Question for Sonny

[dicklaxt1]

Sonny did you turn the stock round using both head and tail devices and then use just the faceplate end to hollow out the bowl ? What were the steps you took and were they the correct method?Anybody jump in here with the correct method......if Sonny was wrong or right.He is all bark,he left his bite somewhere else.hahahaha

dick

[Sonny Edmonds]

Dick,
Being an ameeba in turning, this is what I did:
1. Found a scrap of plywood (oak, 3/4"), I squared it up and X'd it and used the lines to aim the screws through the face plate.
2. Itching to through curls around, I turned a line and bandsawed away the bulk of the waste. Then dolled it up on the lathe. (Splintery chit, plywood is.) Tonight I will make a proper blank what-cha-ma-call-it to replace the plywood.
3. I put a long strip of the carpet tape acrossed the center. Then two shorter pieces for the sides.
4. I cut the blank from a left over maple board I have, crossed it for a center, binked a dent in that center and used the pin of the live center to guide it to the waiting tape.
5. Began turning away the waist at 500 RPM (slowest speed) until round and begining to shape.
(I used a gouge for this, wrong tool!)
6. Outside shaped, I rearranged for the inside and gouged most of it away. I couldn't get it as smooth as I wanted. Wrong tool.
I switched over to a scraper tool (RIGHT TOOL) and kicked up the speed to 1800. Ahh, much better!
7. I marveled at the curls shooting off the tool, was discusted with the mess I was making all over the place. DC isn't something that is really lathe friendly, so I spent about 5 minutes and whoose it was gone.
Happy with the tool work and satisfied that if I didn't use sandpaper, I wouldn't get it as smooth as I wanted so I did a little sanding with 120 and 240. (NOTE: it gets hot about as fast as poking your finger on a burner on the stove. :o )
8. OK, I'm in awe now. This thing actually resembles something! I ponder something to smooth it even further......
I tried a Scotch-Brite pad. Holy tomatoe worms! It took a shine right before my eyes!

I shut off the lathe and called Betty away from her TV to come see this little bowl I made for her.
After I pulled it off the tape, and smoothed the bottem edge a touch, I realised something.

I'm not hooked on this turning thing. I'm w a y beyond that now. You could say I'm in the hold or on my way to the frying pan.
Because this is just too much fun! And it's really quiet!
I could turn all night and not even disturb the dogs. I could listen to music and work and never miss a sound.

Weather or not I did it right or wrong, for a first time out of the gate, bull headed, do or die try, I was amazed. I was pleased with it right off the lathe.
No dought there is a world of improvement and things for me to learn ahead.

While I was waiting for the branding iron to heat up, I read through the manual. That's when I discovered I should have been using the scraper all along for the bowl turning. God protects fools like me. :)
I just had to turn something, and this 3/4" maple called out to me.

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !

[dicklaxt1]

Thanx ,written like a true professional...........I understood everything you said and I'm a greener dummy than you .............boy that sounds dangerous ,don't it ?hahaha

dick

[volleyheads]

Sonny,

The scraper will get the job done, but the gouge will do it MUCH faster and leave a better surface (needing less sanding) However, it is a little more difficult to use, especially is not sharpened well. I don't think I could explain how to use it without pictures or being in person, but if you had any troubles with the bowl gouge, I would give it a go. One other thing just came to mind, the turnign set you got with your lathe, did it have a spindle gouge and a bowl gouge? If not, then I would bet big bucks you were trying to turn a bowl with a spindle gouge, which while not impossible, might as well be in the beginning especially. The difference is basically in the depth of the flute and the thickness of the metal. Also, the type of grind or profile on the gouge makes a huge difference. I have tried and tried to use the standard grind of a bowl gouge and can't seem to gget anywhere, but with the Ellsworth/fingernail/Irish grind it goes wonderfully. Anyway a great job on your first turning, self taught no less. As soon as I get a way, I will post a few pictures of some of mine and include the first one as well. Great looking bowl.

Best Regards,

Bill

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

[Sonny Edmonds]

Bill,
Thank You for the compliment about the bowl. I was amazed it turned out (no pun intended) anywhere near as good as it did.

About the chisel set, Delta model # 46-671, 5 micro turning chisels,
(rotate box) 5 high speed steel tools for midi-lathe applications.
1/16" Parting Tool, 1/4" Roughing Out Gouge, 1/4" Round Nose Scraper,
1/4" Skew Chisel, 1/8" Spindle Gouge.
Comes in a heavy canvas roll with plastic protectors on the tools ends.
Ahh there it is in tiny letters: Made in China.
Well, maybe better than Marc's screwdriver chisel. But he didn't say where his screwdriver originated either.

I used the 1/4" Roughing Out Gouge, and switched over to the 1/4" Round Nose Scraper to finish with.
It went pretty good, all in all, and I only knocked it off once, early on, when going from square to round. (No I didn't bandsaw it sorta round first)
I didn't think of using the tail stock to support it, I was just relying on the tape to hang onto it. But I see the error of that and won't start off like that anymore. Even though I got away with it this time.

