My first turned bowl - River Redgum

[Kuffy]

Following on from this (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/tried-bowl-204006) thread back in March 2016, I 'finally' had the motivation and time enough during my noisy hours to try again, so I spent the afternoon turning a small bowl. Firstly I had to setup my grinder with a newly acquired Woodcut Tru-Grind sharpening jig and sharpen my P&N bowl gouge. I just bolted the grinder to a ply panel and then screwed the sharpening jig to the panel as per the instructions. I wish I had spent 20 minutes setting up some decent dust extraction to the lathe. Blew my nose when I was done. Looked like I had a blood nose with all the redgum dust that was in there :yucky:
391370

The bowl gouge was brand new, never been sharpened. It had a rough cut traditional grind on it which looked to be about 45 bevel angle. Instead of removing lots of material on the wings, I first ground it with a traditional grind somewhere around 40-45degrees. I didn't like this very much. The bevel kept getting in the way of the edge. So then I ground something with swept back wings, though I don't think I did a good job. But I did turn the bowl from start to finish with only this one sharpening. I think I need a secondary bevel because the trailing bevel at the tip was digging in when I was trying to transition from the inside bowl side to bottom.
391371391372


I didn't take any on-lathe photos of the bottom of the bowl, but I took a few as a I progressed carving out the guts of the bowl. I had to do a great deal of sand-turning to end up with a decent finish. Starting at #80, moving through to #500 and then EEE Ultrashine. The shape wasn't smooth off the tool, and there was a bunch of tearout/chatter etc etc.
391373391374391375391376

Some finished photos. It is just EEE Ultrashine then Traditional Wax finish. I was going to shellac it until I read that EEE doesn't work 'under' any other finish other than wax. It is shiny and smooth...and bloody hell it is slippery. I picked it up off the bench and almost dropped it to the ground!

391379391380391382391383391384391385

It measures ~170mm diameter and 38mm tall. Made from figured River Redgum. It produced more dust off the tool than shavings. I think mostly that is because of the nut holding the tool, but even with hand planing it isn't creating great shavings.

Woodturning.....It surely is messy work :D
391386

[Pat]

Kuffy, good looking bowl, for a first go.

A couple pointers - River Red Gum is a very hard timber and not a good pick for a first bowl. If you can get Jacaranda or Camphor Laurel, they are good for developing technique and turn like butter.

The inside of the bowl is supposed to conform to the outside of the bowl and is more pleasing to have a gradual curve to the bottom, than a hard right angle corner. They are easier to sand as well.

The gouge, it looks to me like a Detail gouge type grind, with the sharp point. For me, I would blunten the point and grind the wings to roughly 55°. This will help with the transition between the wall and bottom and minimise the wings catching.

If you can, get to a club, to save yourself hours of frustration.

[Kuffy]

Thanks Pat.
I chose the redgum because it was the largest section of timber I had in the shop. I got a slab of black walnut a week or so ago. Looking at it as a rough slab, there is a nasty bend across its width, so I might chop it up into turning blanks. I'll flatten it first though because I don't wanna throw away a $2k coffee table to make $200 of turning blanks!!!!

As far as the inside conforming to the outside shape? Is this purely a design point of view? Or is there an issue with stability over time if the timber thickness varys? If it is just design, I didn't have a plan of what I was making. I forgot to measure how deep I had cut the mortise when I had finished the bottom. So my only depth gauge for the inside of the bowl was the depth that I had drilled wormscrew hole back in March. The hard internal corner was a nightmare to sand without damaging the perpendicular face, but I am a sand-turning master :) It is not quite a 90 degree corner, more like about a 80 degree corner with about a 1/8" radius between the two faces.

I wasn't happy with the shape of grind that I put on the gouge. I shaped it, tried it, it cut the timber so I left it at that with plans of doing something different next time I put it to the grinder. Blunting the nose was top of the list.

All in all, I had some fun on my "day off from woodworking". I didn't have any noteworthy catches. Occasionally it would bite and bring the tip of the chisel back towards me a millimeter or two. So i quickly learnt to close the face over completely on entry and cut myself a little wall so it couldn't catch on me. While it is in mid-cut I just physically prevent from catching back on me.

[Paul39]

Kuffy,

I think you did very well on your first bowl. The grind you used is quite aggressive and when I bought a used bowl gouge with the "Irish" grind, the first time I used it inside the bowl I had a massive catch and the bowl came out of the chuck.

Here is a bit about various grinds: http://woodturninglearn.net/articles/sharpen2.htm

I like the above transitional grind for most things. I recently bought a "bottom feeder" gouge that is the traditional grind. I can drill into the face of a blank and then move sideways plowing out lots of timber. It also works fine on the outside. It is meant to be used close to 90 degrees to the surface you are cutting.

The Irish and Ellsworth grinds will slice off massive amounts of timber on the outside of a bowl and in the right hands do the same on the inside.

