I tried to turn a bowl from a piece of sassafras. I got the basic rough shape and then tried to smooth the surface with a scraper and pieces of wood pulled out of the surface. Nothing huge, but the pieces feel a bit like cork, rather than wood shavings. It is only at one level about 2 inches from the base.. It left some areas of the bowl with tear out pits about 1/16 inch deep. I mounted the bowl and turned 65% of the inside and the inside turned beautifully with no such problems. I am left with a rough bowl with sides about a half inch thick. Is there something I can treat the wood with to stop the tear out. It would take for ever to sand out the blemishes.
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grain tear out
- Thread starter Perry Hilbert
- Start date
I will be interested in the replies. I use Zinsser Seal Coat when I turn that helps. I have been using seal coat regardless if t get those areas. for small areas I try card scrappers to remove the tearout.
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Often soft woods like sassafras poplar willow etc don’t scrape well.
Sharp gouge, bevel riding, light cuts, will produce a clean surface.
Also especially important to cut face grain bowls foot to rim on the outside and rim to bottom when hollowing.
Hunter tool should work well also but a sharp bowl gouge will do the trick.
Similar to @William Rogers if the wood is punky I try
Wetting with plain water will often stiffen the fibers renough to get a clean cut
Thin shellac(double the alcohol) will often stiffen the fibers when water won’t
I posted a video of a seed jar turned from tulip poplar. It is basically two bowls joined at the rims. You can see the finish I get with the gouge. Sassafras is a bit more stringy than poplar but they are similar in density. This poplar did shear scrape well often it does not.
http://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?threads/turning-a-seed-jar-split-hollow-form.13584/
Sharp gouge, bevel riding, light cuts, will produce a clean surface.
Also especially important to cut face grain bowls foot to rim on the outside and rim to bottom when hollowing.
Hunter tool should work well also but a sharp bowl gouge will do the trick.
Similar to @William Rogers if the wood is punky I try
Wetting with plain water will often stiffen the fibers renough to get a clean cut
Thin shellac(double the alcohol) will often stiffen the fibers when water won’t
I posted a video of a seed jar turned from tulip poplar. It is basically two bowls joined at the rims. You can see the finish I get with the gouge. Sassafras is a bit more stringy than poplar but they are similar in density. This poplar did shear scrape well often it does not.
http://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?threads/turning-a-seed-jar-split-hollow-form.13584/
Last edited:
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
For small areas I soak with thin CA to harden the fibers. Larger areas I use thinned lacquer but thinned shellac does the same thing.
Well, in bowl turning, there is always some tear out in the end grain because for 1/4 turn you cut with the grain, 1/4 turn you cut against the grain, and repeat. It is possible to take a good scraper with the burr honed off and make a pretty good finish cut, but this method works far better in really hard woods like sugar maple. Same with the negative rake scraper. I prefer a shear scrape, so scraper with a burnished burr held at a 45 to 70 degree angle to the wood. I never use a standard scraper flat on the tool rest to clean up the walls. It does do a fair job of sweeping across the bottom of a bowl, but as soon as you get to the transition, it starts to tear. Just the nature of scrapers and wood grain. A good push cut with the gouge and light shear scraping...
robo hippy
robo hippy
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I exclusively turn softer woods...because that's all that is local.
For starters, much of tear out has to do with vibration, once you're ruled out dull tools. Rock solid tenons are vital. Finish cuts with a small gouge help too.
Lots of finish cuts, keep resharpening and see how good of a surface you can get.
Don't sweat the bases as much as the sides...it's easier to sand tear out on the interior and exterior bases.
Anytime you can do a sheer cut with a sharp gouge you'll also get a better finish.
Finally: start sanding at the appropriate grit. If there's considerably tear out, start low at 80, even 60. Most of the so-so finished bowls I see could have been improved by beginning sanding at a courser grit and then bumping up in proper progression with new, sharp paper.
For starters, much of tear out has to do with vibration, once you're ruled out dull tools. Rock solid tenons are vital. Finish cuts with a small gouge help too.
Lots of finish cuts, keep resharpening and see how good of a surface you can get.
Don't sweat the bases as much as the sides...it's easier to sand tear out on the interior and exterior bases.
Anytime you can do a sheer cut with a sharp gouge you'll also get a better finish.
Finally: start sanding at the appropriate grit. If there's considerably tear out, start low at 80, even 60. Most of the so-so finished bowls I see could have been improved by beginning sanding at a courser grit and then bumping up in proper progression with new, sharp paper.
I do not like to use CA on a small area, on Koa looks like a stain, unless you go all the way down, encountering the soft spot, again...
I agree. I’ve never had a CA repair that didn’t always stain the surrounding wood. Oak, cherry, sycamore…it doesn’t seem to matter.