“aha” moments

[Rachel Aberle]

What has been your “aha” moment in regards to success in bowl turning or even being safe?

I’d like to compile some great bullet points.

 

[Ron Solfest]

Recognizing that the vast majority of turning is just getting waste wood out of the way to allow the clean cut to the final surface that you envision

 

[Dave Bunge]

Sharp cures a multitude of problems.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

When the great Bill Jones was asked how he got so good at woodturning and making the best chess sets, he said: "why you just have to stand in front of the lathe" There is no shortcut to getting better, keep on turning.

 

[Russ Braun]

Segmenting has kept me excited about Woodturning!! Dream and glue…then repeat!!

 

[Bill Blasic]

Coring systems.

 

[Tim Tucker]

Coring systems.

OR: "How to multiply the number of blanks and reduce shaving waste..."

 

[Mike Crescenzo]

Bevel control. Just took a week long workshop with Rudy Lopez who stressed it as the single most important thing when turning bowls. I followed his process and had an amazing improvement in my skills. Big time a-ha moment for me!

 

[robo hippy]

Well, many.... Experimenting with scrapers for heavy duty roughing cuts. Far more efficient than gouges, especially the Big Ugly tool. Coring. Watching Ashley Harwood turning her spindles and not using her fingers for back support, "Gee Ashley, I am going to have to go home and work on my dainty skills!" Standing out of the line of fire.

Perhaps the most rewarding is working with a new turner and giving some tiny hint and seeing them have an AHA! moment....

robo hippy

 

[hockenbery]

My turning life is full of aha moments

0ne was sort of a year long in the making it to aha - let the tool do the work
1994 - class with Liam O’Neil I was holding the gouge too tightly - he had me turn the outside of 2 bowls 1 handed from 12” diameter down to about 3”.
1995 - class with David Ellsworth - I’d regressed a bit. He had me hollow a bowl 1 handed.


a few months after seeing Soren Berger turn a scoop Based on a round ball in a vacuum chuck
I thought I could do a two handled scoop using the round ball
Then AHA I can turn hollow form suspended on two legs and hold the ball in a vacuum Chuck for hollowing.

 

[Dave Landers]

One of mine has been "ambidextrous" turning.
But I don't actually think about it as right- vs left-handed.
Most of the time, my body movement is controlling the cut. The hands are simply holding the tool against the tool rest or against my body. I can do that with either hand pretty well.

 

[Bill Blasic]

2nd "AHA" the hat makers grind. Although I wasn't able to do it free hand JoHannes Michelson came out with the Vector Grind Fixture which gives me the hat makers grind. An almost uncatchable grind.

 

[Timothy White]

Learning that rubbing the bevel with my thumb, while not difficult, didn’thelp my wood turning at all.

 

[Doug Freeman]

> good tool steel is worth it, once you know what grind you want and how to sharpen it. Learn with value priced tools.
> continuous arcs keep the dog bowls away
> tool control is in the hips, not the hands
> long handles on bowl gouges are not for leverage, but to rest the handle against the body
> long tool handles on hollowing tools are for leverage
> wet wood is much more fun to turn
> with proper hollowing sequence a steady rest is rarely needed
> Ellsworth’s notch above the jaws allows using bigger jaws while still getting a continuous arc

 

[Mike Johnson]

Each week pick a tool you have not mastered and practice different cuts and techniques with the tool until you feel you understand
how it works and you feel comfortable using it. Within a month or two you will be on your way to having the skill sets needed to turn
any type of project that comes your way. Too many beginners shy away from certain tools and limit their true potential for months or years.

 

[Rachel Aberle]

My turning life is full of aha moments

0ne was sort of a year long in the making it to aha - let the tool do the work
1994 - class with Liam O’Neil I was holding the gouge too tightly - he had me turn the outside of 2 bowls 1 handed from 12” diameter down to about 3”.
1995 - class with David Ellsworth - I’d regressed a bit. He had me hollow a bowl 1 handed.


a few months after seeing Soren Berger turn a scoop Based on a round ball in a vacuum chuck
I thought I could do a two handled scoop using the round ball
Then AHA I can turn hollow form suspended on two legs and hold the ball in a vacuum Chuck for hollowing.
View attachment 40580View attachment 40579View attachment 40581

Those are so cool!

