Turning Larger Vases

Dan Mosley

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Palm Springs, Ca
Well its Christmas and hope all of you here have or had a great time ...............We got up and opened gifts and the kids took off for friends until Christmas dinner later in the day. So, I helped out around the house and had about 4 hrs or so to myself so I headed out to turn something.

I decided to try to turn something large and long so I took some measurements to see what the max would be based on how deep I could go with my forestner bit and extension. I came up with a boring depth of 2 feet. Mounted up a decent size log and rounded it - put a tenon on it - flipped it around - attached my steady rest - set up a long drill bit and drilled to depth - then set up a 3" forestner with the extension (i have a bed extension on my Jet lathe) and started boring it out. Boring was into endgrain and it did take a bit of time - boring at 600-700rpm and 1/4 to 1/2 turn at a time until I got to my required depth. This was about the max I could do with the headstock all the way to one end and tail stock at the other with the forestner and extension in place - there was barely any room left before the bit would enter the pc.

See pictures below...............
Pic 1 - setup
Pic 2-3 - roughed turned and now inside to dry - total height from bottom of vessel to top is 2' 1/2"

Question: If I wanted to make the vase longer in length than the 2' im thinking the only way would be to buy a longer drill bit from somewhere and drill it out to depth by hand...........thoughts or has anyone bought a longer bit ?......im not concerned about the travel from the drilling as it will be hollowed out anyway.
 

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Can't help ya on that one Dan as I never drill. I guess I just don't see a need to. That is going to be a nice HF. Are you going to do any embellishments on it? I could see some nice pyrography or some airbrushing. Hope your Christmas was good Dan. We are down spending it with grandson and son. Had a great meal last night as son brined and smoked a turkey. Soooo good. Merry Christmas Dan to you and yours.
 
Bernie.......guess im looking for more explanation from you on your comment on you don't see the need to ?? I would agree on smaller vessels i can cut out the center fairly easy
using my monster hollowing rig and small cutter (3/16 I think). However, on larger logs and cutting thru end grain it seems to be to much of a chore to cut it out. So
for me to make the hollowing easier I bore a hole to the depth I want first then start the hollowing.

When its ready Im thinking that some pyrography and depending on the color of the wood Ill either leave it and rub in a few coats of oil - dry well - several coats of lacquer - knock down and wax finish
If the wood is to bland I may use analine dye but when I can I perfer the natural look of the wood ..............ill keep you posted when i get that far
Airbrushing is a thought to..............................thanks Dan
 
Dan I was just commenting that I don't drill. I attended a couple of demo's early on when I started turning one being Mahoney and another by a turner named Hasiak. Neither drilled but they both used hollowing tool to drill a little at a time. So that is how I learned to hollow and just haven't seen a need to drill. My longest has been 16" or slightly longer and I get a little anxious at that depth with a lot of tool hanging over the tool rest. Maybe drilling would make it more comfortable for me to turn at that depth but don't have plans for any big ones.

Dan will be interesting to see what you do with this one.
 
Hi Dan ya don't hear much from me but I'm out hear watching. A member of our club turns long vessels, one piece and segmented. One part of his system goes like this. 1. Mounts between centers, Turns for #3 chuck jaws, turns basic shape for size and turns another tenon for #3 jaws on the oppisite end. 2. Chuck up and mount steady rest. Drill center hole as far as he can reach. 3. The timber is turned end for end and chucked up. His steady rest is always in place. 4. He drills in the other direction to meet the first hole. 5. Bring the tailstock up and turn to shape. 6. Hollow to thickness. Turning end for end again and installing a floating bottom. 7. Rechuck with your deep reach system and finish the top.

I've seen this system and the results. This is how I remember it and how I plan to do mine if I ever get that kind of time in the shop again.
I hope this is helpfull and I made it understandable.

Guy
 
Over the years I have had occasional need for long drill bits. I have had spade bits and augers lengthened by having a machinist weld extensions. One is over 3' long. They work but the downside is they do not push shavings back out. So you must withdraw periodically and clear shavings. Upside is they work and cost much less than something factory made. For a once a year use I'm reluctant to spend the big bucks.
 
Bernie.............yeah I have one of Mahoneys DVD's on hollowing and he uses a cutter in a tool with a arm brace. Works well from watching how he does hollow forms but he is not doing them at 2' deep plus with it either. It may or may not work going to those depths im not sure because I do not have that type of tool. But I find the hollowing smoother by pre-drilling when going deep I guess.

Chuck - Frank -------- Good idea on lamp drill bit or welding extension............thanks

Guy --- Watched the video and yep its impressive - I am not quit at the point or have the tooling for something that big...........except the drilling from both ends the method you describe is how I do it also.....roughing-mount-steady etc.........If I understand you correctly after the drilling from both ends to meet - he makes a seperate bottom and attaches it to hide the hole in the bottom and then finishes it out.........sound right ???? thanks............it is a viable idea for sure
 
Yes he makes a disk to fit a rabbet turned in the bottom. The disk is glued in two places so the wood can expand and contract with humidity. The rabbet is turned deep enough that a retaining ring is glued in place. The ones I saw were segmented rings.
 
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