Adventures turning a new wood.

[Dave Hawksford]

Today I've decided to give the Yew a go. I knew it was going to be a challenge. The grain is all over the place. The 1st call I will need to order 3" slate top before I go futher. The 2nd I was about done with the inside and then , snap ! It's gone. I have to pieces left and the one the needs the 3" top. I need to take a breather and think about this turn. I'm not settled or relaxed enough to proceed today.
Think I'll sit back and talk to the birds lol till Sheely gets here and we head out to a family gathering shortly.
Looking at the break I see I had a bad hold plus the edge was a bit dual I think. I just switched to a small convexed gouge either I took pressure off or tilted the wrong way. IDK

 

[Ted Calver]

Sorry, Dave. Looks like a lot of chatter on the inside of that guy. I think you are right about dull edge. The inside of these calls with shallow cuts and square corners would make me look at one of the small carbide tools. Lots of them are available and you can even make your own. If you don't like carbide, a plain old scraper would also work for finishing up the cuts. Lots of ways to skin the cat.

 

[Dave Hawksford]

Ted this is the scraper I use. Well kind of sort of a scraper. Just wasn't sharp enough. I do think a carbide tip would be best for this harder stuff.

 

[Mike Stafford]

When I turn turkey calls I hollow the inside with a single bevel parting tool. The tool I use is 1/8" wide at the bottom which sits on the tool rest and tapers to about 1/16" at the top edge. Notice that the handle is dropped very low to allow the wood to be sheared from the blank. You should see shavings instead of chips.


I bought a 1/4" square piece of high speed steel and created a double bevel/negative rake scraper on one end; the top is flat and the bottom is curved. The other end I put in the handle. With this tool nice and sharp you can peel away the shavings as pretty as you please. I use it to reach farther over the rest and in particular to hollow the area inside the center post but I also hollow the rest of the call to finished thickness. Here is a picture of the tool and another of it in use. The extra width of this tool makes it easier to get a uniform smooth thickness inside the call.



These two tools are easy to sharpen and to use.

Here is the end result showing the cleanly cut interior surfaces. This is birdseye maple which is notorious for wanting to chip out the "eyes" but were cut cleanly using this method.

 

[Ted Calver]

Mike, Is your NRS primarily cutting with a burr and if so, how often do you have to sharpen and what kind of sharpening system are you using?

 

[Mike Stafford]

Mike, Is your NRS primarily cutting with a burr and if so, how often do you have to sharpen and what kind of sharpening system are you using?

Ted, I am actually cutting with the bevel if you look at the pictures. By dropping the handle I am shearing off the wood in much the same manner as you would with a parting tool. I round the bottom bevel of the double bevel tool ever so slightly so I can ride the bevel until I find the cutting edge, raise the handle until it starts cutting and then cut away. About the only time I am truly scraping is when I am cleaning out the wood in the center post area.

I sharpen all my tools on a 20 year old Delta 1 HP grinder with ALOX wheels. I sharpen when the tool will not easily pick up the cut. If a tool will not immediately engage the wood and start cutting or produces little chips or dust it is time to sharpen. It only takes a second to refresh that edge.

 

[Ted Calver]

Looks like it's working very well for you, Mike. I have a drop nose scraper that works much the same way.