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Couple of handy tips

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Just wanted to share some tips that I got for my new lathe and my work area. Dwight gave me the idea for the shelf that can be used for tools, finishes, etc and has a chunk of wood on the bottom that holds it between the ways and also lets it slide if needed. The shelf can be taken off when not needed. Odie gave me the idea for hanging my Milwaukee drill when it is not in use but still handy to get to. Thanks guys.

Rich

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Having fun for sure. I just can't believe the difference between the Shopsmith and my new Jet 1647. Just the fact that I can slow it down is a big plus not to mention that it doesn't rattle and the tool rest is so easy to use and now I can move the tailstock instead of the head only. I did a small bowl and now I'm getting ready for something larger. I was just waiting on my 3" sanding pads and disks to come and they came today. I also ordered some larger jaws for my Super Nova 2 chuck. I had forgotten that I only had the 2" jaws because I had been making smaller projects. I ordered the 3" and 4" to add to my collection. Hope that was the right thing to do. I didn't run that by everyone here.

Rich
 

odie

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Having fun for sure. I just can't believe the difference between the Shopsmith and my new Jet 1647. Just the fact that I can slow it down is a big plus not to mention that it doesn't rattle and the tool rest is so easy to use and now I can move the tailstock instead of the head only. I did a small bowl and now I'm getting ready for something larger. I was just waiting on my 3" sanding pads and disks to come and they came today. I also ordered some larger jaws for my Super Nova 2 chuck. I had forgotten that I only had the 2" jaws because I had been making smaller projects. I ordered the 3" and 4" to add to my collection. Hope that was the right thing to do. I didn't run that by everyone here.

Rich

Rich......Getting the extra jaws is definitely a good idea. You won't know how your own "style" and interests will develop, until you have some more time in the driver's seat. Increasing your possibilities is a good thing, but don't expect that every purchase/effort you make will end up being a well used idea/tool/item. You will end up wasting your time and money on some things.....but, you will never know if those things will end up being as valuable as you envision, until you make pipe dreams become experience. Also, sometimes these seemingly failed purchases and efforts will turn out to be golden at some future time for reasons you didn't consider when you originally got them, and it's a great feeling when that happens, too.

It's obvious you are attempting to make things handy, available, and easily accessible. You have some idea as to how that is a valuable thing, but it takes some hind-sight to really know how great it is to sail through procedures, not having to stop to do this and that, or look around for something you have stashed somewhere else. The worst case scenario is not knowing where that "whatever" is because you can't remember where you put it! Grrrr! All of these things mean you have just completely lost any concentration you did have.....Grrrr, again!

I'd say you are working on things that will be very good towards wherever your lathe will take you.......

Keep on keeping on.....!

ooc
 
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Thanks Odie. Dwight told me the same thing when we chatted on the phone. By the way what is the difference between a bottom bowl gouge and the Thompson Tools U Gouge. I have the 1/2 and 3/8 V gouge from Thompson Tools.

Rich
 

Bill Boehme

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Just wanted to share some tips that I got for my new lathe and my work area.....

So, Rich,

Are we having fun yet?:D:D

We're all vicariously enjoying your new lathe as much as you are. :)

... The worst case scenario is not knowing where that "whatever" is because you can't remember where you put it!....

That ... and not remembering that I actually did buy that "whatever" and discovering that I now have two of them.
 
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after you file your top of your tool rest, put some wax on it
 

hockenbery

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By the way what is the difference between a bottom bowl gouge and the Thompson Tools U Gouge. I have the 1/2 and 3/8 V gouge from Thompson Tools. Rich

Bowl gouge for deep bowls is ground with a front bevel angle of 80 degrees or so. With short wings or traditional grind.
It is not especially sharp but allows bevel riding to the center bottom of bowl where a 50-60 degree bevel would hit rim with the handle before getting to the bottom.
Comes in handy for partly closed bowls or those deeper than hemispherical.

A hemispherical bowl is easily turned with an Ellsworth grind rim to bottom center.
It will give a cleaner cut than the bottom feeders.
Grinding off the heel makes it work better around curves and have less bevel drag.

Al
 
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Bowl gouge for deep bowls is ground with a front bevel angle of 80 degrees or so. With short wings or traditional grind.
It is not especially sharp but allows bevel riding to the center bottom of bowl where a 50-60 degree bevel would hit rim with the handle before getting to the bottom.
Comes in handy for partly closed bowls or those deeper than hemispherical.

A hemispherical bowl is easily turned with an Ellsworth grind rim to bottom center.
It will give a cleaner cut than the bottom feeders.
Grinding off the heel makes it work better around curves and have less bevel drag.

Al

Is the Thompson U gouge made more for cutting cross grain towards the bottom of a bowl compared to the V gouge?
 
