Prevent build up in flute?

[Bill E Moore]

Been turning quite a bit of wet Bradford Pear (for the first time) lately and getting hard buildup and caking inside the flutes. Also on the nose but that easily comes off when sharpening. It affects the cut and is not easy to get off. It doesn't just wipe off, I've got to scrape it. It builds up quickly and really slows things down. Apparently the gouges are getting hot but even slowing way down doesn't help. Any suggestions on how to prevent and /or quick way to clean out the flutes while working on a project? Is this something particular with Bradford Pear? I've never had this happen before and have turned quite a bit of wet species. No issues with dry stuff. Thanks for input!

 

[robo hippy]

Some times lubing the flute helps like with Pam or WD 40. Madrone is really sticky like that. Mostly I just wipe it off with shavings before starting again.

robo hippy

 

[Steve Saah]

Thin coat of paste wax, just like on the bed ways.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

You might try Bostic Bladecote as

 

[hockenbery]

Apparently the gouges are getting hot but even slowing way down doesn't help. Any suggestions on how to prevent and /or quick way to clean out the flutes while working on a project?

If the gouge is getting hot you may be pressing the bevel too hard.
Friction causes heat. I try to float the bevel so there is minimal bevel drag. Many wet woods create a bevel grab with the sap build up. I sharpen my still sharp gouge when I sense bevel drag. I want to float the bevel.


I keep a gouge slip stone on the grinder.
I use every time i sharpen when turning green wood to polish the flute.
If I’m not turning green wood I use the slip stone when I feel the flute edge has lost its polish.

1/2 of a good sharp edge is the surface I’m grinding into.

 

[Aaron Harris]

I'm interested in this too, as I am also processing some big green BP logs. I have to try waxing my flutes before the next one. Of course I get the same buildup and sticky crud. Maybe it's something to do with the sap, as the tree I'm working on was just felled a week ago. Interestingly, when I was finish scraping the exterior clean on my last one, I kept getting a wet, sticky brownish gray-green mud build up on my tools.

Sometimes I will stop and scrub the flutes and bevel down with 0000 steel wool soaked in mineral spirits, which works when I'm not too much in the zone to bother with it.

 

[odie]

A .45 caliber bore brush works nicely.

-o-

 

[Tom Gall]

An old toothbrush - or better yet, a small brass brush.

 

[Richard Coers]

Something about how you present the gouge is going on. I didn't know you could get a hot tool in wet wood. I get long curls with nothing small like you show way down the flute. Try rotating the gouge , or dropping the handle to get more of a shearing cut. I think you are getting close to using it like a scraper.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Some gouges do that to me in particular the Pinacle which has a narrow flute. Brass brush works well.

 

[Bob Brown]

Small brass brush from H F .I also use it before sharpening

 

[Bill E Moore]

I'm interested in this too, as I am also processing some big green BP logs. I have to try waxing my flutes before the next one. Of course I get the same buildup and sticky crud. Maybe it's something to do with the sap, as the tree I'm working on was just felled a week ago. Interestingly, when I was finish scraping the exterior clean on my last one, I kept getting a wet, sticky brownish gray-green mud build up on my tools.

Sometimes I will stop and scrub the flutes and bevel down with 0000 steel wool soaked in mineral spirits, which works when I'm not too much in the zone to bother with it.

Aaron, the build up you describe is what I've been getting and haven't seen this before, just on this BP. I've also used mineral spirits and/or lacquer thinner, but it's a hassle to stop and mess with it when you're humming along. I'm not far from you, just outside of Campobello. Moved here about a year ago so working with wood that's new to me. (Just noticed my profile has my old location, guess I better update that!)

 

[Bill E Moore]

Thanks everyone for the speedy and helpful tips. I went out and turned another bowl this afternoon after reading your comments. Hockenberry, thanks for the reminder on floating the bevel. I thought I had been, but made a conscious effort to lighten up and that did help out some. When the crud did build up and harden, a slip stone worked best to quickly remove it. Toothbrush was only good if used right away when still wet, and a variety of brass and other brushes didn't work that great once hard. WD40 didn't help but surprisingly, paste wax made a difference. So new routine for me while turning BP - apply some paste wax to flute, wipe off crud with toothbrush (or rag) when wet, use slip stone when hard then reapply paste wax, use light cuts. These steps don't add too much time and is way quicker than having to stop and remove that hard crud by other means.

Anyone else run into this issue or is it just me?

Also, I think I'm getting decent shavings . . .

 

[Bill E Moore]

Thin coat of paste wax, just like on the bed ways.

This works! Thanks for the idea.

 

[Aaron Harris]

Well, howdy, neighbor! And for the record, it's pronounced "Campbeller" unless "you ain't from around here" lol. I call BP "The Forbidden Tree" since it was outlawed. When you have the reddish-orange heartwood without too much of the treacherous pith, it can be stunning, and finishes with even more luster than maple or dogwood. It is truly one of my favorite domestic hardwoods, and I brought home a good ton of it last week in my truck-bed that I hope to turn all of before it cracks to firewood (though it cracks a lot less for me than cherry or worst, dogwood, which I have about given up on as too much trouble). Your shavings look great. I have been taking out trash-bags full of them this weekend, as I turned a very large live-edge one Sunday.

I also plan to try some of the methods listed here for the crud removal (though scrubbing with mineral spirits on steel wool does the job very well-though I need to add that step with the paste wax). One other thing I have been doing with my live edge turns recently is to coat them immediately with shellac inside and out (but not the bark) before putting them in a grocery bag to slow down the drying process and hopefully prevent most cracks. So far it's working well, and not too difficult to sand off for other finishes once dry.

Maybe I'll see you around Upstate turning events. I am in the Carolina Mountain Woodturners club, though it's a bit of a drive, so I only go to a few things every year.

