# My learning piece thread



## Stiggy (1 Nov 2015)

I hope you don't mind but I wanted to post pictures of my work to get constructive comments from you guys.

What I have decided to do is keep all my work with imperfections, this way I can remember what I did so I don't make the same mistakes twice(although I will I'm sure!). I could have spent more time correcting the finish, but would I remember the mistakes I made? Probably not.

My very first piece is after about 4 hours of practice with mainly blunt tools - I soon learnt after sharpening a couple what a massive difference it makes, so I did the rest!

So here we go!













This was made from an offcut from a walnut kitchen worktop given to me by a friend.
















I'm sure you can all see the mistakes I made as can I every time I look at them, but it just makes me want to do better in the future.


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## Dalboy (2 Nov 2015)

The goblet is quite a nice shape two things jump to mind the first is the bead if it does not turn out then it would have been better to lose it altogether and the second is the bowl thickness it look quite thick.
Going onto the bowl the first thing that hit me is that the chucking point, it would have been better again to lose that but that is something you will learn as you go along as it is you can see the jaw marks on it, secondly the inside would have been better if it matched the out side or visa versa. that does not mean you need to do it with every piece but this one it would improve the looks. 
Considering that you have only turned for a short time the finish is not bad at all.
Hope you don't mind the comments I have made


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## Stiggy (2 Nov 2015)

Thanks Dalboy, I more than welcome your comments!

Everything you said makes sense, I shall practice more and see if I can work on the points you've made.

One question - what do you mean on the bowl by matching the inside with the outside?

Thanks!


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## Dalboy (3 Nov 2015)

Stiggy":h56mjj7i said:


> Thanks Dalboy, I more than welcome your comments!
> 
> Everything you said makes sense, I shall practice more and see if I can work on the points you've made.
> 
> ...



Something like this, It is not a hard and fast as sometimes having them odd can add to the piece but in you case I think it applies. Hope this helps


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## KimG (4 Nov 2015)

if you want to progress your work in the design area, (an excellent goal to have by the way) then you will benefit greatly from Richard Raffan's book, The Art of Turned Bowls, in which he gives key pointers to what makes good form and design. A well formed bowl will look good always, regardless of grain etc.


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## Stiggy (8 Nov 2015)

I made an acorn!

I had to do it between centres as my chuck is not working for me as it's a 4 jaw independent.

You will notice the bump on the top which is where i had to cut it off and didn't spend enough time sanding it off (lesson learnt!) before waxing it it. Where the nut meets the shell it needs more work and cleaning, but overall I'm pleased with it.

All my pieces so far have been done by eye - I have some calipers coming soon from Axeminster (along with some other goodies!) so I will be able to produce more uniform work and start using templates for my designs.


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## SVB (9 Nov 2015)

Stiggy":3fwbmkxz said:


> I made an acorn!
> 
> I had to do it between centres as my chuck is not working for me as it's a 4 jaw independent.
> 
> All my pieces so far have been done by eye - I have some calipers coming soon from Axeminster (along with some other goodies!) so I will be able to produce more uniform work and start using templates for my designs.



Re the chuck, you can still hold a piece like this, just get it good enough centred and whilst the bit of waste in the jaws will be ecentric to the rest of the turned item, when you part it off the finished piece will be fine.

Re the calipers, depending on which ones you've ordered, the first job is to grind / file the tips that touch the wood to a nice and round profile. The typical metal chisel points they are shipped with are fine for static work (although can mark the wood) but if used one rotating wood (I know, caution here but we all do it!) will dig in and bite resulting in them being flung back at you if the tips are not round.

_Tip here: if you doing a piece with many different diameters, I have a number of bits of old wire coat hanger bent into elongated D shapes, snipped and the base of the D and rounded over with a file so a rubbing contact is safe. can be set to a gap and provided not forced over too big a spigot / diameter, will hold their setting and work quite nicely. Also regarding the feedback you've been offered above re even bowl wall thickness, make a deeper D and you can run it (with lathe stopped I suggest) up the wall as your hollowing the bowl out and just watching as the air gap changes which will tell you how even or otherwise the side wall thickness is._

Have fun and thanks for sharing!

Simon


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## Stiggy (20 Dec 2015)

It's been a while since I last posted but life has been busy!