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Doug's U gouge is perfect for a bottom feeder type gouge. Any half round flute shape is good as well. The more V shaped tools do not work as well for this. I have a spindle/detail gouge with a shallow flute like ). It has almost no sweep and will take off deeper shavings. The fluteless gouges from Doug also work very well for this, but are for finish cuts with maybe a 1/8 inch wide shaving at the most, and usually 1/16 inch. Note of caution here, you are just starting to get sucked in....

robo hippy
 
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Doug's U gouge is perfect for a bottom feeder type gouge. Any half round flute shape is good as well. The more V shaped tools do not work as well for this. I have a spindle/detail gouge with a shallow flute like ). It has almost no sweep and will take off deeper shavings. The fluteless gouges from Doug also work very well for this, but are for finish cuts with maybe a 1/8 inch wide shaving at the most, and usually 1/16 inch. Note of caution here, you are just starting to get sucked in....

robo hippy

robo hippy... Yes I'm going to have to be very careful. This is really a learning process for me so that is why all the questions to help me make the correct choices when it is time. Looking forward to getting the Robo Rest so I can sharpen my tools correctly. I think it should be here this week.

Rich
 

hockenbery

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I reccomend starting with shallower bowls first.
Begin with a round blanks 8-10" diameter 4-5" thick
Try for hemisphere shaped bowls.
Turn a bunch.
Then turn a bunch of natural Edge bowls.
These all easily done with only a side ground bowl gouge with the Ellsworth grind and a spindle gouge for the foot and chuck mount.

You may never need a bottom feeder.
People that use a 40 degree grind on their bowl gouges will need a bottom gouge because the 40 degrees is not well suited for the inside of bowls and the handle will hit the sidewall in a hemispherical bowl.

Take a good class and use what they teach
Everyone wants lots of tools.

There are plenty to buy that you actually need.
Buy some skill first with a couple of classes and then buy the tools you want to use.
 
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All good advice. I believe one can learn about woodturning from the "Net". However, to learn how to actually turn, one on one hands on with a mentor is invaluable.
 

hockenbery

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Is the Ellsworth grind a different angle than my Thompson V bowl gouge grind. Rich

Most likely. I don't know how well,you are sharpening your gouge and what sharpening set up you are using.
You may have a grind that is functionally equivalent for you.
As long as there is curve to the wing and the tip is not pointy and there is a continuous convex curve along the whole cutting edge your grind should work.

For the bevel riding push cut and the scraping cut most side ground gouges will do the similar jobs and you may not see a difference.
Shear scraping you begin to see a difference with the curvature of the wing.
In pull cuts and shear cuts there is big difference in performance from the curve on the leading edge of the wing.

Ellsworth:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/docs/ellsworth_sharpening_jignew.pdf

If Doug sharpened your gouge for you you can maintain that grind.
He would have put a useable grind on it.
Gouges I have bought from him were given a rough profile but I still had to tuneup the profile and sharpen them.
 
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Bill Boehme

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The exact shape of a grind on a bowl gouge becomes less significant as your turning skill improves. I think that I have about eight or nine bowl gouges -- all with different diameters, flutes, and bevel shapes. One has a 45° nose and another has a 70° nose -- the rest are somewhere in between. Most of the time, I can use any of them and don't see any particular advantage of one over another. I think that Robo is right about the rounded flute shape being more useful on the interior of a bowl.
 
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I probably could have started a new threat on this but since we did get on gouges here is a question. When do you use a 1/2 Bowl gouge and when do you use a 5/8 bowl gouge. Does it have anything to do with the size of the bowl? I just realized that I have Doug Thompson's 1/2 and 5/8 bowl gouges.

Rich
 

Bill Boehme

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... When do you use a 1/2 Bowl gouge and when do you use a 5/8 bowl gouge...

When one is sharp and the other isn't? That would be my guess.

If the question was between a 3/8" and 1", then the difference becomes more meaningful.

If you really need to reach a long distance over the rest then length matters, but that is not something that I encounter often.
 

hockenbery

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I probably could have started a new threat on this but since we did get on gouges here is a question. When do you use a 1/2 Bowl gouge and when do you use a 5/8 bowl gouge. Does it have anything to do with the size of the bowl? I just realized that I have Doug Thompson's 1/2 and 5/8 bowl gouges. Rich

I will assume you are speaking of bar diameter and use bar diameters in my answer.
For the average turner it is personal preference.

Most turners in US use the 5/8 diameter bowl gouge almost exclusively.
Some production turners will use a 3/4 or 1" diameter gouge just to hog off wood faster.

Anyone with a 12" swing lathe or smaller is probably better off with a 1/2 diameter as they will stall the lathe less often.

I virtually never use a 1/2 diameter gouge.
I have a couple but I know I have not used them in ten years.
I use a 3/8" diameter to work tight places and for a fine finish cuts and hollowing small openings
The 1/2 bowl gouge can hollow a smaller opening than a 5/8 but the 3/8 can hollow smaller and hollow anything the 5/8 cannot.

I use a 5/8 gouge for virtually everything I do. Paired with a 3/8 spindle gouge I can can turn any outside shape.
For roughing the 5/8 gouge can easily take a 3/4 wide shaving.
In a finish cut it can take a 1/64 and smaller shaving.
The 1/2 gouges tend to be more pointy than the 5/8 and a lot of folks have harder time sharpenining a side grind on the 1/2 than they do on the 5/8. There is not much steel on the tip of the tool and people either sharpen it too much making the wings into catch makers or the sharpen it too little making it pointy.

I would also add that the wing is much less useful on a 1/2 than in a 5/8
Can't take as big a shaving and it is not as good on advanced the shear cut.
 
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