Of the five choices I wonder if the Skew might have been a better choice to flatten the inside bottom? (Over using the round nose scraper.) I think getting the bottom flat was the hardest thing of the whole project.

But them were the choices I had. I haven't a clue as to the terminoligy you used about the grinds. But I highly dought there are any Irish tool grinders in China making Scrapers. :)
The lathe is small, and thems the chisels Delta rectomends for it. I figured I might as well get started somewhere.
Eventually I'll likely wind up like I did with my routers and have more $ in bits/chisels than in the machine.
So, so far that tiny bowl cost $374. and change. So the rest is free. ;)
An orniment? Oh, well, I'll need one of these for that.
You want a what? Hummm...well that takes this and that to do.

But I'm reading and I'm learning from what I read here. I have a knarled chunk of wood in my truck 6' long. I'm itchin to see what's there inside. :)

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !

[volleyheads]

Sonny,

I personally don't think the skew should ever be used inside a bowl, but others may use it, although I think it is a good rule. With the tools you had at the time, I think you chose very wisely and I see why you think the gouge is a bad thing, especially a spindle gouge on the inside. I had a catch (well actually I have had many) that actually bent a spindle gouge to about 40 degrees (after I retrieved it from across the garage LOL). I will try to show you what I was referring to as far as gouge geometry and flute design.

Spindle Gouges:

[http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/images/988-0203.jpg]
[http://miva3.synergypoint.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000002/tools-pkrd-sg-img.jpg][http://miva3.synergypoint.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000002/tools-srby-sg-img.jpg]

they have a shallower flute

Bowl gouges

[http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/images/988-0200.jpg]
without side grind/normal grind (below)
[http://miva3.synergypoint.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000002/tools-pkrd-bg-img.jpg]
side ground/fingernail ground/Ellswort/irish grind (below)
[http://miva3.synergypoint.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000002/103328-img.jpg]
[http://miva3.synergypoint.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000002/tools-srby-bg-img.jpg]

deeper flutes

Side Grinds
[http://www.woodturningplus.com/images/side_g2.jpg]

[http://www.woodturningplus.com/side_grind.htm]

or

http://www2.woodcraft.com/website/html/77B61.pdf

or

[http://www.woodturningplus.com/delbert_dowdytalks_about_the_ellsworth_grind.htm]

and one last general tips for avoiding catches

[http://www.woodturningplus.com/Five%20Ways%20To%20Avoid%20A%20Catch/five_ways_to_avoid_a_catch.htm]

Boy do I wish I could (aka knew how to) post these directly, sorry for all the links.


Best Regards,

Bill

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

[Lou_williams]

Bill,

Great post. Now I am trying to learn to spindal turn. 100 stair spindals in my future.

I have sort of mastered everything but the skew. All the books I read and instructions say it is the right tool for making a bead. This is one of the most basic shape in spindals. I have a sharp skew, I ride the bevel, I rotate the tool to form the bead down hill. And I catch and start over with the roughing gauge to make a smaller test unit.

From a 4x4 block of Alder, my first unit got down below a 1/2 inch. The second I quit when it was below an inch. The third and fourth are still about 2 inches. I have tried lots of things, but the skew, is not working for me.

Limey, Bill, others how do I get passed this issue.

But, one the other hand when I get to that point I need to buy a whole lot of popular and start my production run.

[Sonny Edmonds]

I see said the blind man stumbleing nimbuly for his cain.
Actually I pretty much took a shot in the dark with the chisels at hand.
Today I am trapped here at work. But I've been grinding some Nicholson files into scraper profiles for another shot in the dark. :)
Fool that I am, they might work.
The Delta book was where I got the info about using a scraper profile for bowls. I read it after I made the little bowl. ;) (being your classic American male, read the directions only after your up to your fanny in the mud, or in this case curls of wood shavings).
The tool identified as a scraper in the set did do a better job of the inside work. Curls streaming from the edge was a goal, not chips.
The tools of the lathe are of particular interest to me, the way the angles are ground to peal away the wood as the material spins and the tool is manipulated.
Last night I didn't get any shop time as other things drew me away and I felt to pooped to play when I had the time.
But I just gathered up somemore interesting looking prospects from the woodpile and will be preping some chunks to spin around tonight or this weekend.
Thanks for posting the visuals! Exactly what I needed to grasp the profiles. I'm going to go attack the links and fill my brain. :)

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !

[volleyheads]

I was wondering which way you are turning with the skew, some find it easier with long tail up, some find it easier long tail down. When I say easier, it seems to be a very large difference most times. Give it a try "the other way" and see how it goes. A skew is not a tool I use alot, makes for a bad day at the bowl.

Best Regards,

Bill

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