If you keep doing bowls you will probably have two or three gouges with different grinds. With hard timber a freshly sharpened scraper held in the trailing position will do wonders before sanding. I sharpen mine upside down at about 80 degrees to get a nice big burr. The scraper will take off tissue paper thin flakes for 15 to 30 seconds, then another swipe on the grinder.

As to design, look at lots of bowls, pottery and glass as well as wood:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1438&bih=779&q=turned+wooden+bowls&oq=turned+wooden+bowls&gs_l=img.12..0j0i5i30k1j0i24k1l2.1457.7401.0.13053.19.14.0.5.5.0.205.1449.10j3j1.14.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.19.1525...0i30k1.zzH5lAEjrcE

If you have craft shops and galleries available go and look. After a while you will develop an "eye" for design and you can stick a blank on a lathe and a pleasing shape will just happen.

Don't worry too much about how a piece "should" look. I have made bowls that I wasn't pleased with much, because of working around flaws in the wood or I just messed up. They sold as fast as some I loved.

A little instruction in sharpening and turning technique saves lots of time and trial and error.

If you are able, keep a blank on the lathe, and when you have a few minutes do a few cuts. Done every day or so will keep what you learn in your head.

You are doing well.

[artme]

Good job on that Kuffy, especially for a first. :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

If you can handle red gum that well you can handle anything!! As Pat mentioned the really good timbers
for bowls are things like jacaranda and camphor, ,particularly jacaranda as it will keep its bark and that can
help with feaatures.

Great post from you Paul!!:):):) A good reminder post!

[Christos]

Well done on your first bowl.

When I initially started doing bowls they were more or less done with a hard transition from the side to the bottom. I was spending a lot of time sanding which I had no desire to do. There are times when this is preferred and that is when you make something like a small box. People expect to have dept in the box even thou it is a small in size.

Some good advise already given in keep turning and things will get easier.

[Kuffy]

While I am waiting for something to be delivered by AusPost, I decided to take another 'day off' and have another crack at this crazy woodturning caper. Firstly I set up a 6" extraction hose to be pretty much right over the top of the timber blank. It worked very well, so much so that I could see the dust turning 180 degrees and getting sucked up. I then reshaped my bowl gouge so that the wings are more closer to vertical (about 70ish degrees), if that makes any sense? And ground the bevel angle somewhere above 45degrees and below 60 degrees, i just eyeball it. I tried taking a photo of it but the camera is being uncooperative. This shape of grind was MUCH MUCH better. During my playing today, I managed to get the tool presented to the timber in a way which allowed me to make a 10mm deep pass. I was trying to see how deep I could get it to cut, 10mm was about as much as I could handle at this point in time.

The bottom of the bowl straight off the tool. I did refine the shape a little using a skew chisel as a scraper. I should know better, but as you can see I have busted the edge a fair bit because I was cutting down the hill and off the cliff edge...it's common sense to either champher the edge or attack into the cliff....:doh: It cost me about 6mm of finished bowl depth.
391778391779

Sanded from #180->#400 grit. Then Ubeaut's Sanding sealer. Sand again #400->#1200. Then EEE and Shellawax. It meets my "it's so shiny" standards.
391784391785


The first image you can see on the rear inside wall of the bowl, there is a gouge. I was trying to refine the inside edge of the bowl using the wings of my tool as a scraper. It grabbed the tool and spit me back out. I think I may have presented the wing edge at too much of an aggressive angle ( i rode the bevel and rotated until it began cutting). I reshaped the bowl to remove the damage and this time for final scraping I presented the wing approximately perpendicular to the surface. worked good. The second photo is the inside of the bowl finished straight off the tool.
391786391787

The finished photos. ~163mm diameter x ~32mm high. River Redgum.

391788391789391790391791391792391793

[Pat]

Kuffy, your starting to get the hang of this turning caper. Now for a skills builder, try spindle turning a dibber.

[Kuffy]

A dibber? I have no idea what it is, so I googled "turned dibber"
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=turned+dibber&biw=1745&bih=927&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiCmbm7_tbOAhVEOJQKHdEfCooQ_AUIBigB

Looks like a fancy vampire stake?

helped me out for a day back at Easter. He showed me how to cut beads and coves between centers using skew chisels and spindle gouges. I sucked at it but I understood the basics, atleast I think I did. My spindle tools are terribad. Chiwanese cardboard carbon steel. But I do have a small chunk of pine that the chisels seem to handle acceptably. I'll turn a 'vampire stake' on the weekend possibly.

