New Forum

[Dave Peebles]

Hi Everyone,

Cool!! a new turning forum. I've been pretty much a lurker on the other forums, But I'll be checking this one out pretty often.

Best wishes,
Dave

www.bowlturner.com

[dicklaxt1]

Very nice work Dave and site as well, I don,t have time now to look at it in detail but shall return

dick

[dicklaxt1]

I went on further with my perusal of your site and I have a ton of questions and sure feel more dumb than a yellow rock:

Let me ask a couple of questions and then get out of the way.

#1. When you speak of some of these turnings that you have pictured, one in particular, you said had a natural edge and another that was similar you didn't say one way or the other. Is the second one a natural edge as well or is it manufactured some way?

#2. You speak of a hollow vessel, is this two pieces made seperately and then joined or do you some how hollow it out?

Okay so I'll ask three.............

#3. I would have never guessed you could hold a piece of wood with a vacuum.How is that set up and can it be adapted to any lathe or must the lathe be made for a vacuum set up at the manufacturing stage of the lathe?

TIA

dick

[volleyheads]

Dick,

I am not trying to put words in Dave's mouth but I will give this one a go.

>#1. When you speak of some of these turnings that you have
>pictured, one in particular, you said had a natural edge and
>another that was similar you didn't say one way or the
>other. Is the second one a natural edge as well or is it
>manufactured some way?


I am not sure which one's you are referring to. The natural edge can have the bark on the edge or have it removed (by choice or accident) It is easier to keep the bark on a tree that was cut down in the winter. If cut during the spring especially there is a moist layer between the bark and the heartwood and the bark is nearly impossible to keep on. (at least for me)

>#2. You speak of a hollow vessel, is this two pieces made
>separately and then joined or do you some how hollow it out?

Almost always (99 and 44/100'ths) it is one piece that is hollowed out. I made my first one last weekend at a class on segmented turning. It was really fun and probably was easier since I could see inside while it was spinning. I have been to his site quite often and I don't remember any being made of two pieces, all were hollowed out. Some of the holes for hollowing can get pretty small, about 1/8" greater than the diameter of the tool. David Ellsworth and others are really impressive. Still drooling to get to one of his weekend classes. I had to cancel a few months ago and am still on hold (my choice unfortunately)


>#3. I would have never guessed you could hold a piece of
>wood with a vacuum. How is that set up and can it be adapted
>to any lathe or must the lathe be made for a vacuum set up
>at the manufacturing stage of the lathe?

You can adapt almost any lathe to have a vacuum chuck. It is really slick, but a little advanced. Those square inches can have quite a hold, but after a good catch the grip falls off drastically. Light cuts and some practice make for a fairly easy operation. It is especially handy for production turners and for finishing plates and the bottoms of bowls. What you need is a vacuum pump, some lines and a gauge. The tricky part is if the headstock is not hollow. But with a hollow headstock, the vacuum goes through it and out onto an air tight chuck. The chuck can be made of virtually anything from machined aluminum, PVC, or even sealed wood. After sealing the chuck with the part, the vacuum holds it in place.

Best Regards,

Bill

"If it is worth doing, it's worth overdoing"

[Dave Peebles]

Hi Dick,
I have typed a lengthy reply twice tonight. As I get to the last few words, it just disappears. :)I'm not sure if it's on this end or the forums. I'll try again tomorrow. If all else fails, I send a direct e-mail.

Best wishes,
Dave

www.bowlturner.com

[Dave Peebles]

Hi Dick,

I'll try to answer as best I can.

#1. When you speak of some of these turnings that you have pictured, one in particular, you said had a natural edge and another that was similar you didn't say one way or the other. Is the second one a natural edge as well or is it manufactured some way?

I consider a natural edge bowl one that has the outside of the tree as the top of the bowl. Sometimes the bark stays on.. sometime it doesn't. :) Some of the pieces pictured have had the top altered. Either by sanding, sometimes by texturing, or whatever weird thing I can think up at the time.

#2. You speak of a hollow vessel, is this two pieces made seperately and then joined or do you some how hollow it out?

Some of the pieces have been hollowed out using my homemade Ellsworth type tools. Some of the others were made from two pieces of wood. This was an accident at the beginning. I had been making some shallow bowls from some 4/4 Sassafras that I had. After making a few, I realized that they were all about the same diameter. I just glued a couple of the together and all of sudden I had a hollow vessel. I later made a few of them from some book-matched 8/4 walnut that I had. This allowed me to have a perfect grain match on them. I have sold quite a few of these. So... I still make a bunch of them.

#3. I would have never guessed you could hold a piece of wood with a vacuum.How is that set up and can it be adapted to any lathe or must the lathe be made for a vacuum set up at the manufacturing stage of the lathe?

You can set up a vacuum chuck on any lathe. It used to be that you had to have a hole through the headstock in order to make it work. But now, even that problem has been addressed. Bill Grumbine has developed a vac chuck that can be used with any lathe. If you go to my links page and go to Bill's web site you can see his set-up.

I think Bill's was made for the Poolewood lathe. It is one of the few that doesn't have a hole through the headstock spindle. Most lathes made today are very easy to set up.

I use mine mostly for turning off the bottom of the piece after it has been hollowed out. It is used to remove the tenon that was used hold the piece for hollowing out the inside. But it works great for turning platters and shallow bowls. The more I use it, the more uses I find for it. Here is a link to the OneWay site with a diagram of their set up.

http://www.oneway.on.ca/Oneway/vaccuum%20kit.htm

I hope this answers some of your questions. If any thing is not clear, let me know.

Dave









www.bowlturner.com

[dicklaxt1]

Thanx Dave appreciate the help

dick