Are you getting tired of this yet?

Roger Tulk

Member
Messages
3,018
Location
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Never fear, winter will come and my turning will end.

This is a soft maple bowl, which still beat the carp out of my tools. I need to get a side scraper, or at least some instruction in cleaning up the inside walls of a bowl like this, before I try this shape again. I was going to make a conical bowl, but it kept saying to me "Straight walls, straight walls!"

DSCF6689.jpg DSCF6690.jpg DSCF6691.jpg DSCF6692.jpg
 
Roger, We are never too tired to look at somebody turning wood! Those inside walls will come with practice and the right bowl gouge presentation. Usually, ridges mean you are not riding the bevel and without that support the tip wants to porpoise through the wood. Riding the bevel should get you a nice smooth cut from the rim down to the bottom. The most difficult part is trying to get a nice smooth transition from the side to the bottom. It takes an exaggerated swing to make it around the corner. You are doing great! Keep turning them out and each one will be better than the last. I'm glad you found something other than pine to play with:thumb::thumb:
 
I never get tired of looking. Fact, it almost makes me miss the lathe. I need to find a way to combine the lathe and scroll saw. Then there is my friend that is starting to build a Universal organ. Makes me want to do another organ. So I need a way to combine organ building, lathe turning and scroll saw....

You bowl looks nice. Figure out a way to move the lathe inside for the winter. Some of the best turning is done in the winter, so I am told.
 
I don't wuite understand the concept of "riding the bevel." I present my gouge to the wood with the flute facing the direction I want to go, with the upper edge against the wood, then turn the tool slightly until the shavings start to come off the lower edge. That's kinda hard to describe, but it's what I think I'm doing after watching Youtube videos until my eyes hurt. Could you give me a better idea of what this means?
 
You're going to have to try harder than that (to make us tired of seeing your work ;)).

Straight sides are hard to get the angle on, basically you have to turn them more or less from the back side of the lathe. The transition at the bottom on them is a bear as well because it's so abrupt.

The ridges look a bit too me like the chisel was "porpoising" in and out of the wood a bit. As Ted said riding the bevel can help that but I suspect that's not the whole story (not that Ted's wrong, I'm just betting he's forgotten some of the struggle and its too easy for him now :D). First up I'm thinking your chisel might not have been quite sharp enough, sharp enough is subjective but my general guideline is that if it feels like you're having to work at it it's either the chisel isn't sharp enough or you have the angle wrong (most of the time it's both with me). Secondly with a steep inside like that you may need to tweak your grind to allow the chisel to get in there, primarily you might need to take a bit more of the heel of to keep it out of the way. You might also have to drop the handle (and this the tool rest) more than you're strictly comfortable doing.

I could well be entirely wrong on all of that as well, but those are problems I have at times.
 
I don't wuite understand the concept of "riding the bevel." I present my gouge to the wood with the flute facing the direction I want to go, with the upper edge against the wood, then turn the tool slightly until the shavings start to come off the lower edge. That's kinda hard to describe, but it's what I think I'm doing after watching Youtube videos until my eyes hurt. Could you give me a better idea of what this means?

Pretty much what you're saying here, the devil is of course in the details. The idea is to have some support behind the cutting edge. You also want to have the contact point of the cutting edge in line with the supporting point on the tool rest. The hard part is to keep the support point (bevel) in line with the cut path you want to take. If the cutting edge pulls into or sides out of the cut its created an uneven supporting point for the bevel to sit on. This can happen of your pushing to hard (it's not a race) or the tool is a bit dull (causing you to push to hard) and then you loose control of the cutting edge. It can also be a problem if there are existing ridges because they can telegraph through the cut and create resonating ridges in the cut behind them. The solution is pretty much always to cut "less" although that may be a deeper cut taken slower or just a shallower skim cut depending on the problem and the material.

I realize that a lot of this sounds like a lot of gobblety goop at times, but it all starts to make some sense once you do enough shavings. IMHO there's no real substitute for making lots of shavings, part attention to when it "feels good" and when it don't and try to do more of the former. Remember it's just a chisel taking a cut out of wood so a lot of times I'll go of the lathe to figure out how a chisel would "like" to take a cut when things aren't working so well and then go back and see how to do the same on the lathe.

Short version, keep doing more of the same :thumb:
 
Last edited:
You're making good progress. :thumb: I'll just echo what Ted and Ryan said. First, we're not even CLOSE to being bored. :D Second, it will get easier as you do more, and especially if you go for a more curved/conical shape instead of the straight sides with a bottom transition. ;) Glad to see you're getting into some easier wood. It may not have seemed easy this time, but once you get the feel for the tool presentation, I think you'll agree that it's easier to get clean cuts in maple than pine. Based on your description, I'll also go with Ryan's guess that your gouge might not have been as sharp as it could have been. It's really hard to know what "sharp enough" feels like until you've actually felt it. (One good reason for joining a turning club and finding a buddy willing to mentor you for an afternoon.) As a general rule, anytime you feel like you're having to force or "push" the cut, chances are the tool's not sharp. In time, you'll learn how a sharp tool feels and how to get your tools that way.

To answer your bevel-riding question, for me it was another one of those "you'll know it when feel it" kind of things. I just kind of had an "a-ha" moment or two, and it all kind of clicked into place. I just now did a little TouTubing and found these videos (which you've quite possibly seen) that attempt to explain the concept:

An interesting way to demonstrate the bevel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT1N8CXo6v0

Lyle Jamison doing a natural edge bowl, but his description and camera angles help explain the concept of riding the bevel:

[Oops...Ted beat me to it, lol.]
 
I'm no Turner and I can't give you any advice at all, but I do enjoy seeing your work and everyone else's one, so I don't think I can get tired, on the contrary, it may make me give turning a try someday.:thumb:
 
Please keep it up!! I'm reading this thread &watching YouTube like a mad man too! I'm hoping once I get the CNC and rest of the tools set up done, I can get the lathe drug out and start learning but until then I have to do so vicariously. :) Great information!! :lurk::lurk::lurk::lurk:
 
I'm trying to learn to turn, and trying to do a few bowls now for practice. I'm amazed at how quickly you are picking up the craft. Kind of inspirational; with a depressing part since I'm moving at a much slower pace. But I love seeing how things are going and what you are running into with your efforts! I think that bowl looks great!
 
Top