Uhhh....

[WoodMangler]

OK... there's these little bitty grooves in this Wanna-be-A-candy-Bowl top...

I'm assuming that if I can make one full, smooth pass I can get this smooth eh? I can't seem to figure out how to make a smooth pass yet... the lathe bed gets in the way or I wiggle or sumptin...

Am I pausing?... going too slow? Lathe not at the right speed?... wrong tool?... sorry... but I am soooo clueless it aint even funny :)

Do I work from the middle out?... or the rim inward? or?....

How do I flatten the bottom? I'm sure I can do it some way but I thought this could be done on the lathe...

This was a nasty piece of walnut that I saved only because I was hoping I could do something with it if I ever got moved and got the lathe going....

I want to make a 3 piece candy dish....but it's gonna be an ashtray real soon... :)

http://a8.cpimg.com/image/C8/BC/9933768-4865-02000155-.jpg

[SteveF]

You could use a sharp bowl gouge and take light cuts from the centre to the edge however it takes a lot of practise to run the whole cut in one pass. With your current skill level (no offense intended) you may have more success using a round nosed scraper. You won't get as nice a finish so you will have to start sanding with a coarser grit.

If you don't want to lose any more wood you could just sand it with an 80x until you get rid of all the tool marks and then work through the grits.

Steve

[carl civi]

Gee,i wish i could help you for sure but all can do is make some sugestions.Maybe you you should be near or at the highest speeds at this stage of the turning.Perhaps a gouge would make things a lot smoother.The faster it turns the easier it is to get smooth,thats what i found out anyway.Hey you can always use an extra ashtray,huh!
(out of wood) what do i know. Regards Carl

[Sonny Edmonds]

Marc,
I would try and make light pass(es) with a round nose scraper like Steve suggested.
The scaper tool is held at an angle different than a gouge, though. About a 20-30 or so degree rise with the handle from the tool rest. Experiment a little for yourself with it.
Don't expect something perfect at this point. Just try and get a technique that works well. Then sand it in.
Sanding will make a fair amount of dust. You may want to use your DC to help keep that under control, I do.

For your next pieces, do the bottom first, then mount that to the headstock and do the rest of the turning. That way the bottom is pretty well finished before the main piece is turned.
The scraper tool is one of the easiest IMO to use and get a hang of.

Take your time, get familure with your tools, touch up the edges whenever you feel that need it.

:D

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

[volleyheads]

Marc,

Harder method to explain, but it will get you the best surface you can get (that I know of). Take your bowl gouge with the fingernail grind. hold it horizontal to the for with the tool rest adjusted to have the tip of the tool be the center of the piece. Now take the tool and tilt it (handle down to about 35-45 degrees from horizontal. Roll the tool so that the upper wing is less than 1/8" from the surface when the lower edge is cutting the wood. You should be getting really fine shavings, thin and light, about 1" or less in length with your wood. This can then be moved in either direction (outside to inside or inside to outside, it matters not. As far as speed, fast would be better than slow here. Depending on the size (guessing 6" or so) I would say about 1000-1500 rpm would be good. Also, make sure that when doing this finishing cut the tool is freshly sharpened and that the beveled cutting edge is convex. (concave would be a bad thing anytime,m but a really bad day here) Let me know if that wasn't clear, it works REALLY well (240-320 grit sandpaper (or better) to start with)


Best Regards,

Bill

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