Learning curve

[Prle77]

Hello everyone...
Finally got the lathe few weeks ago...
Thanks to information provided on this forum I've opted for maxi lathe from pop's shed..
Very happy with it and it seems to be quite nice piece of machinery and good value for $$$ especially for beginner like me..
So done some small test tube vases which gave me more confidence in being able to do bigger things..
Next one up was to do some vases..
I've laminated couple of blocks... Blocks were done from scrap I had laying around and were bad up from, pine, vic ash and merbau...
Blocks were 125x125x140 high (approx) ... Was able to cut 120mm diam on a bandsaw...
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First try was pretty much disaster... and was not able to do any salvage... second was a bit better and finally third time lucky.. I've managed to make a piece without it falling out of the lathe or being cracked or damaged..
Major challenges I had to figure out...
1 ) depth of the footing part... Seems like I was making it too shallow which caused the bottom piece to crack... Additionally bottom layer was pine which did not help either..
2) hollowing... First one I've drilled he hole in using jacobs chuck... but with the combination with challenge one challenge 2 was more damaging.. Learning how to use bowl gauge...
3) Learning controlling of tools while turning different species of wood laminated together.. especially after me gluing pine (softest wood) onto the merbau (hardest)..
4) Tear outs.. merbau has so many tear outs when turning ingrain...
Sanded off up to 400 grit then with 0000 steel wool.. and then applied ultra gloss...

Anyway here are images of the attempts...
Educational comments, notes etc are more than welcome :) Basically anything that will help me improve

[artme]

A Good way to practice and use up scrap pieces.

You look to be getting a good finish and I note that you are trying to get some shape into the work.

I would suggest making items that are use and have good design features. Even if things go qrong
you are still learning.

Allup, well done!!:2tsup::2tsup:

[hughie]

The best advice is 'practice' :) and lots of it. OK it would be really handy if you could find a mentor close by. Then your progress would be swifter through the maze of information that seems to be needed to make a go of turning in the beginning.

[smiife]

Starting off with a hollow vase is very brave !!
Maybe you should start with a bowl or plate
you will then get the feel of a gouge, also being in
Melbourne you have lots of experianced people
and clubs there, join your local club and ask them
for advice you need, for a first time turning you have
done very well , as has already been said......practice
practice....:2tsup:

[Prle77]

Thank you :)
So far biggest issue is when I start hollowing, the vase tends to jump out of chuck... Still figuring out whether I'm starting too aggressively or I'm doing the bottom part (chuck part) properly..
At the moment, the chuck part is hollowed at the angle (to match the chuck) And deep enough that the chuck goes all the way in...
Usually first 20 mm hollowing are the iffy-est... If the vase doesn't come off within first 20 mm of hollowing.. it will be fine...
Also still figuring dealing with a small tear outs on the ingrain part of the vase... (gets a bit rough...but fair bit of roughness) nothing that fair bit of sanding can't fix but trying to accomplish that on the lathe rather than with the sand paper (faster.??? )

I've taken couple of classes at Pop's shed which were very helpful... Especially for someone who actually never turned anything...
I've been looking at men's shed's etc.. but unfortunately their opening hours clash with my work hours so that makes is inaccessible for me...
Yet to master the oval skew..
When I did a class it all went so smoothly with it... And the first piece of wood I've done.. it worked great.. Now... the moment I take the thing in my hand it either blows the big chunk out of the piece or it catches..
No matter what angle or height i use...My only guess at this stage is that oval skew might not be right tool for those laminated pieces.. Please correct me if I'm wrong (which is most likely...)
Thought about making a plate.. but thought to go really deep into it.. I guess start with harder part.. and the rest will be very easy then.. :)

[Nubsnstubs]

Skew on a bowl? Use a bowl gouge................. Jerry (in Tucson)

[Prle77]

Sorry Jerry...
Didn't use skew on a bowl... :)
That would be disastrous...
I was just mentioning another learning curve... Mastering rounded skew... :)
So what i did is cut the edges of laminated block on bandsaw and then mounted onto the lathe..
I've done rounding using roughing gauge... so far so good.. So I've ended up with nice rounded straight piece...
Then I wanted to use rounded skew to make a bit nice finish as per this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQTo1pAIpQ4
The problem with it is that no matter what I do it will take chunks out of the already rounded piece... My only guess is because of lamination the skew would be hitting ingrain ends and there it will take chunk out of it...
So at this stage... mental note.. do not use rounded skew where you have ingrain parts.. :) as that was the only difference between the piece on the video and my laminated piece..

[Paul39]

Prle 77,

I had troubles with what I used to call the Accursed Skew. Now I make spindles, tool handles, with the skew for entertainment.

With the advice of Retired and others here I persevered and at around 20 hours of skew work it all came together.