 

[Bill E Moore]

Something about how you present the gouge is going on. I didn't know you could get a hot tool in wet wood. I get long curls with nothing small like you show way down the flute. Try rotating the gouge , or dropping the handle to get more of a shearing cut. I think you are getting close to using it like a scraper.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. The pics might not be too great, but the stuff that is on the flutes is hardened "crud droplets", not shavings. That's the best I can describe it. See my other pics for the shavings I'm getting. But you are right, the gouge is getting hot which I've not had happen like this with other wet wood. I mainly use a push cut with a 40/40 or Ellsworth type grind, but when I use a shearing cut, I still get build up. Scrapers definitely build up but are easy to clean off.

 

[Bill E Moore]

Well, howdy, neighbor! And for the record, it's pronounced "Campbeller" unless "you ain't from around here" lol. I call BP "The Forbidden Tree" since it was outlawed. When you have the reddish-orange heartwood without too much of the treacherous pith, it can be stunning, and finishes with even more luster than maple or dogwood. It is truly one of my favorite domestic hardwoods, and I brought home a good ton of it last week in my truck-bed that I hope to turn all of before it cracks to firewood (though it cracks a lot less for me than cherry or worst, dogwood, which I have about given up on as too much trouble). Your shavings look great. I have been taking out trash-bags full of them this weekend, as I turned a very large live-edge one Sunday.

I also plan to try some of the methods listed here for the crud removal (though scrubbing with mineral spirits on steel wool does the job very well-though I need to add that step with the paste wax). One other thing I have been doing with my live edge turns recently is to coat them immediately with shellac inside and out (but not the bark) before putting them in a grocery bag to slow down the drying process and hopefully prevent most cracks. So far it's working well, and not too difficult to sand off for other finishes once dry.

Maybe I'll see you around Upstate turning events. I am in the Carolina Mountain Woodturners club, though it's a bit of a drive, so I only go to a few things every year.

Ha! Good to get the pronounciation corrected. Having moved from Hawaii, I know how it can be a challenge.

Getting used to the climate and seeing how radically it changes wood here has been interesting. I've embraced the warp. This forbidden wood came from a large branch of a neighbor's tree. I suspect there will be more available after this new storm blowing through. I've mostly been turning this to finish thickness and then microwaving to dry and warp with decent (I think) result. I have rough turned a few pieces and will try your shellac method.
I'll check out that woodturners club. I was going to join the Greenville Woodworkers Guild but that's too far to make it a regular thing. Guess I'm getting lazy.

 

[Mike Peace]

Stick the gouge in water to clean off the crud before sharpening. You do not want the crud sticking on the wheel. John Jordan said this was his #1 tip for new turners.

 

[Dave Landers]

I added a nylon wheel brush outboard of one of my grinder wheels for cleaning flutes.
See American Woodturner, Feb 2023, p27

 

[robo hippy]

Afterthought, I have one small high speed grinder that has a wire wheel on it. Perfect for flute cleaning, BEFORE sharpening.... Some times I take my scrapers to it as well, and great for deburring just about any tool.

robo hippy

 

[Steve Saah]

This works! Thanks for the idea.

This works! Thanks for the idea.

You’re very welcome! Brushes work well, but if you can prevent it from happening in the first place you really don’t need them that often.

 

[Stan Pressner]

Carl Ford has a nice piece on mounting an abrasive wheel on your grinder. I just did this last week and love it. https://carlford.us/blog/2022/10/bowl-gouge-cleaning-wheel/

 

[Dave Landers]

Carl Ford has a nice piece on mounting an abrasive wheel on your grinder. I just did this last week and love it. https://carlford.us/blog/2022/10/bowl-gouge-cleaning-wheel/

Same as the writeup I referenced in American Woodturner. Thanks for the alternate link!

 

[Stan Pressner]

You all might want to check out the rest of Carl's site, many good tips and tricks there.

 

[Will Armstrong]

I have a piece of hardwood dowel about 12" long that I have shaped one end to match the flute shape. I us it in a scraping/ pushing motion to scrape gunk from the flute before sharpening.

 

[Adrian Wilson]

On wire wheels, I had my old 6" starter grinder just sitting around doing nothing, so I put wire wheels on it, coarse and fine. When these wear out will replace with nylon, but huge help to have them easily available.

 

[Bill Alston]

I read an article a while ago about the benefits of polishing the flute. If it’s not as smooth as it could be it can have an effect on the sharpness. But negligible I suspect if you’re only using a 180g wheel. The other issue highlighted though was indeed build up in the flute. The advice, if your gouge could look better, was to polish the flute and then wax it I believe.

 

[Darryn Achall]

Stick the gouge in water to clean off the crud before sharpening. You do not want the crud sticking on the wheel. John Jordan said this was his #1 tip for new turners.

This is what I do. Spray the gouge end with a water bottle. Wait 15 seconds or so. Wipe crud off with a rag then sharpen

 

[Neil S]

Keeping a high polish inside the flute tip also makes the task of cleaning out the crud easier and it also contributes to a finer and more stable edge when grinding the bevel side of the edge. I do that to the flutes of my gouges with an 8" rag wheel loaded with chromium oxide mounted on a bench grinder... tip pointing down and trailing, of course!

 

[GRJensen]

Keeping a high polish inside the flute tip also makes the task of cleaning out the crud easier and it also contributes to a finer and more stable edge when grinding the bevel side of the edge. I do that to the flutes of my gouges with an 8" rag wheel loaded with chromium oxide mounted on a bench grinder... tip pointing down and trailing, of course!

I do the same with all of my gouges. When sharpening, I clean the crud out with a dowel, then clean the flute with a one of Alan Lacer's diamond slipstones. Every so often I take them back to the wheel and re-polish them.