I bought a new 4 prong drive centre which has made a huge difference to my turning already - can't wait til Chrimbo to get my new chuck!


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## Stiggy (30 Jan 2016)

I have made so many more pieces since my last post.... got lots of photos still on my camera which I need to sort out.

I love trying different things and experimenting - the other day i started a softwood bowl and ended up turning it all to shavings as I was having fun trying different shapes!

Here are some of my experiments - I haven't been tough with myself if I don't get a brilliant finish as I will be concentrating on that more in February. 

All c+c welcome as they can only improve my work!



Walnut rings






Paperclip pot in pine






Oak tool handle






Simple oak bowl






Another oak bowl






Walnut pot






I will try to upload more soon!



EDIT - Not sure why the bowl pic is appearing below - I can't seem to get rid of it!


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## Random Orbital Bob (30 Jan 2016)

Well you're improving fast Stiggy. Well done. It's noticeable from your bowls in particular where your wall thickness has really reduced, a sure sign you're controlling the tools better, taking more risk because your confidence is growing. Your finishes look good from the photos. The next step I would (politely) recommend is to read and digest about the idea of the fair curve. The idea is that what pleases the eye is a continuous smooth radius which doesn't alter until a specific transition. Also your skill in bowls has now reached the stage where it's worth trying to bring the curve past the rim. As such you will have a slight undercut when you hollow the inside. Personally I think they have slightly more elegance and they get away from what my turning club masters call the "dog bowl" syndrome

But these are of course all in the eye of the beholder, you're doing really well and just putting the time you're doing is clearly working in spades. I love your rustic wand by the way 

Also, for spindle work. Do yourself a favour and get a stub centre. You'll never use any other form of drive centre again


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## Stiggy (30 Jan 2016)

Random Orbital Bob":2vrpwwbb said:


> Also, for spindle work. Do yourself a favour and get a stub centre. You'll never use any other form of drive centre again



Do you mean the drive centres with a spiked ring instead of a 4 prong centre?


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## woodfarmer (30 Jan 2016)

I have to say your posts have cheered me up no end. Lovely to see enthusiasm of someone who is enjoying their turning. Keep it up.


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## Random Orbital Bob (30 Jan 2016)

Stiggy":3u6xz8tw said:


> Random Orbital Bob":3u6xz8tw said:
> 
> 
> > Also, for spindle work. Do yourself a favour and get a stub centre. You'll never use any other form of drive centre again
> ...



Yes, that exactly. I noticed a typo in my original...its a steb centre and not "stub"  (But confusingly the type I use is also called a steb drive as it fits into a chuck...see below)

Robert Sorby had the patent on them until very recently I believe so they were quite expensive (I recall paying in the region of £80-£100 for both headstock and tail centre 1" steb centres). But my understanding is that now Sorby have had the patent expire we're expecting a flood of much cheaper clones (Chiwanese presumably) to arrive though I've not personally reviewed any yet.

I use the headstock version that fits into a chuck rather than with a morse taper because that way I almost never have to remove my chuck, even when turning spindles. When you're hollowing that's a Godsend because you turn the spindle blank to a cylinder, stick a tenon on and remove the stubby steb centre (steb drive) and wind it straight into the chuck...its really fast. I'm doing 18 flower pots for a wedding at the moment and that method works really well. Also great for egg cups etc.....anything where you're hollowing end grain and the job is relatively small.


The link below takes you to the page on the Toolposts website where they're explained and priced (no affiliation).

http://www.toolpost.co.uk/pages/Chucks_ ... ntres.html

Cheers


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## Spindle (30 Jan 2016)

Hi

Steb Centre clones available, (when back in stock), from Chronos at a much reduced cost:

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/SCT- ... hucks.html

These centres are very versatile but if you get too adventurous with your tool application they can slip and cut an ring into the stock - too many of these and the centre will no longer grip the stock, (though you can re-claim it by sanding back until the ring groove has gone leaving only the centre mark for re-mounting).

Regards Mick


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## Rhossydd (30 Jan 2016)

Spindle":2b6m3mwf said:


> Steb Centre clones available, (when back in stock), from Chronos at a much reduced cost:


Also Axminster offer their own version now too;
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ev ... e-ax958631
Not as expensive as Sorby, but more expensive than Chronos although maybe better finished.


