Innovative way to turn inside of giant bowl

[Alan Weinberg]

On woodbarter.com, a guy put a 300 pound 30 inch diameter blank on his lathe with a 10 inch faceplate, turned the outside—and here’s the innovative part—didn’t flip it around on the tenon at this point. Instead he moved his tool rest to the opposite side, ran the lathe in reverse and hollowed from the other side of the lathe. Brilliant!

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

I have been doing partially that, with big blanks for years on my Stubby 750 and 1000. One thing for sure, I wouldn't use a hollowing system to hollow a big bowl; a bowl gouge is 100 times quicker, more efficient, and you can achieve a better surface. He still needs to turn it around.

 

[John Walls]

Wow, that's alot of wood. Anytime I try to turn something big, I pull out my coring set-up and take out the biggest core I can. I hate turning that much wood into shavings, he threw away alot of smaller (?) bowls. I agree, he still is going to need to turn that around to finish it.

 

[John K Jordan]

Coring big wood?

Anyone interested in "giant" bowls might look for pics and watch videos of the of the wonderful Lissi Oland. She lived and turned near John C Campbell at the time. She showed me bowls in her gallery big enough to take a bath in. Here's one video, a Modern Masters program by HGTV. There might be more on Facebook but I don't do Facebook.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PMEJ7rirso


She first flattened and fastened a faceplate to the top, lifted the wood onto the lathe with a chain hoist. She told me she used large hardened sheet metal screws to attach the faceplate. Turned with a special set of "big wood" tools her late husband Knud made.

While mounted on the top she did some chainsaw trimming on the sides and diameter, turned a flat the base, then shaping a little of the outside. Mounted a face plate to the base, turned the piece around, finished rough turning the outside, then cored with a chainsaw. Then shaped the inside and finish turned inside and out. The lathe was custom built. All the turning was done with hand-held tools.

Liaai had a big barn full of huge wood. She kept loading wood into my vehicle until I cried "uncle".

I don't know if the top and bottom photos are of the same chunk of wood. I didn't shoot them. The video capture is of walnut wood. Big trees.






Sadly, both are long gone now, Knud in '91, Lissi in 2016. I was told Knud was instrumental in starting the woodturning program at JCC.

I still have set of big Oland tools that Knud made, still in the original box, unopened. Maybe someday I'll get them to someone who turns big, or auction them off for a club benefit.

JKJ

 

[Alan Weinberg]

Of course he still has to turn it to finish the interior but that’s way easier after hogging out so much interior wood. I just had never seen anyone do that hollowing in reverse from the other side of the lathe and found it notable.

As for hollowing with a chainsaw, she’s pretty gutsy! And no face/head protection. Wow.

 

[John K Jordan]

As for hollowing with a chainsaw, she’s pretty gutsy! And no face/head protection. Wow.

You're right. But she used the chainsaw only when the lathe was off, turned the piece by hand. If a chunk that size came off the lathe when turning she'd prob need an undertaker instead of ppe! She said she'd never been injured - maybe her guardian angel worked overtime.

 

[Tim Hunter]

He more likely continued to run the lathe in forward direction, not reverse. ‘An interesting outboard extension setup. That 30” blank would fit on the inboard side of my New Haven!

Tim