowl dimensions plus turning waste. Our bowl blank calculator determines the minimum blank diameter and thickness for your target bowl size.