 

[Donna Banfield]

Learning how to turn is not intuitive. Knowing how to present or approach a spinning piece of wood with a sharp cutting edge without getting a nasty catch is not intuitive. Shorten that learning curve and spend money on lessons from someone who knows how to TEACH. Not just someone who makes good stuff, or a famous turner, but someone who knows how to communicate what they know, in a language that you understand. That makes all the difference.

 

[robo hippy]

Another AHA! moment came from taking a class with Allen and Stuart Batty. I tried Stuart's methods, and every thing about it just felt wrong. Took me a couple of years to figure out that Stuart's methods were developed for turning on a long bed lathe. I had been turning bowls on my 3520A with the headstock down at the end. Much different techniques.

robo hippy

 

[Tom Gall]

This may not be considered an AHA moment, but ..... The wood doesn't know what tool is cutting it. A sharp edge presented correctly will cut the wood. We use different tools and grinds just for better access, safety, or ergonomics. In theory, all I needed was one tool! Just think of all the money I could have saved!!!

 

[Randy Anderson]

Over the past few months.

- If I think my tool might be dull it is, stop and sharpen or get another one. Pushing harder won't help.
- My left hand was holding on with a death grip on the gouge. Hold underneath and barely enough to keep it steady.
- Every once in a while for practice put my left hand in my pocket and turn with one hand.
- It's not cheating to use a NR scraper to cleanup tool marks due to poor gouge control but....still better to have good gouge control.
- Making multiple of the same item - they don't have to be exactly alike, just look like they are.

 

[Aaron Harris]

After a few months or frustration, horrific catches, (and a couple of exploded bowls) while learning to turn bowls mostly from YouTube videos, my newly-found mentor forced me to turn a bowl with just one tool, a standard 1/2" bowl gouge, talking me through some fundamentals as I did. That was a revelation. Not long after that, some of the fundamentals just seemed to fall into place kind of all at once:

-Yeah, when in doubt, sharpen
-Turn with your body more than your hands.
-Bevel-supported cuts are much more accurate and easier to control.
-Using and moving the tool rest strategically for maximum support
-Getting good support for the blank with a well-formed tenon or mortise of the appropriate size, chucked squarely and securely solves a lot of problems.

And just in general, being much more attentive, focused, and intentional with my cuts, sort of planning them out before just sticking the gouge in the spinning stock makes a world of difference. I hardly ever get catches any more, and my work continues to improve. Great idea for a thread!

 

[Brian Horais]

What has been your “aha” moment in regards to success in bowl turning or even being safe?

I’d like to compile some great bullet points.

A number of years ago I watched a demonstration on turning using a foot-powered lathe. I was astounded at the quality of the objects turned. With that in mind I asked the turner what his secret was.
He answered with two words: Sharp Tools

Ever since then I strive to keep my tools sharp, even stepping away from my turning to sharpen frequently depending on the wood or the cut. My sharpening setup is right behind me for easy access for a quick 'dress up' on the tool's edge.

Always remember SHARP TOOLS

 

[Aaron Harris]

Oh, and to add an epiphany that I had not too long ago. Turning is really sculpting. When I consciously remember that, my cuts are smoother somehow. I had to do some serious "sculpting" with my Alan Lacer Uber Skew and D-Way Large NRS to clean out (most) of the tear-out on my first finished cedar bowl. And yeah, stopping frequently to pull a burr and use the diamond slip-stone on the big skew. I just started sanding, and it's holding together great so far. So super soft compared to the desert ironwood duck call I was working on earlier.

