TDR
Segmented Bowl Designer — User Guide
Draw a bowl's profile, watch it become a stack of segmented rings and a live 3D model, then export a ready-to-cut list. Design segmented turning blanks in your browser — no CAD required.
Getting access
- Sign in with your free Drawing Store account (email + the code we send you — no password).
- Design for free. Draw the profile, spin the 3D bowl, and see the ring stack — there's no charge to design.
- To unlock a cut list (the full ring dimensions and miter angles, plus CSV and STL export) you spend one cut-list credit. Your first cut list is free. After that, buy credits on the product page — cut lists start at 2 for $12, with larger packs available.
- Prefer to own it? The Desktop licence is $200 one-time — the Windows app on one computer, yours forever, with unlimited cut lists plus the desktop-only extras (segment-face pattern editor, colour 3MF printing, Blender export, true-size PDFs).
Desktop activation: after installing the Windows app, it asks for your email + order number once to activate on that computer, then runs offline. (Desktop licence only — the online plan runs in the browser, nothing to install.)
The screen at a glance
- Profile editor (left) — draw the bowl's wall as a half-profile. The app mirrors it and overlays the numbered segmented rings.
- 3D viewer (right) — the finished bowl, spinnable and colour-coded by ring/species.
- Cut-list chart (bottom) — every ring's dimensions and angles; the summary line above it shows the total strip length and board feet.
- Controls — Width, Height, Wall, Ring height, Segments, Allowance.
Drawing the profile
- Click in the editor to add points along the bowl's outer wall, base to rim.
- Drag a point to move it. Double-click (or double-tap) a point to delete it.
- The app draws a smooth curve through your points, mirrors it, and lays numbered ring rectangles over the wall — those are your glue-up rings.
Size follows your drawing. The bowl's size comes from the points you draw, not the Width/Height boxes. Those boxes are resize controls — type a new Width or Height and every point scales to fit. They also show the current fitted size.
Shape controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Width / Height | Resize the whole profile to a target overall size (points scale proportionally). |
| Wall | Wall thickness — how much stock stays after turning. |
| Ring height | Default height of each stacked ring (your board thickness). |
| Segments | How many segments make up each ring. |
| Allowance | Extra turning stock added around the wall so nothing turns away too thin. |
The cut list
The chart has one row per ring (rim at top, base at bottom) with everything you need at the saw:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sides | Segments in that ring. |
| OD / ID | Outer and inner diameter of the ring. |
| Wall | Ring wall width. |
| Height | Ring height. Editable per ring — type a value to override; blank reverts to the default. (Overriding pushes the rings above it up or down.) |
| Miter° | The miter angle to cut each segment end. |
| Seg Len / Strip Len | Length of one segment, and the strip length to cut all segments for the ring. |
Colours & species
Make the ring pattern before you glue up — the 3D model shows exactly how it'll look:
- Wood — pick a species/tone for each ring (and the base).
- Wood 2 — a second species in the same ring for alternating segments.
—means a solid ring. - Blk — segments per colour block:
1= every other segment,2= pairs, and so on. - Rot° — rotate a ring's segments a few degrees to line up (or offset) the joints with the ring below.
The 3D viewer
- Orbit — drag to spin the bowl.
- Zoom — scroll wheel (or pinch on touch).
- Pan — right-drag (or two-finger drag).
- Colours update live as you change species, blocks, and rotation.
Saving & exporting
- Save / Open — store or reload a design as a
.bowlfile. - CSV — export the cut-list chart to open in Excel or print for the shop.
- STL — export the 3D bowl as an
.stlfor 3D printing or reference.
Tips
- Work bottom-up. Editing a ring's height shifts the rings above it, never the ones below — so set base rings first.
- Thin rings (accent strips) stay solid unless you set a Wood 2 — that opts them into segmentation.
- Touch works. On a tablet: one finger to draw/orbit, two-finger pinch to zoom, double-tap to delete a point.
- Check board feet early — the summary line above the cut list shows the total, so you know how much stock to buy before you commit to a design.
Segmented Bowl Designer · The Drawing Store · Questions? drawingroom@rogers.com