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## Dalboy (30 Jan 2016)

Spindle":32d47agu said:


> Hi
> 
> Steb Centre clones available, (when back in stock), from Chronos at a much reduced cost:
> 
> http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/SCT- ... hucks.html



They should have them in about another 4 weeks as I sent an e mail about 2 weeks ago and the quoted 6 weeks will have to see


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## Random Orbital Bob (30 Jan 2016)

wow...just looks at the Chronos version and they're a quarter the price of the Sorby ones!!! The Sorby version as you'd expect from Sorby are very good quality, robust etc but my goodness me the Chronos ones are better value as I daresay are the Axy ones too.

One amendment I need to make also is my preferred diameter is not 1" as I say above but in fact 7/8" Not that it makes much difference of course...just that if looking at Sorby they don't make a 1" version whereas Chronos do. I found that size (whether 7/8 or 1") seems about right as a compromise for both small and larger pieces. There are sizes available for larger and smaller than that happy medium.


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## Random Orbital Bob (30 Jan 2016)

Stiggy pm'd me some questions and I thought it worth posting pics of a bowl curve that goes past the rim to create a slight undercut here in this thread. Also note the walls don't dive into the table creating a shadow line round the base. Both design measures to try and lift the elegance of the piece. It's brown oak, just over 12" and as can be seen its use was for more turned items


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## Stiggy (30 Jan 2016)

Brilliant Cheers Bob!

I was given a really nice bit of steamed beech recently which I could get a couple of nice size bowls out of - probably about 9" x 20" x 2.1/2" - I have got to make a spindle gouge jig first though, as the wonderful, beautiful Crown bowl gouge I bought recently is still as I bought it - with the original grind. I need to put a nice swept grind on it before I even THINK of mounting the beech on the lathe!

I hate any time when I'm not making mess, but making jigs has transformed my work and enabled me to quickly sharpen my tools - I'm getting closer to finding my own personal grind, so the time faffing about making jigs is definitely worth it!


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## Stiggy (31 Jan 2016)

Dalboy":x9dez7eb said:


> Spindle":x9dez7eb said:
> 
> 
> > Hi
> ...



Dalboy, do you know what the quality of the Chronos live centres are like? They seem too cheap to be true.


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## Rhossydd (31 Jan 2016)

They're OK. I got mine following a recommendation on the forum and am very happy with it. It's such a simple design it's difficult to see where you could go much wrong.


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## Stiggy (1 Feb 2016)

Is this the sort of thing you mean by going passed the rim Rob?

(Disclaimer - this was a test piece and not meant to be finished, but got carried away with myself and did some detail.)


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## Random Orbital Bob (9 Feb 2016)

That's it exactly 

Nice work fella


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## markslathe (12 Feb 2016)

Stiggy, your work is brilliant,i am very new to turning,and my work is dreadful at the moment,i am improving very slowly,my main issue is probably lack of patience and blunt tools,i am also learning how to sharpen them on a grinder,i don't seem to be getting the hang of it yet,but i will.
Anyway,crack on with what your doing it all looks great.


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## beganasatree (12 Feb 2016)

Hi Stiiggy,
You seem to have flair for this,how much time do you spend practicing?


Peter.


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## Stiggy (13 Feb 2016)

Hi Mark and Peter, thanks very much for your kind comments.

I bought my lathe from my Dad's friend who has Parkinson's disease for £50 on the 31st October, got home and had it mounted on a newly made bench within the hour. I made my oak goblet after testing cutting the next day.

How often do I practice? Pretty much every night when I get home after dinner for about 3-4 hours. Some nights I don't turn much as I'm either watching Youtube videos, practicing sharpening tools, preparing future projects. I do take the occasional night off so I can play computer games with my son!

I like making things beginner's shouldn't do - things far too advanced for my skill level, but then I like stretching myself!

One thing Mark, I made my first few items with the chisels I got with the lathe which were (as I know now) horrendously blunt! All I can say is that I've learnt sharpness is everything. Make some jigs out of scraps like I did and practice on the grinding wheel. If you want photos of my jigs, send me a PM.