 

[Ron Solfest]

…I had to do some serious "sculpting" with my Alan Lacer Uber Skew and D-Way Large NRS to clean out (most) of the tear-out on my first finished cedar bowl…

How are you using Lacer’s skew on a bowl? I have one and can’t imagine using it, or any other skew, on a bowl other than to scrape a tenon.

 

[John Tisdale]

My AHA moment is understanding the attraction - why do I do what I do? It's discovering what's there.
Many of us, perhaps most of us, I have a fairly good idea "what's in a log" - I can look at a walnut crotch and have a reasonably good idea how the final hollow-form will come out - it comes out great and people at the gallery are impressed. Then I get to do it again.
Then I discovered mistletoe-burl mesquite - it was a game-changer for me - an AHA moment. Every log I put on the lathe is wrong - the center, sometime centers, have to be adjusted, sometimes an inch or more. Whatever my thinking on which end is opening and which is base, often changes. Each log has to be undressed, shaving by shaving, to see what's there.
Finding a hidden treasure is a kick - finding a nothing is no fun - but as they say, "no pain no gain"
I attached a pic of a log, pre-cut, I mounted earlier this week - hollowing is next week at which time I'll have some insight.

 

[Aaron Harris]

How are you using Lacer’s skew on a bowl? I have one and can’t imagine using it, or any other skew, on a bowl other than to scrape a tenon.

I'm really using it more as an NRS to shape the rim, clean up tear-out, and even out the inside bottom. Unconventional, but it works for me. Obviously you have to be super-careful putting that much steel in a spinning bowl, but I'm pretty much always edge-horizontal to the bowl off the tool-rest, and I keep a close eye on both points.

 

[Ron Solfest]

Aaron Harris - I think you’ll find you can do as good of a job shear scraping with your bowl gouge as with the skew in that situation (bottom of bowl might need a real scraper or NRS, but with a burr they should give a better cut than scraping with your skew). A lot easier with the tool already in your hand too. MHO

 

[Aaron Harris]

Aaron Harris - I think you’ll find you can do as good of a job shear scraping with your bowl gouge as with the skew in that situation (bottom of bowl might need a real scraper or NRS, but with a burr they should give a better cut than scraping with your skew). A lot easier with the tool already in your hand too. MHO

Thanks, Ron-I'm very much still learning what works best. I seem to do more shear scraping outside than on the inside of a bowl. I'll try that approach on my next bowl. I've got the Jamieson grind on my 5/8" with the long, swept-back wings that is easy-peasy to shear-scrape with after an edge touch-up, with the handle down and a light touch. The round-nose NRS works better for me in a tight inside curve, though. I'm probably overdue for another humbling lesson with my (strict) mentor. He makes me stick to the fundamentals, and then I go home and come up with my own weird techniques.

A weird parallel: I'm lucky enough teach our huge suburban high school's most advanced English students. And whether we're reading some edgy post-modern work, or they are trying to step outside the box and write at a higher level, I'm always saying, "You have to learn the rules before you can break 'em."

 

[Ron Solfest]

Aaron Harris - I also seem to shear scrape more on bowl exteriors than interiors to eliminate smooth curve perturbations. When you shear scrape on the interior be very watchful as it’s easy to go from contacting a little metal to a *lot* as you come up out of the bottom transition, this can result in a nasty catch. Similarly if shear scraping inside toward the rim of a fully sculpted bowl the wall flex can also cause a sudden engagement of more metal, and a disastrous catch.

When shear scraping on the interior I am careful to keep a very vertical edge, and seldom get out on thin walls after fully hollowing. I’m no expert, but hope that my experiences can help make your learning easier.

 

[Aaron Harris]

Thanks-One of the cool things about turning is that there is constantly something to learn, and every piece teaches you a different lesson if you're looking for it. I very much hear you on the winged edge being a risky proposition across the transition-definitely a catch hazard. That's part of why I cheat in that area with NRS, but that is one tool I am truly growing to love. So intuitive to use.

