Cutting recesses on face

[loz]

Hi All,

Would someone please explain how to cut a recess on the face, ie for mounting a bowl blank for hollowing out.

I have tried using a straight scraper, but get a very torn, uneven recess. Any i have seen in magazine images etc have an almost finished appearance !!

Would like to do this as at moment i am gripping via tenons, but as yet still haven't made my don-nut for reversing, and cleaning up the tenon,

i thought at least i can leave a recess in place hidden within a nice foot !!!

Thanks

Laurence


edit - just seen Chas' link on here re using a parting tool, i don't believe i didnt try that.

 

[CHJ]

If you have dovetail jaws also remember to form the dovetail to improve the grip.

A small skew laid on its side will do for that.

 

[Bodrighy]

Hi Loz,

I have an old 1/2" skew that I ground to the same angle as the dovetail on my chuck and use it just for recesses.You don't need to have it particularly deep unless it's a huge bowl It also looks good sometimes to shape the bottom of the recess or put some rings in it just to finish it off. Make sure you sand it down before reversing as well.

Pete

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi Loz,

You don't necessarily need a "doughnut" to reverse your bowls. I use the easiest and cheapest method which is a disc of MDF on a faceplate, some router mat and bring up the tailstock, like this:

Hope this helps,

Richard

 

[Anonymous]

Hi All,
Would someone please explain how to cut a recess on the face, ie for mounting a bowl blank for hollowing out.

Buy a £1 x 1/4" firmer chisel from the local market/cheap shop and grind an angle with an 80deg bevel... use it in scraper mode.
(the angle should run down from left to right as you hold it... adjust the angle on the grinder to give you a good match for the chuck plate dovetail)

You could make another one with a grind angle to suit a dovetail spigot for the chuck....

the corner is handy for creating dec rings or buttons within the recess.... one tool, three jobs :wink:

You could always put a posh handle on it and no-one would know :lol:

 

[hairytoes]

Hi All,
Would someone please explain how to cut a recess on the face, ie for mounting a bowl blank for hollowing out.

Buy a £1 x 1/4" firmer chisel from the local market/cheap shop and grind an angle with an 80deg bevel... use it in scraper mode.
(the angle should run down from left to right as you hold it... adjust the angle on the grinder to give you a good match for the chuck plate dovetail)

You could make another one with a grind angle to suit a dovetail spigot for the chuck....

the corner is handy for creating dec rings or buttons within the recess.... one tool, three jobs :wink:

You could always put a posh handle on it and no-one would know :lol:

Excellent tip mate, got anymore? Meanwhile I'm off on the search around the forum for other great tips such as this.
I've been using my ordinary skew, but I must admit that it tends to take a few goes until I get the correct angle, I'd just expected to continue with this until I got used to it - but perhaps this is more time conserving.
Nice one! :idea:

 

[Anonymous]

HT
I usually add an 80deg grind on the left side of the tool, 30-40mm long... great for small box interiors...

Take a piece of silver steel of, say, 9mm dia. grind down a half round about 30mm long... grind a suitable bevel (similar to a spindle gouge) and you have something similar to Sorby's spindle master.

I use similar grinds down to 2-3mm dia for my mini stuff :wink:

 

[TEP]

Mornin' Laurence, one thing that hasn't been mentioned when cutting a dovetailed recess. Don't make the recess as deep or deeper than the dovetail section of your jaws.

When you cut the dovetail make sure you have it just fractionally less then the depth of the jaw dovetail. Then when you mount the work on the chuck and tighten, the jaws will pull into the bottom on the recess making the mount a lot more secure.

You do the same when mounting on a spigot, in this case the top of the jaws then pull onto the wood around the spigot and broaden the holding area.

My personal preference is always for a spigot, 1/ Because it can be removed to tidy up the foot. 2/ A recess dictates how small you can make the foot which doesn't always look right on the work, especially if you are using a smallish blank.

just my 2d worth, the main thing is keep practising, it gets easier!

 

[loz]

Thanks for all the tips guys,

And the photo of other method of reversing, although i'd be concerned about centering ??

 

[TEP]

Hi again Laurence, when you centre as above using 'Richard's' tip to remove/re-model the foot/spigot, when initially forming the spigot use the tip of your skew to make a dimple in the centre of the spigot. Then when finished and ready to remove the foot just place the point of your revolving centre in the dimple, and the work is centred.

 

[loz]

Thanks Tam,

So obvious now its explained to me !