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Second bowl

Raul McCai

Raul McCai

Joined
Oct 29, 2014
Messages
469
Likes
90
Location
nj
Well technically it's my third effort but you know what I did on the second. So it's my second finished bowl.

Wood species? I dunno I think it's maybe black walnut, but it is mystery wood found on the side of the road.

I won't bore you with the sordid tale of drunkenness and cruelty of how it came to be. Leave it said that the carpenter ants are a lot more creative than I'd have credited them without my having participated with them on a venture. Too bad they had to lose their home for my ego.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums...nut bowl/Bowl-02 Finished-006_zpsqdeq3a3i.jpg


http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums...nut bowl/Bowl-02 Finished-007_zpsrmvpcyxd.jpg


http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums...ut bowl/Bowl-02 Finished-0013_zpslhrgaogh.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums...nut bowl/Bowl-02 Finished-003_zpsbsitmye5.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums...nut bowl/Bowl-02 Finished-004_zpsnkrsqex7.jpg


http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums...nut bowl/Bowl-02 Finished-005_zpschusbfhb.jpg


And of course the exciting part is clean up. Thank goodness I have a place to dump the shavings
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums...nut bowl/Dumping the shavings_zpsaezln59s.jpg
 
Thanks Jamie.
This bowl forced me to learn how to make a hollowing tool.


Turns out all I needed was a hunk of 5/8" bar and the ability to drill and tap for a grub screw and another hole to get a hunk of HSS sticking out with a scraper grind on it.
But George Allan Watkins doesn't even use grub screws; he uses CA glue to hold his cutters in his turning bar tools.

However, I am in the design stage of an articulated hollowing system much like the old Kobra that is no longer available.
Heck, I just bought the taper roller bearings today,
Now I'm going to see about getting some steel.
 
Raul McCai said:
But George Allan Watkins doesn't even use grub screws; he uses CA glue to hold his cutters in his turning bar tools.
Click to expand...

My first hollowing tools were the David Ellsworth tools with HS 3/16" bits glued into shafts with CA.
MY GO TO tools are the Bosch Bars In a Jaimeson handle. These have the cutting tips glued in with CA.
I have a number of other hollowing tools with set screws and a couple with bolts.

Screws or bolts are needed to hold wide flat scraper bits but for the small cutters I prefer CA.

I have never had a CA glued tip come unglued in use. I have had a set screw come loose, I have lost set screws in the shaving and I have worn set screws out with sloppy Allen wrench work.
I did see a CA tip come loose in a demo. The demonstrator was hollowing dry wood with a dull tool and most likely just got it so hot it broke the CA BOND.

HAVE FUN
WORKE SAFELY,

Al
 
hockenbery said:
MY GO TO tools are the Bosch Bars In a Jaimeson handle.
Click to expand...

I'll check out their design.
What material are the little cutting tips made from?
M8? M2? Carbide? Powdered metal?

I have had a set screw come loose, I have lost set screws in the shaving and I have worn set screws out with sloppy Allen wrench work.
Click to expand...

I can see how glue would work just fine.

I spent almost 20 years in machine shops and tool rooms before getting my doctorate. Hard fasteners are in my comfort zone.
For grub screws, it's best to use the black oxide hardened ones. The internal hex requires some serious abuse to will never wear out and good internal hex wrenches won't show much wear either.

If you are ever unsure of a screw nut or bolt thinking maybe vibration , heating and cooling, or whatever, might cause it to loosen try a little dab of the Blue or Purple colored thread locker. The Blue and Purple are industry standard for vibration resistance and removability as opposed to red, which is more for a permanent thread lock.


You'd need to apply a fair bot of heat to get out a Red Lock-Tite secured grub screw. .
 
Last edited:
Raul McCai said:
I'll check out their design. What material are the little cutting tips made from? M8? M2? Carbide? Powdered metal? I can see how glue would work just fine. .
Click to expand...

The ones I use are high speed steel. Most are cut from 2.5 inch lengths of 3/16 inch square cutters. These will make 3-4 tips. I notch the edge of the steel on a grinding wheel then snap it in two with a vice and vice grips. Then shape a round tenon on one end to a diameter that matches the hole in the tool shaft. I hold it in vicegrips and rotate on the wheel lightly. Test fit and grind until it fits. Then shape the cutting end and sharpen it in the vice grips. Final sharpening is usually easier when the bit is in the tool shaft.

A drop of thick CA put the bit in the shaft and turn it to the correct angle. I don't us any accelerator. Changing cutters is done every 10-30 hollow forms. I usually change when I finished a form with a cutter that got too short with the last sharpening.
I also cut then from round HSS stock.

Al
 
Butternut.
I think the mystery wood may be butternut.
The bark is a dead ringer.
 
definitely not maple-open grain. Looks too light for the butternut I have turned. Also the BN I have turned has nice wavy annular rings (maybe diff with other trees, or parts of tree.) The more I look at white mulberry and osage orange, locust, ash, etc, the more confused i get, unless the label is kept near the finished piece. Bark can be totally diff from the base, mid and branches. The more I know , the more confused I get😕Gretch
 
Raul McCai said:
Butternut. I think the mystery wood may be butternut. The bark is a dead ringer.
Click to expand...
Butternut has a chambered pith. Easy to check if you have a small scrap with the pith. Bandsaw through it.
If it has small chambers it is with walnut or butternut.

The butter nut I have turned is darker and has a more open grain.

Al
 
Hickory butternut oak ash elm NJ & PA have all those and more.
No charring that's insect damage.
Carpenter ants lived there, so the off color is prolly from their mold.
 
Too hard for pine.
Click to expand...

if it is hard for pine .....it cannot be sassafras.......looks like ash except it has distinct coloration summer and winter growth rings
 
Owen Lowe said:
Are you familiar with sassafras? Check out the pics at the bottom of the link below and compare the bowl to yours. I’ve been thinking your bowl looks like an ash and sassafras certainly looks similar + the smell (though I think root-beery rather than minty).

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/sassafras/#pics
Click to expand...

Hmmmm That's really good.
The bark is a dead ringer and the wood is - - well - - it looks like you may have called it.
 
Raul McCai said:
Hmmmm That's really good.
The bark is a dead ringer and the wood is - - well - - it looks like you may have called it.
Click to expand...

Just to throw in a piece of doubt, I have several sassafras on my property line (In fact I think one just broke at the root this fall). It is a tan color or light brown heart wood and over time looks cinnamon color. Years ago I turned an "urn" for a friend's dog.Turned 4 with just 2 1/4" drill bits-didn't know how to hollow. She took the lighter wood and I kept the darker wood and my mom died a couple of weeks later. my mom's urn and ashes sit on my mantel. It has great bark if you can save it. (thick and brown with lite orange contrast). If really interested I could roughly photo and send. It doesn't have a "minty" smell, Gretch
 
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