What's the Trick ???

[Glossopguy]

Having got my chuck, belt and drive sorted out now guys ..Thank you.

Today was my first go at turning. I've watched All the Youtube Videos, so decided to throw a 14"dia, three cornered Bowl from a cube of wood - NOT !
No - a simple egg cup was my first task. All YouTube Videos watched, Wood Mounted 50mm fresh blank it the chuck, egg dome cavity drilled, gentle and turning with a 10mmball gouge, simples = NOT !
The work kept snatching on the gouge, throwing the blank out of centre in the chuck
I tried a loose fit in the chuck hard against the back plate, but useless. I tried the tightest fit in the chuck, a bit better , but still it snatched and thrown out of centres.
Ive checked the chuck itself for centres (most out of true was +/- 0.03mm) and evenness in tightening. all jaws tight ( to nogo at 0.01mm Feeler gauge) - so I'm happy with that
With the chuck end of the blank sawn off (level) many times and refitting in the chuck tightly. I tried all the tools that were practical for the task. The smallest 7.5mm gouge sharped to about 55degrees gave the best attempt but still caused snatching even on the gentlest press of cut

so - What's the trick ???

 

[Cabinetman]

Sorry I can’t help you, except to say that I’ve been there a bit, I don’t do very much turning and am in awe when I see some of the fantastic things that some people produce – apparently effortlessly. Ian

 

[Phil Pascoe]

What was the wood?

 

[Glossopguy]

ASH ..

 

[Tuna808]

It’s difficult to explain and correct without being present a physically checking toolpost height and demonstrating how to get the optimum cutting angle.
a few tips that might help you .
make sure the tool post is set to the correct heigh.....I set it just below the center but marginally.
Before attempting to remove any material allow the gouge to rest on the rotating wood ,just rest the the gouge on top rotating wood and slowly low it until it starts to remove material.....do this gently and this will give you a safe cutting angle...
this will become second nature as you get more hours on the lathe.

 

[SVB]

We’re you cutting from centre out or from edge in towards centre?

 

[Chris152]

I wouldn't start with an egg cup - small and fiddly, I've not done one but guess it's quick technically tricky? Have you tried putting a 10" x 2 x 2" between centres and roughed it to round, then played a little with different gouges?

 

[Glossopguy]

I was cutting Primarily from the edge to the centre hole. But cutting both was still cause the snatching

 

[Glossopguy]

Yes Chris. That's exactly how I produce the "Blank" ... That was Straight forward, even getting it to same diameter along the full length wasn't really an issue.

 

[Glossopguy]

And your right Chris ... It is tricky ! LOL

 

[Chris152]

Yes Chris. That's exactly how I produce the "Blank" ... That was Straight forward, even getting it to same diameter along the full length wasn't really an issue.

And have you had a good practice at making different shapes with the larger piece so you get to know the tools? It's what I was made to do first at the club I joined, I had a really helpful, patient old fella guide me. Still in touch with him.

 

[scooby]

What is the length of your workpiece and which chuck jaws are you using? If you're using standard jaws, you need to keep the piece as short as possible.

I'd recommend watching this

 

[Robbo3]

As you replied in a previous thread that you don't have 'that sort of chuck', I presume that you are using a metal turner's chuck rather than a wood turners chuck.
If you are using stepped jaws to hold the work the other end really needs supporting by a tailstock centre which is ok for spindle work but not a goblet.
Even with conventional wood turning jaws it's the shoulder of the tenon pressing against the front face of the jaws that stops the work piece moving out of line, that's why the shoulder should be at 90 degrees or slightly undercut.

The explanatory drawing above was kindly provided by Chas.

 

[Happy amateur]

I would suggest you watch on YT Mike Waldt beginners guides videos. The usual problem with wood jumping out of a chuck is the tenon is incorrectly prepared for the chuck jaws. Most woodturning jaws have an internal (but not all) dovetail shape which should be matched to the tenon shape. In no circumstances should the tenon be resting on the back of the chuck jaws as the only machined part of the jaws are the internal shape and the front face. Mike demonstrates this in one of his beginner videos. Hope this helps

 

[gregmcateer]

I agree with all the above.
Unfortunately, a lot of us who want to turn have a major character trait - impatience! That's why we'd rather spin something at 2000 rpm rather than use a hand plane.
I am coming to terms with my limitations and actually stepped back from the grand projects I had in mind. Even sometimes just putting a rubbish bit of anything between centres, (i.e. not chuck) turn it round, then just put some pencil lines spaced out, and try to achieve consistent beads or coves. Harder than you might expect!
I'll dig out the details of a great little book published about 100 years ago - really worked for me to learn from simple, staged practice.
It might not suit you - everyone works in the own way, but it transformed my efforts. Whilst others swear by the Keith Rowley 'bible', I never really got his way - but one thing is for certain - unless you have amazing natural talent, you've got to be patient and practise A LOT.
I'll post up the book details when I find it.
Cheers
Greg

 

[gregmcateer]

Here you go, found the little book.
Don't be fooled by the apparent old style simplicity (and the school masterly tone - it works, honest).
I'll attach front and back cover, plus an inside, partly to amuse with the photo, but to show sort of exercises he suggests.

 

[gregmcateer]

.

 

[gregmcateer]

Found the cheapest place to buy:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/elementary-turning/frank-henry-selden/9781333717377

 

[Nelly111s]

It's possibly the chuck / tenon, but also the height of the toolrest. The gouge should be cutting on the centreline, otherwise the catches will tend to tear the wood from the chuck, even if it's mounted properly.
For practice, the way we teach, is spindle turning first (beads, coves and flats), then faceplate / face grain, finally end grain. I would not expect a beginner to be able to make an egg cup, although with a few days of training and practice it is reasonable to expect to be able to do it. See if anyone near you does training courses. £100 spent on training will be worth more than £100 on new tools, in my opinion.

 

[Richard_C]

I used you tube a fair bit when I was starting out. Very varied, didn't take much notice of the "Howdy all" US turners who put half tree on a lathe and attacked it with a gouge the size of an english town, but I did find a few calm and reflective people who put effort into teaching.

When I got in a mess (frequently, still do) I went back to the video and paused it at the right place(s) and had a real look and a careful think. Where's his toolrest, which way was the gouge pointing, where was that scraper it in relation to the centre ...ah, that what I've got wrong....try again. pausing and having no sound gives you chance to concentrate on the small things, and the margin between good and disaster in turning seems to me to be based on small details of how you work.

One set of learning theory goes through 4 stages - unconscious incompetence (you can't do it but don't even know you need to be able to do it) - conscious incomeptence (you know you want to, you don't know how) - conscious competence (you can do it but need to think carefully) and unconsciuos competernce (you do it without thinking). When you first drive a car you are in "conscious competence" - OK, need to press the clutch down, change into 3rd, now off the clutch, whoops bit sharp .... etc but after a while you do it without going through all those steps in your head.

That gives a teaching conundrum - the best at whatever skill are in unconscious competence, they can just do it, and it can be hard for them to recall and articulate the steps along the way. My first ski lessons, at age 38, were in a class with an Austrian downhill champion who had just started teaching. It was awful, he got impatient with the class because he couldn't imagine what it was like to be unable to turn in an icy slope. Then we got fed up - are we really that bad? Great Skier though.

So try to find a good teacher or find you tube videos of peope who are good teachers. Not easy.