First what is considered thin? Second,why should walls be thin? For
that matter why should bowls be thin? Is that to impress fellow
woodturners? I have turned decorative bowls down to 1/16 - 3/32" and
have had them sit on the shelf while simular turnings with wall
thicknesses 1/4" to 1/2" sold immediately. The thin walled items were
admired greatly, but, when it came to buying most costomers went for the
thicker walled items. I think people are scared to buy and use the
thinner items for fear of breaking them. Just my opinion.

DJ Delorie wrote:
(Eric) writes:

Why is that the bottom has to be as thin as possible? I agree that
walls should be thin (and even depending on the prupose/not too thin
for a food bowl), but leaving the bottom with 1/2 " thickness would
not really matter would it?


I usually do this with my large bowls. It gives the bowl two useful
characteristics: First, it looks delicate because the rim is so thin.
Second, it feels strong, because the total mass is higher than you'd
expect from seeing the rim.

But mostly I do it because I need more practice ;-)