tools and mounts for turning bowls

[hockenbery]

QUOTE="Mark Mandell;89788"] ......David Ellsworth teaches his beginners' classes to start their bowls between centers .......... to allow the turner to adjust and re-balance the wood grain and annular rings to the chosen shape plus take advantage of the geometry of the modern bowl gouge.......[/QUOTE]

Mark I chopped up your quote and moved it to a new thread.
It brought a lot to mind about why I use and recommend certain processes and tools

Liam O'neil developed the Irish grind. It spread across Ireland and the UK and to the colonies.
David made some modifications and put the grind on tools with a more open flute.
I was lucky to have had a week class with Liam around 94-95 and a week with David the following year.

The advantages the side ground gouge offered me we're instilled by Liam then modified and reinforced by David.
Then a few years later Johannes Michelson introduce me to his grind which excels for turning thin.
sprinkle in a few tricks from Stirt, Bosch, Burchard, Jamieson, Clewes, Drozda, Alan Batty...... And I have my style..?


When I rough bowls
Start between centers, use an Ellsworth 5/8 diameter gouge to do all the turning except for the chuck tenon which I shape with a spindle gouge.
The inside is hollowed on a chuck with a tenon mount.

Finish turning I do most of the turning with the Ellsworth gouge. I often use the spindle gouge to turn beads on the outside of a bowl, shape the tenon, and finish turn the bottom of the foot. On the inside I use a Michaelson 3/8 dia gouge to make a finish cut an inch or two from the rim. The rest of the inside is done with a shear cut I learned from O'neil that works better for me with the Ellsworth grind. Once in a while I use a round nose scrapper on the inside bottom if I don't get a clean surface from the gouge.

I use thus process because it produces a great surface in a minimum of time with little effort.
The Ellsworth gouge is a pleasure to use from roughing to finish cuts.

There are many other ways to make exceptional bowls. I've seen bowls turned with a 3/16" scrapper, I've seen them turned with a wide scraper.
And all sorts of grinds on gouges. These all appear to me to be slower and harder in the body.
Other folks might find them easy on the body and fast.

When I think about bowls. What do production bowl turners use?
Lucas, Mahoney. Lancaster, O'neil, Bosch, Stirt........

there is no right and wrong in what we use as long as we are satisfied with the results.
I think there can be some right and wrong in what we recommend.
First what recommend has to be safe, repeatable, and achievable by the average person.
Secondly it should be common enough that someone in the local club can help.

 

[Mark Mandell]

On Point, Al

I rarely turn bowls any more (only on special request), but when I do, my time in David's studio comes back fresh and clear because it makes things easy with the tool and lathe doing the work and allows me to concentrate on the form I wish to create and react to what the wood is showing me as the piece progresses.

 

[Steven Antonucci]

Starting between centers also has the added benefits of being able to adjust the bowl for balance if it isn't a perfect circle.

It is also helpful to have a center mark on the bottom of the tenon later when you return it to the lathe after drying to be twice turned.

S

 

[hockenbery]

Starting between centers also has the added benefits of being able to adjust the bowl for balance if it isn't a perfect circle.

It is also helpful to have a center mark on the bottom of the tenon later when you return it to the lathe after drying to be twice turned.

S

Steve,
That is one of the really nice features of between centers. 1st balance for weight rough a little then balance the grain and refine the shape.
It is especially valuable on blanks prepared with a chain saw and many natural edge blanks.

Al

 

[Max Taylor]

mounts for turning bowls

It is posts like these that keep me coming back to this forum. Many thanks, guys,dont stop now`, Max

 

[MichaelMouse]

If you want to use the spur center to start a piece because you're afraid you can't call the grain well enough, or any other reason, at least be a bit safer by setting your spur into a 1/8" deep 1" Forstner hole. That way you won't be as likely to find the lump in your lap. Pin jaws or chucks are also a good choice, but you'll want deeper with them. If you just have to move the axis, CA a 1" dowel in the hole, bore on the new axis, and set it back in. Be aware, if you had your center in a surface nearly perpendicular to the axis of rotation, you will be throwing it out of balance unless you trim or counterweight after shifting center. Another nice thing about the pin holds is that you can make a good mortise easily after you round out.

When you round a blank, consider undercutting to remove areas you won't have in your final piece. It's a lot safer for you and easier on the lathe if you do. Since difference in weight affects the piece more the farther from center, anything you can do out away is extremely beneficial. A guy with a simple 14" bandsaw which is 6" jig to top guide can also easily round a deep piece to make the max over bed size by undercutting with the chainsaw, similar to what you see in the picture. The remainder just needs to be a bit less than 5". Top of bowl down, round out.

Study wood in the log, as you split the log, and as you saw. Then you'll find you don't move centers, because you've got what you went for 99% of the time.

 

[hockenbery]

balancing the grain is done by rotating the blank on the drive center. not moving the drive center location.

when turning between centers it is essential to have both centers in solid wood. no bark or cambium layer. I like to drive my spur into the wood with the spurs at 45 degrees to the grain and I keep the spurs sharp. I also make a big flat area for the tail center. this can be done with a flat chisel, a Forstner bit in the drill press set to s stop depth just drill hole in an area, or a planning cut with a chain saw.

1. as much as possible I center the spur on a center of the tree line.
in most cases you will never move the drive center so make it on center of a growth ring.

2. my first tail center location is for weight balance. I rotate the bowl by hand. if one side is heavy it will drop to the bottom. I put the heavy side straight up, loosen the tail stock, let the blank drop a bit rotating on the drive center, and tighten the tailstock. This is educated trial and error but in a 2-3 re-centering the blanks won't roll to the heavy side down because there is no heavy side

3 rough turn leaving a 4" diameter flat on the bottom unturned so there is room to move the center and still get a round tenon.

4. balancing is basically done in two planes. 1) with long grain vertical (endgrain up and down) and 2) with long grain horizontal.

the same technique works for balancing the grain in the bottom, heartwood/sapwood, or the rim heights of natural edge bowls.

5, find a growth ring to balance.
Bottom grain - the growth ring closest to the bottom that you can see all the way around.
sapwood - where sapwood meets heart wood
natural edge rim- where the bark meets the wood.

6, turning the bowl by hand and following the growth ring there will be four points to note: closest to the headstock, furthest from the headstock, closest to the headstock, furthest from the headstock.

7. begin with the points closest to the headstock, compare them with your thumb on the tool rest or put a pencil line on the bowl. put the point closest to the head stock straight up loosen the tail stock and let the bowl drop half the distance to the the less close point. check and redo this until they are even.

8. repeat with the points furthest from the headstock. put the one closest to the headstock straight up and let it drop half the distance to line it up with the other point.

this works with round tree half logs. if you have an irregularly shaped tree or a blank cut off center you may only be able to balance the end grain.

also train yourself to always move the blank in one direction then you won't do it backwards half the time. I always let it drop down. this is a lot easier than lifting when the blanks are heavy.

this a whole lot easier to show than write. i hope it is somewhat clear.
in my opinion the sapwood balance in these two HF makes a difference

have fun,
Al