[Kidbee]

While I am waiting for something to be delivered by AusPost, I decided to take another 'day off' and have another crack at this crazy woodturning caper. Firstly I set up a 6" extraction hose to be pretty much right over the top of the timber blank. It worked very well, so much so that I could see the dust turning 180 degrees and getting sucked up. I then reshaped my bowl gouge so that the wings are more closer to vertical (about 70ish degrees), if that makes any sense? And ground the bevel angle somewhere above 45degrees and below 60 degrees, i just eyeball it. I tried taking a photo of it but the camera is being uncooperative. This shape of grind was MUCH MUCH better. During my playing today, I managed to get the tool presented to the timber in a way which allowed me to make a 10mm deep pass. I was trying to see how deep I could get it to cut, 10mm was about as much as I could handle at this point in time.

The bottom of the bowl straight off the tool. I did refine the shape a little using a skew chisel as a scraper. I should know better, but as you can see I have busted the edge a fair bit because I was cutting down the hill and off the cliff edge...it's common sense to either champher the edge or attack into the cliff....:doh: It cost me about 6mm of finished bowl depth.
391778391779

Sanded from #180->#400 grit. Then Ubeaut's Sanding sealer. Sand again #400->#1200. Then EEE and Shellawax. It meets my "it's so shiny" standards.
391784391785


The first image you can see on the rear inside wall of the bowl, there is a gouge. I was trying to refine the inside edge of the bowl using the wings of my tool as a scraper. It grabbed the tool and spit me back out. I think I may have presented the wing edge at too much of an aggressive angle ( i rode the bevel and rotated until it began cutting). I reshaped the bowl to remove the damage and this time for final scraping I presented the wing approximately perpendicular to the surface. worked good. The second photo is the inside of the bowl finished straight off the tool.
391786391787

The finished photos. ~163mm diameter x ~32mm high. River Redgum.

391788391789391790391791391792391793
Kuffy, that bowl has much better form and you are getting the hang of things real fast; paving the way for great future projects. I am sure you managed much better when you changed from that earlier grind. In my view, catches provide a learning curve and gives you a second chance to reassess your form and I have had occassions where the design was enhanced by a dig in. There is much satisfaction in that extra smooth finish, so keep up the good work.

[smiife]

Hi kuffy,
Yes that is a much better shape , much more
pleasing to the eye , well done:2tsup:

[Paul39]

A dibber? I have no idea what it is, so I googled "turned dibber"
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=turned+dibber&biw=1745&bih=927&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiCmbm7_tbOAhVEOJQKHdEfCooQ_AUIBigB

Looks like a fancy vampire stake?

helped me out for a day back at Easter. He showed me how to cut beads and coves between centers using skew chisels and spindle gouges. I sucked at it but I understood the basics, atleast I think I did. My spindle tools are terribad. Chiwanese cardboard carbon steel. But I do have a small chunk of pine that the chisels seem to handle acceptably. I'll turn a 'vampire stake' on the weekend possibly.

I have a thread here about spindles and skews, search for "accursed skew". At about 20 hours with the skew it came to me. I now play with the skew for entertainment. I have skews ranging from Chinese 8 tools for $20 to high end Thompson. Early on for some reason I had better luck with the 3/4 inch Chinese carbon steel skew with the too small handle than my "good" skews. The quality of the tool didn't much matter in the learning process, high speed steel cuts longer than carbon. I sharpen the skews on 320 grit sandpaper on the lathe bed. Keep them razor sharp. For skew practice I make tool handles. I have some arthritis and big hands so I make big fat tool handles. If I make an unintended spiral decoration on the handle, I just sand it smooth and use it.

If you don't have a roughing gouge, use your bowl gouge. I went 7 years without a roughing gouge until I found a barely used 1 1/4 inch high speed steel Czech one for $25.

I will use pallet - skid, timber for tool handles. If there are broken off nails, I mark the location and cut on either side with a parting tool, then grab with pliers and pull out.

You are doing very well with bowls. Buy or make yourself a heavy half round scraper, 10 - 12mm thick, 35ish mm wide. It can be carbon steel as you are going to be sharpening it after every pass or two. My favorite is made from a 12 inch X 7/16 inch X 2 1/2 inch wide high speed steel cutter from a planer. Four for $15.00 at auction. The heavy is to make it stable, light ones will chatter and give a rough finish.

The shape of your second bowl is beautiful. Also the finishing. You are well on your way.

[Paul39]

Kuffy,

I stumbled upon this video of turning. The second turner shows how he uses the more aggressive grind on the bowl. It looks as though he switches to a more traditional grind for the bottom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmJhBRuZh6w

[Kuffy]

Thanks Paul,

When I got close to the finished shape of the internal second bowl. I was having a small amount of trouble swinging the tool around the curve between the wall and bottom because the bevel kept rubbing the wall. So I just ground a second bevel on the gouge so it wouldn't get in the way so much. I didn't put any thought into it, the steel got in the way, I remove the steel!

[Ubernoob]

I'm generally not a huge fan of turned bowls* but I really like the first one, it's nice to see something with hard lines.

*I do like laminated bowls and ones done with all the segments glued together. I also understand that I am not normal so my opinion is nothing to go off :)