My nemesis is still the spindle detail gouge. Still learning finesse with those.

edit: My "aha" moment this afternoon is that, after six coats on a sunny/windy day, my homemade recipe of equal parts cedar oil, mineral spirits, and TruOil riflestock finish makes a wonderful finish while accentuating the cedar scent that might be muffled by a full TruOil finish alone.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Recognizing that the vast majority of turning is just getting waste wood out of the way to allow the clean cut to the final surface that you envision

Getting the "waste wood out of way" is a great opportunity to practice finish cuts before the "clean cut to the final surface".

 

[robo hippy]

You can shear scrape the inside of a bowl with a round nose scraper or a ) shape nose. Most important, keep your handle low. If you get above the center line, you get the same catch with it that you can get with a skew when you cut above that center line......

robo hippy

 

[Brian Gustin]

You can shear scrape the inside of a bowl with a round nose scraper or a ) shape nose. Most important, keep your handle low. If you get above the center line, you get the same catch with it that you can get with a skew when you cut above that center line......

robo hippy

Umm, doesnt keeping your handle low translate to the cut being above center?

 

[Bill Blasic]

When I use a regular scraper (a scraper sharpened on just one side not a NRS) I raise the tool rest and point the tool down so the handle is high. Holding that scraper level is asking for a catch, maybe Robo lowers the tool rest as I see no other way to point the handle down.

 

[robo hippy]

When using scrapers on the inside of a bowl, and I include shear scraping here, you generally cut at or some what above center. Pretty much the same with gouges. The idea is that if you have a catch, the tool will drop out of the wood/cut, where if you are below center, it digs in deeper. This helps a lot with coring tools as well... With a round nose scraper, if you raise the handle, you will be cutting with the center of the tool, or slightly above. If you drop the handle, you can not cut above that center line. I generally have the scraper at about a 60 or so degree angle, which is a bit on the high side, but I get a cleaner cut than I do with it at a 45 degree angle.

If you are using scrapers on the outside of a bowl, you want to be at or slightly below center. If you have a catch, the tool drops out of the cut rather than digging in deeper.

robo hippy

 

[Aaron Harris]

I have to add another "aha" moment that I think my hands figured out before my brain did, if that makes sense. I know it probably seems obvious to you long-term turners, but when I started to see that the tool rest height and position relative to the workpiece, along with bevel support; tail-stock support (until I have to take it away to get deep inside a bowl); the well-made tenon or mortise; the moves made with the body, and how all of that functions together to make smooth, supported cuts, I am seeing great improvement in my cuts, and am more relaxed, but also more intentional at the lathe in making sure all of those factors work together before presenting a gouge to the workpiece.

 

[Odie]

Aha moments aren't what most people think they are. They aren't the solution....but they are the bridge to the next unanswered question that you didn't know was there!

-----odie-----

 

[R Henrickson]

Aha moments aren't what most people think they are. They aren't the solution....but they are the bridge to the next unanswered question that you didn't know was there!
-----odie-----

Although at the 'aha' moment, you may not know they are / may be bridges, and the next question is likely not yet formed. I think of the 'aha' ideas more as doors opening into a whole new space with numerous possibilities. I've been interested in tracking how my ideas evolve -- and realizing after the fact that often one path forward is chosen (or even seen), that the 'aha' had offered other paths which are only recognized later.

 

[Earl McLain]

I have two to share for me...
1. Not every piece of wood needs to become something. I developed a sense that the grain, color, texture of the wood in my hand/on my lathe was only going to exist once in all eternity--and that i needed to respect it for that. Practice wood serves a noble purpose--but it's tough for me to let it go. I'm getting better at it, and getting better at turning while that happens.
2. Stop (or don't start) when i'm tired or frustrated. Means i spend a little less time at the lathe, but that time is higher quality and infinitely safer.

Thanks for all the great comments!!
earl

 

[hockenbery]

Woodturning - like many subjects - the more you learn - the more you realize how little you know of a subject whose vastness expands on every dimension.