Ekki wood turning

[jonathanpeterwilson]

Hello,

I shall explain my issues with a certain type of wood. I have got some blanks of ekki/ironwood and I want to turn some spindles, bowls, egg cups/ goblets. It is hard to turn the inside and it has a tendency to tear out and catch a lot. any tips for inside, tend to use spindle gouge.

I am new to turning relatively.

Jonny

 

[Paul Hannaby]

There are several different things there you plan to turn and the approach isn't the same for all of them but two things will apply for all - make sure your tools are really sharp, then sharpen them again to make sure! The second one is to sharpen frequently, bearing in mind that at the normal cutting speed, you are cutting approx 1 mile of wood every 5 minutes!

For all the spindle projects, hollow from centre to edge to cut "with the grain" to minimise tear out. For side grain bowls, cut from edge to centre on the inside of the bowl and make sure you are using the bevel to control the cut.

 

[Dalboy]

Nothing to add to Paul's comments about sharp tools. I have yet to have the pleasure of turning Iron wood as I have 9 pen blank sized pieces a mate sent to me from his back garden in Australia