Get a bunch of medium hard timber, construction off cuts, limbs lopped off trees, thicker parts of pallets or skids. Use your roughing gouge to get the part round and then use a razor sharp skew. Keep it sharp by stroking it on a piece of 220 320 sandpaper on the lathe bed.

I don't like to practice just to practice, so I make tool handles. I have big hands and some arthritis, so fat handles are more comfortable.

After roughing round I put the edge of the skew parallel to the spindle and plane the surface flat, then run the skew down to make it smooth and shiny. When you have a catch, pay attention why. If you have several in a row quit for a while or a day.

I only have flat skews so planing with a curved skew may be unstable and cause catches.

After you have gotten the smooth cylinder part worked out going left to right and swapping hands right to left, practice rolling over the edge to make a rounded end, that takes some force and will probably result in a few or many spiral gashes going back to the middle.

When rolling over the edge toe up, plant the skew on the tool rest and firmly hold it down, lift the handle and roll the skew over the edge. You will get the skew forced down the spindle making a nice spiral until you get the amount of force and the right action worked out.

Learning to use a skew, or any tool, is just like learning to ride a bicycle, one day it just comes. For me it came at about 20 hours and a pile of usable tool handles, some with a nick or a spiral that were smoothed out with sandpaper.

It is sometimes easier to put the toe down and push toward the end to slice off an angle, then with toe up roll over the edge.

Then you can make V notches using the toe down pushing straight in at the middle of the spindle.

You will have many catches of many different kinds. If you get frustrated, stop have a cuppa, relax, and have another go, or leave it for tomorrow.

Hold the skew gently but firmly, a death grip will almost always promote a catch.

Practice, practice, practice, the skill will come in due course.

I would not use a skew on your glued up end grain pieces at this time. The change of density and cutting force promotes vibration and uneven cutting which makes tool bounce and a catch. I prefer a bowl gouge or a spindle gouge rolled over on its side.

I was using a larger high speed steel "good" skew when I was having so much trouble. Just for amusement I tried a small carbon steel skew from a $20 set of eight junk Chinese tools. I had much better luck with that. Now it doesn't matter which of the 4 or so skews or the Rude Osolnik tool I have which is ground straight across and beveled on one side. I bought the used RO tool because he is one of my heroes, not because I thought it would make spindle turning easier.

Because I used the toe of one of the skews so much, with resharpening the cutting edge became curved. I found I liked that, so I now have two curved edge ones, several straight edge ones and the Osolnik, which is wonderful for planing. Presented at an angle it works like a skew.

[Christos]

When I started turning one of the hardest things for me was the practice part in turning. It can be boring doing the same cut over and over. What Paul39 mention he made tool handles, I found that snowmen were the practice items for me. I would do all this with the spindle roughing gouge and after a while I tried the skew chisel to make the snowmen.

The skew chisel I was using was flat not the rounded one, not tried it as yet so cannot comment.

When you start out it does not matter what it looks like when you make something just as long as you spend time on the tools. It will allow you to know what the tool will do.

I don't want to make a big deal out of this next part and certainly not say go out and cause a catch. It happens from a very small one to one that destroys the piece. Stop the lathe. Look at where the tool had dug in. See if you can determine how the tool was presented. And think of how to prevent it from happening again.

If your piece comes off the lathe it could be part of a dig in and not able to cope with the stress it comes off the lathe.

[smiife]

Make sure you are rubbing the bevel of the tool,,,,
It doesn, t matter which tool you are using tell
yourself .........i must rub the bevel........
Also are you using the tailstock when rounding
your blank .? Just a couple of very important basic
steps that will make your turning experiance more
pleasurable......one last thing.........relax and enjoy
After all is said and done it, s just a bit of wood if
It doesn, t work out throw it on the firewood pile
and start again:U

[Prle77]

Thank you guys!!! lots of very good information
Really appreciate it,,
So far I've been finding woodturning quite enjoyable,, Actually so enjoyable that my other wood work project are either put on hold or are getting modified to include at least one part done on the lathe,,,

Smife
I'm trying to use tailstock wherever possible.. I've made mistake on my first piece ever that i put on where i clamped 50 x50 piece of wood into the chuck without the tailstock... The moment roughing gauge touched it .. .it flew out and scared the crap out of me... :)
Lesson quickly learned.. :)
I'v got lots of ideas for different project.. but at this stage they are beyond my experience... :) which I hope I will manage to gain with practice... and lots of practice.. :)
Still sorting out the sharpening bit,,, so far it is satisfactory... Won't call it perfect (not even close) but at least I'm getting nice swirls after I've sharpen gouges.. so my guess is that it worked.. :)

Again... thank you guys for the valuable information.. it is greatly appreciated