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## Random Orbital Bob (13 Feb 2016)

Stiggy came round my place this afternoon and I can vouch for the progress he's made in his skill in a very short time. The jigs he's made out of off cuts to get repeatable grinds on gouges etc are absolutely the way to go for someone new to the art. Good, practical, inexpensive barrier removers that accelerate the consistency. Couple that with the hours of practice he's putting in and I have to say I'm really impressed with his dedication and single mindedness. He has one advantage, he trained as a joiner so has a thorough understanding of wood and grain but beyond all else, he's just going fast by consuming knowledge at a geometric rate and putting in the hours behind the lathe. Really nice to see 

The old adage_ "when the students ready the teacher will appear"_ has never been more relevant than in this case.


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## damo8604 (13 Feb 2016)

Good to meet you today Stiggy and I agree with Bob, your work is excellent especially considering the few short months you have been practicing.

Thanks for the helpful advice Bob, it was great to meet you today and I now have a sense of direction and confidence to start turning without worrying about ripping my arm off! I took a look at the Chronos stebcentres but they are out of stock.... on everything!

I'll definitely invest in a new Chuck and forget about the antiquated gear I got with the lathe. Once again thanks for the help and I'll see you next month at the open evening.


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## Random Orbital Bob (14 Feb 2016)

you're welcome Damian, was a pleasure to meet you too. In fact I was going to suggest that if you do make that trip to Axy Basingstoke to ping me as I'll probably come too. I'm long overdue a visit for various bits and I can give you a tour through the chucks and jaws etc. As we discussed today, the Axy chucks (British made) always get positive reviews here by very experienced turners.

One question for the forum...has anyone tried one of the new Record SC chucks yet? They were shown at the D&M tool show in the Autumn, an entirely new range (chucks and jaws) that RP have designed and also engineered here in Blighty. They were good value and compatible with the Nova series jaws....but I've not tried one myself. Damo is in the market for a new chuck and I wondered if anyone felt in a position to recommend one first hand?


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## Random Orbital Bob (14 Feb 2016)

I looked at the chronos stebs too, out of stock on literally everything in the range.....a sure sign that Sorby aren't going to sell many more I rather think!! Since the patent expired it's clearly been open season on the Chaiwanese imports...and for a tenner I'm not at all surprised. Rhossyd and Spindle, both experienced turners of this parish have recommended them from memory so they're on my shopping list too. I only bought the headstock version that fits in a chuck ie no morse taper but I'd like that option as well so I can mount spindle stock with no chuck in the way for smaller projects where you need access up that end.


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## markslathe (14 Feb 2016)

Thanks for the advice stiggy,you have a PM.


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## Dalboy (14 Feb 2016)

Random Orbital Bob":37vhqucp said:


> I looked at the chronos stebs too, out of stock on literally everything in the range.....a sure sign that Sorby aren't going to sell many more I rather think!! Since the patent expired it's clearly been open season on the Chaiwanese imports...and for a tenner I'm not at all surprised. Rhossyd and Spindle, both experienced turners of this parish have recommended them from memory so they're on my shopping list too. I only bought the headstock version that fits in a chuck ie no morse taper but I'd like that option as well so I can mount spindle stock with no chuck in the way for smaller projects where you need access up that end.



I keep checking every day as soon as they are in I want to get the 1/2" ones for smaller spindle work and some off centre turning. I can see this stock when it comes in will not last very long.


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## beganasatree (14 Feb 2016)

I hope that they dont bump the price up.


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## Stiggy (20 Mar 2016)

I thought I would bring my thread back to topic by showing you what I made this afternoon.

I'm not great at photography, so sorry about that!

This is a lidded pot made from mahogany and it's approx 2.5" round. The top of the pot wall is thick and matt by design, not by lack of effort on my part!


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## stewart (20 Mar 2016)

Looking good, Stiggy - nice detail on the knob and lovely finish...made on your new lathe?


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## Stiggy (20 Mar 2016)

stewart":1j2bgwmq said:


> Looking good, Stiggy - nice detail on the knob and lovely finish...made on your new lathe?



No mate, made on my old Sealey - hopefully picking my new lathe up in a week or two. Depends how quickly I can sell a bike and sidecar!


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## Stiggy (29 Jul 2016)

I thought I would put a few pics on here since I haven't for aaaaages!

I have made LOADS of stuff since my last post but have been slack on the photographing side.

Rob gave me quite a few blanks and I thought I'd have a go at a cherry one - but there were some cracks that went so deep I thought I would have to just turn it to shavings... I managed to whittle it down to a shape which I then parted in half and have made two bowls - here is the first one.


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