Wavy Ash NE Bowl in Progress

Vaughn McMillan

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I usually don't show a lot of progress pics here, but the piece I turned last night was kinda interesting, so I figured I'd share it. Pardon the overabundance of photos.

I started out with a piece of dried ash from recent 'Going Out Of Business' giveaway at a local firewood lot. This chunk had a wavy outer surface, which looked promising for a natural edge bowl. The dimensions on the bark face were about 24" by 18". I started with a beater chisel to make a flat spot for the faceplate...

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 01 - 800.jpg

Then I used long hex head sheet metal screws to hold it. I don't drill pilot holes. I just drive the screws in with an impact driver.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 02 - 800.jpg

Here's the initial blank mounted on the lathe. It's blanks like this that make me glad I got the dropped bed extension for my 3520B.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 03 - 800.jpg

Here's another view. Notice that the spindle indexing pin is in place. The piece was pretty badly out of balance, so needed to use the electric chainsaw to trim it up a bit on the lathe. I use the indexing pin to hold things in place while I'm cutting. Also note the lathe is not even powered up. That's just a reminder to not hit the switch with the spindle locked.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 04 - 800.jpg

And here's the blank after a bit of chainsaw balancing...

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 05 - 800.jpg

Tool rest and extension in place...now the fun can begin.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 06 - 800.jpg

Do you really want to stick a piece of sharp steel into that?

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 07 - 800.jpg

Making a little headway. The ash is dry and hard, so progress is slower than on a piece of green wood. It's also still pretty unbalanced, so I was running in the 250 to 325 RPM range at this stage.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 08 - 800.jpg

A while later, it was down to this shape, about 17 1/2" across.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 09 - 800.jpg

And a look from the headstock side...

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 10 - 800.jpg

More in the next post...
 
continued...

After reversing the blank, I did the final cleanup on the outside of the bowl. The next step was to hollow the inside out. Doesn't this look like it's gonna be fun?

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 11 - 800.jpg

Making some progress, but it's slow going. I was using my Monster Indexer (Oland-style tool bit holder on a heavy handle) for the bark removal stages. You can also see that I've slid the headstock back and am now turning over the regular bed, not the dropped extension. This reduces the slight vibration that's introduced by using the tool rest extension. Even though it's heavy steel and iron, the extended tool rest vibrates more than the regular one.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 12 - 800.jpg

Getting there, but the bottom is still about 4" thick, and the walls are still too thick as well.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 13 - 800.jpg

Finally to the finished dimensions. I was fighting some tearout, so I used a spray bottle and some water to help make the cuts a bit cleaner. (You can see the wetter spots in the picture.) I still had a fair about of 80 grit work to do on the tips along the rim. I'd rather spend extra time sanding than risk blowing a piece up trying to take the proverbial just one more cut.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 14 - 800.jpg

And here's how it looked at the end of the evening. I still have more sanding to do, plus a bit of reconstructive surgery on a couple spots of bark, but this is pretty much how it's gonna look when finished. It's 17 1/2" wide and about 8" tall at the highest points.

Scalloped Ash NE Bowl Progress 15 - 800.jpg

I should be showing finished pics in a week or so...

Comments, finger-pointing and name-calling are welcome. :p
 
...Why didn't you trim the blank to 18 x 18 to start though??

Good question. I wasn't sure if it would look better as an elongated bowl or a round one. Once I got started roughing it out, I saw that making it elongated would mess up some of the scalloped edge, so I decided to go full round instead. In hindsight, I'll know better on the next one. (I've got a couple more wavy pieces in the pile. Nothing quite as pronounced as this one, but still should have a few cool blanks out of them.)
 
Vaughn - so you turned a tennon and reversed it to hollow - what i am wondering is how you deal with getting the tennon removed when the bowl is done. How do you turn the tennon off ? or get rid of it and shape/sand the bottom?

Thanks Dan
 
Vaughn - so you turned a tennon and reversed it to hollow - what i am wondering is how you deal with getting the tennon removed when the bowl is done. How do you turn the tennon off ? or get rid of it and shape/sand the bottom?

Thanks Dan

Dan, I'll probably use my vacuum chuck, but there's a knot near the bottom of the bowl that might prevent getting a good seal. If that's the case, I'll just hold it on the vacuum chuck with the tailstock (as a friction chuck with no vacuum) and turn the tenon down to a 1/2" wide (or thereabouts) nub, finishing as much of the foot as I can reach. Then I'll finish sanding the bowl bottom and turn/pare off the remaining nub. A few minutes with the 2" ROS, and it'll be done.

Thanks for the comments, all. :wave:
 
ok i see what your saying with the vac........I dont have one and was just thinking this thru because i thought the Vicmarc and other attachments ive seen do not seem to have a extension that would allow the tailstock to be put on - they attach and swing around the pc from what ive seen so i guess it depends on the setup......Also i suppose you could use a donut chuck of some kind to....
I have not tried the outboard turning yet but I know i will eventually -

On a closer look it looks like you turned it outboard and you were able to move it back onto the ways which then i can see how you would be able to use your tailstock. With the extension low like in the pictures and if the turning was larger in diameter then i am assuming you would have to take the tennon off another way.
 
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...On a closer look it looks like you turned it outboard and you were able to move it back onto the ways which then i can see how you would be able to use your tailstock. With the extension low like in the pictures and if the turning was larger in diameter then i am assuming you would have to take the tennon off another way.

Yep, you're right. If the finished diameter is less than 20", then I can move the piece over the ways and get the tailstock into the action. If it's more than 20", I'm pretty much limited to either a vacuum chuck or a BOD* chuck.





*Big Ol' Donut :D
 
That's quite impressive Vaughn... I'm looking forward to the finished piece too... I don't have a vacuum chuck yet, but know I need one.

How did you keep the bark on... I have trouble with that when I try to do NE's ....
 
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