This software is available to wood-turners free of charge! The purpose is to help visualize a bowl or hollow form in 3D prior to turning.
You draw an outline by moving several points (in the black window). A smooth line is curve-fit to the points. A 3-dimensional bowl shape is created from the outline, and can be rotated with the mouse to view it from all angles. The outline can be printed on a grid pattern and used as a template to turn the shape.
You may want to first download the BowlShape User's Manual which gives more details about how to install and use the program.
Computer Requirements:
The software was written in Java, so it will run on most computers. It was developed on a Mac and was tested on both PPC and Intel based computers. I’ve also tested it on PCs running Windows XP and Vista (including 64 bit). Several Linux users have reported that it runs OK for them too.
Older computers may have problems running the 3D software due to limitations in older graphics card. See the BowlShape User's Manual for details.
You need to have the Java run-time software loaded on your computer. Mac OSX comes standard with Java run-time environment. Make sure you have the latest updates (Apple -> Software Updates).
Windows and Linux users are less fortunate because Java run-time environment is generally not included on most PCs. The good news is that this is free, but you have to take the time to download and install it on your computer. Go to http://www.java.com and click on the big blue “Free Java Download” button. It will check to see if you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. If not, it’s real easy to download and install the latest version.
Downloading and Running:
After installing the latest Java, simply click on Launch BowlShape on the left. The software will download to your computer, and also download any additional stuff it needs to run.
If you find that it simply saves a file called "launch.jnlp", then click on that file and you should see the program launch (something about Java should pop up). If not, make sure Java is installed properly. You will probably be asked something about "Certificates" or "Trust" or “digital signatures” which is OK. See the BowlShape User's Manual for details about all of this.
Making it easier to run:
After you use the program and decide you want to keep it, you may find it a pain to download it from my web site every time. See the BowlShape User's Manual for details on how to put a link to the program on your desktop so that you don't have to download it each time.
