Wooden bowls make great projects for beginners and advanced DIYers alike. They can be extremely simple or as intricate as you like, and they make great gifts for family or friends.
There are lots of ways to make bowls from wood, so we’ve had a look online to see what other people have been trying – and here are 19 plans for DIY bowls you can make at home.
Table of Contents
1. Making a Bowl Without a Lathe
To start, here’s a fun post to read. In it, we learn how this blogger was challenged to make a bowl without a lathe, a challenge she accepted without having any idea how she was going to do it. However, she worked it out, and it’s a plan you can copy too – so check it out to see how she managed!
2. DIY Dough Bowl Using Power Tools
Of course, using a lathe makes creating bowls easier, but if you don’t have one, you can still achieve great results by turning to the kind of power tools that most DIY enthusiasts will have access to. If that sound like something you’d like to try, this plan will show you how to do it – and as you can see from the photos, the results are highly impressive.
3. DIY Rustic Bowl
Here’s a video we enjoyed watching a lot. In it, you get to see this skilled craftsman take an old log and turn it into a beautiful rustic bowl without the use of a lathe. There are no instructions, just a time-lapse video of how he completed the project – but if you have reasonable DIY skills and access to basic tools, it’s an idea you shouldn’t have trouble copying.
4. Secret Wood Bowl DIY
The bowl this blog shows you how to make is little short of stunning and is, without doubt, one of our favorites. In fact, the bowl in this tutorial was inspired by rings this DIYer made that incorporated epoxy, and this project is her attempt to use the same technique to make something bigger. The result is amazing, and if you want to try something similar, this tutorial will show you how.
5. From Firewood Log to Bowl (First Woodturning Project)
If you own a lathe and are looking for some simple projects that will allow you to develop your skills, making a bowl is an obvious place to start – and this tutorial teaches you how. We love the way it looks when it’s finished, and if you put your mind to it, with a little practice, you’ll be able to produce something just like it.
6. Super Simple Hack to Make a Wooden Bowl Without a Lathe
In this blog, we learn how to make a bowl using basic power tools but no lathe. As this blogger explains, there are quite a few plans online for lathe-less bowls, but he found some of them quite dangerous. His solution was to make his own safety-conscious version, and this tutorial is the result.
7. Bowl Carving with Hand Tools and No Lathe
For anyone who wants to try making a wooden bowl without a lathe or any power tools at all, this is a plan that should be of interest. As the YouTuber tells us, when carving a bowl by hand, the item you make reflects every stroke and every cut mark you make, creating something more organic and with so much more character. It’s also a simple project for anyone to attempt, so why not have a go yourself?
8. Making a wooden Bowl Without a Lathe
Here’s an interesting idea for making a bowl without a lathe – instead of the lathe, this tutorial shows you how to use a table saw in a similar way to “turn” the bowl. This is a great hack if you want to have a go at making bowls but don’t want to invest in expensive equipment, and we’re sure lots of people will be keen to try.
9. Make a $20 Bowl in 20 Minutes
As this YouTuber explains, if you want to make a little cash from your bowls, the key is reducing the amount of labor you put in –if you can produce a bowl in a shorter amount of time, you could turn it into a profitable enterprise. He then goes on to show you how to make bowls you can sell for $20 in just 20 minutes, allowing you to make a little pocket money from your hobby.
10. How to Make a Homemade Wooden Dough Bowl
There are many different ways to produce wooden bowls without the need for a lathe, and this tutorial shows you how to do it using a chainsaw, among other tools. This might seem a little extreme, but it looks like it works well, so this is another technique that could be worth trying.
11. Making a Wooden Bowl DIY
We love watching videos like this because it’s always great to see skilled woodworkers do their thing. We always get plenty of ideas from tutorials like this, and we’re sure most people will be able to pick up a few tips too. It’s also fascinating to watch as the bowl takes shape, and this is the kind of video that gives us the urge to have at making one ourselves.
12. Carve a Wood Bowl in Just 4 Hours
Here’s a project for those who want to create a bowl that can fairly be called a work of art rather than just a functional object to eat out of. As this blogger tells us, sometimes it’s necessary to step away from everyday jobs and just create something beautiful – and if that’s what you feel like doing, this is the plan for you.
13. DIY Wooden Bowl Carving Without a Lathe
For anyone looking to make a handmade bowl that doesn’t require any advanced tools or techniques, this is a tutorial that should appeal. In it, this YouTuber shows us how he carved a wooden bowl as a gift for his mother, and we think it looks gorgeous. We love the way it’s such a personal item, so if you’re looking for ideas for gifts, this is a plan that’s worth a watch.
14. Make a Wooden Bowl from a Log
Even if you don’t have advanced DIY skills, it’s still possible to create attractive items with the right plan, and if you need a confidence booster, you should find this tutorial encouraging. In it, this blogger shares how she learned to make a bowl from a log despite having very limited DIY experience. And if she can do it, so can you – so why not give it a go?
15. Learn How to Make a Hand-Carved Wooden Bowl
As this YouTuber explains at the beginning of his video, this tutorial is about making bowls the old-fashioned way using old tools. This method might take a little longer than using power tools or a lathe, but bowls made like this have so much more character, and this video shows you everything you need to know to try it yourself.
16. Bowl Carving
If you want to make a simple bowl, the process is relatively uncomplicated, but for more ambitious projects, you’ll probably need a bit more help. That’s what this blog post gives you since it goes into lots of detail about how to carve a beautiful bowl that you will be proud of having made. There’s a video along with clear instructions, so if you want to try some more advanced woodworking, this is a plan you should enjoy.
Check this Tutorial
17. DIY Wooden Bowl
Here’s a short and simple video that shows you how to carve a bowl by hand. It’s only a short video, but it shows you the careful technique this YouTuber uses to create an attractive bowl, and as the introduction below the video suggests, watching him at work is mesmerizing. There’s a lot to be said for making something using painstaking methods like this rather than turning to power tools, and if you agree, you can try creating a bowl like this too.
18. Vintage Wooden Bowl DIY
If you don’t feel up to making a bowl yourself, you can always take a shortcut and give a makeover to an old bowl you have. If that sounds more like your kind of thing, this is a plan should be worth a look. In it, we see how this blogger turned a tired old wooden bowl into a beautiful watermelon! Check it out to see how it turned out.
19. How to Make a Leaf-Shaped Wooden Bowl
Here’s an original design for a wooden bowl that we’re sure lots of people will love – in the shape of a leaf. The blog page gives you a list of the tools you’ll need to copy the plan, and there’s a link to a video that shows you how to do it. So if you’re feeling creative and adventurous, why not see if you can make something similar?
Plenty of creative ideas to copy
As you can see, there are plenty of creative ideas for you to copy for making wooden bowls, using a range of different tools and techniques.
We’ve enjoyed collecting these plans for you, so we hope you’ve enjoyed reading and watching them too – and above all, we hope we’ve helped you find the inspiration you needed to get started on making a DIY bowl of your own.