Havin' a hard time

[Dickymint]

Hello,

I'm currently turning a piece of well seasoned Cherry and whilst the external shaping progressed well, I am struggling to make progress hollowing into the end grain, i.e progress is REAL slow.

As I apply any pressure on the cut I get instant vibration/chatter, so, so far I have been laboriously taking fine shavings.

I have switched between the Bowl gouge and RS200 (tried both cutters!)

Neither is giving me any where near the rate of progress I have had so far with "other hollowings".

Whilst I appreciate that wet wood turns easily I didn't expect such resistance on dry wood :?:

Advice would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Dicky Mint

 

[PowerTool]

Hi there,Dicky

Couple of questions :-

What are you turning ? (i.e. bowl/goblet/large thing/small thing ?)
Have you drilled out the centre of the waste ?
Is the chatter/vibration caused by the chisel overhanging the toolrest a lot;the chisel being blunt (or getting blunt quicker than you are used to with wet wood);the angle that the gouge is meeting the work?
Have you tried a scraper for comparison ?

BTW,I'm still very much a learner turner - so these are just my first thoughts - I know there are many people on here who are much more knowledgeable than I am (who I hope will come along soon and give some more input )

Andrew

 

[paulm]

As Andrew says it makes a big difference if you drill out the centre first, using a sawtooth bit for preference mounted in the tailstock, but a twist drill will do also. Doesn't need to be a particularly wide drill bit although bigger ones do speed the job up of course.

Once the centre is drilled out then use your normal bowl gouge and work from the remaining timber into the centre hole. This makes a world of difference to the job. If it still proves difficult then try a regularly sharpened scraper rather than the gouge.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Dickymint]

Hi Andrew,

I'm turning a vase:

Chisel; as I don't have a tail stock chuck, I can't drill out the centre.

As you can see the waste wood is more dust than shavings.

The overhang is not that great (?)

When I present the bowl gouge to the inner base with the bevel touching and then lift into the cut the gouge chatters on the wood. The only way I seem to be able to be able to avoid the chatter is to present the gouge at +/- 90' to the face (i.e scraping?) where cut is very fine;- 1/3rd of a mm.

The hollowing tool gives a better cut but if I try to cut more than say 0.5mm, I get vibration at the cutting edge.

Thanks,

Richard.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Dicky
Was the middle pic taken with the lathe revolving?

Presuming that your tool is well sharpened it may well be the way you present the tool to the work... without the benefit of watching you it's difficult be precise with any advice.

If you can achieve fine shavings it's relatively simple to make progessively heavier cuts... be aware that there's a 'natural' limit!

Be content to take fine cuts (with a stream of shavings... not dust) and progress from there... try to avoid rushing to get rid of the waste...

My favourite saying when I run courses is "every cut is a practise cut!!'

 

[luthier49]

For that type of turning a gouge is not the ideal tool. I`ll post some piccies tomorrow of a couple of easily made home made tools and some commercial ones also that are ideal for that type of turning, and they remove wood fast. What you need to do is hollow the vase in stages bringing each stage to the final wall thickness. The unturned hollow supports each stage as you get deeper and deeper into the vessel. Also, you don`t need a tailstock to bore into the vase. In fact Sorby produce a spade bit for boring and establishing the depth of hollow forms. You create a dimple in the end of the vase and just push the tool into the revolving work, ( slow speed ) until you reach your depth stop. I think this tool is 1" diameter, so it already removes quite a lot of wood to start with. It would also be a good idea to sand to final finish the outside of the vessel before you start turning the inside.

 

[PowerTool]

Chisel; as I don't have a tail stock chuck, I can't drill out the centre.

Hi again.I don't have a tail stock chuck either (until I treat myself to a new lathe sometime next year )
I use the tailstock revolving centre to mark the end of the workpiece,and use that mark as a guide for a forstner bit in a cordless drill.

Andrew

P.S. - Vase looks very nice so far

 

[Dickymint]

Hi Dicky
Was the middle pic taken with the lathe revolving?

Nope picky was taken with lathe switched off :wink:

Be content to take fine cuts (with a stream of shavings... not dust) and progress from there... try to avoid rushing to get rid of the waste...

My favourite saying when I run courses is "every cut is a practise cut!!'

Thanks for the comments. As I progressed into the hollowing the rate of progress improved, fortunately!

For that type of turning a gouge is not the ideal tool. I`ll post some piccies tomorrow of a couple of easily made home made tools and some commercial ones also that are ideal for that type of turning, and they remove wood fast.

Thank you I'll lookout for the picky's

It would also be a good idea to sand to final finish the outside of the vessel before you start turning the inside.

Quite right, impetuous turner, managed to sort that out last night. It's funny but I hadn't really noticed it until I'd seen the picture!

Hi Andrew, thanks for the encouragement, I'm afraid I've bu@@erd the rim ;- momentary lapse of concentration and the tool caught the lip and shattered several small chunks off! Still, every cut is a practice cut! :roll: so I'll see if I can smooth them out a little later.

Richard.

 

[Anonymous]

Richard you have a pm....