Want to have a whirl at a large lump of timber

[Wild Dingo]

Question 1
Am I being REALLY REALLY DUMB?

The largest peice Ive turned was a 4in x 2in round Jarrah bowl... and most of my turnings have been center to center... but Ive just spent some quality time with the chainsaw and ended up with a wonderous looking lump of Plum that I reckon would make a bobby dazzler of a big salad bowl for my third eldest daughters wedding in December to go with a couple of other things of various timbers

But this chunk is somewhat larger than anything Ive even considered tackling on the lathe... its around 18in long by 15in dia near perfectly symestrical so no need to cut it further... Im quite challenged lathe turning wise as well as severely challenged in the non blood letting stakes... but thats the thing Im also challenged to do things the hardest way possible so I reckon Ive spent enough time fiddle faddling around with small stuff its time to get serious!!

SO!!

Question 2
How would I load up this big booger? on the 4in face plate? or between centers again?

Question 3
The lathe has an "outboard" thingy that Ive never even put on the thing would that be better?

Question 4
What speed should I turn it at? slow as I guess

Question 5
AM I BEING REALLY DUMB? :doh:

[Richard Findley]

Hi Wild Dingo,

That is quite a piece of wood you've got there:oo: !

Answer 1:

I'd be tempted to cut this up into 3 or 4 bowls. You'd still get good sizes from it! If you've only ever done little stuff then stuff like this will scare the hell out of you, not to mention challenge all of your abilities.

If you really want to make one giant piece then these dimensions probably lend themselves to a hollow form but that is a quite different discepline if you've never done any.

Sorry if I'm sounding negative:B !

Answer 2:

Start between centres because:

a) its held firm and it can't run off round the worshop (without taking the lathe with it:doh: !!)

b) You can alter the exact angle/orientation of the piece to maximise nice figure or cut out bad bits

Answer 3:

Out board may help with access in the later stages/for hollowing the middle once the outside is sorted and you have cut a chucking spigot.

Answer 4:

Start at the Min speed and build up. You need to start at REALLY slow with a chunk like this, probably less than 50rpm!

Answer 5:

Dumb, no! Brave, optimistic, suicidal maybe but not dumb:q !!

Hope this is of some help:2tsup: ,

Richard

[Jackson]

Dingo

You can mount it face plate then bring the tail stock up to support it until it's balanced. Then clench bum cheeks and turn it on....

Cheers

[echnidna]

Have a practise run on another bit of wood first.

[Gil Jones]

Hey Shane,
Check your email for a handout article on what the grain of a woodturning can look like depending on how the wood is positioned on the lathe. Very interesting.
Look luck with that little chunk of Plum...it loves to crack if it is like our Plum.

[dai sensei]

I've got a Jet1442 and have done many lumps that size, some a bit bigger:- , but until it's ballanced it can be hairy. In reality, probably beyond my lathe's capability.

I start with a face plate and tailstock brought up tight for support. I do start with outboard because the tool rest doesn't fit under the lump. Certainly take it as slow as your lathe will go. My lowest is 300, which is sometimes even too fast, so I sometimes start with a hand plane to get it as close to round first. A quick on/off will soon tell you the vibration level (and stand back).

Good luck.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Mate, the first thing I'd be asking is what do I want to make from it?

As often as not, that'll eliminate some types of mounting. eg. if you want to hollow it out then at some stage it'll have to be mounted on a faceplate (or a damned good chuck) to get the tailstock out of the way. (Well... that's not strictly true. I've turned bowls entirely between centres, but not by choice, nor is it something I'd do with a piece of wood that size, :oo: nor would I want to try to explain the method in words. It's something best shown...)

As Richard said, I'd be tempted to cut it up to make a few bowls, keeping the 15" diameter but only 4-6"ish deep. A lot safer, too!

When it comes to making a hollow form "vase" of that size 15" round and 18" high, you really need both a lot of practice and some fairly specialised deep-hollowing tools. For a beginner, well... IMHO that's not jumping in the deep end of the pool, it's bailing out of a plane over the middle of shark-infested ocean! :wink: You never do things by halves, eh? :D

[reeves]

Dingo man, good project, sorry i cant answer any questions that begin with "how dumb am I" maybe start a poll,but i have knocked up some decent sized salad bowls in recent times so heres the gist.

first thing i would think about is cutting the bowl depth back to maybe 12 inches, a 15 inch wide but 18 inch salad bowl would be real deep and look kinda weird. 20 inches by 8 was the last one I did but its pretty much a matter of personal preference i guess.

Plum is kinda hard so make sure chisels are sharp, if they wont cut it easily either sharpen em again or speed things up as fast as yr lathe can handle.

First, stick the even flattened cut bit on a sturdy faceplate with several sturdy wood screws, this is the end yr gonna hollow out.

Next whack it on the lathe (if yr lathe handles 15 inch between centers if not try the outboard bizzo) and whack the tail center into it hard, real hard, make sure its real tight and level etc.

Now turn the lathe onto the slowest speed and stand back in case it wobbles or flies off. If it stays on and yr lathe doesnt boogie across the shed grab the roughing gouge and true it round.Then stop the lathe, tight every thing up again and make pencil marks of where u want the outside to start and end in curve terms.

Still with roughing gouge curve the bottom of the bowl leave enough for the flat bottomed tenon bit. U maybe wanna pickup the skew chisel and scrape it smooth. When u r happy with the curve stop and take out the tailstock.

Spead the lathe up a bit, not much, up to 7-800 or so.

Now flatten of the bottom bit to about 14-16 cm wide with yr scraper.
With a square ended tool make a recess tenon in the bottom that will fit the expansion (pushing out) mode of yr biggest sturdiest chuck usually about 12 -14cm or so depending on chuck, make this as deep as the chuck jaw walls and as thick, 3-4 cm as you can. It needs to be strong enough to hold up while u hollow the thing out. make sure the bottom is nice and level as this bit site son the table when people dig in for their salad.

When the bottom is fully done, sand and seal, u wont get a chance to seal the bottom again on the lathe.

Now take it off and unscrew it from yr face plate, screw on yr nice sturdy chuck and and whack the bowl onto it, fitting the tenon in snuggly and using the expansion mode tighten those jaws right up, like real tight, even tap ii in with yr hammer. make sure its all even etc.

Now, grab yr bowl gouge and hollow out the center of the bowl, working outwards, mark a circle where u want the wall thickness to be . (If yr wood is at all green yr gonna have to rough hollow it and let it dry a bit. Yr tenon means u can put it back on later.)

use even sweeping strokes ( u know the kind) and pay attention to how deep you are going. Speed things up a bit, the more wood you lose and closer to the bottom you get, turn the toolrest into the the bowl so can go real deep near the bottom. Match yr outside curve.

When yr shape is pretty well done, grab yr big round nosed scraper and smooth the whole thing out. If the wood is quite dense and solid take it pretty thin like 2 cm walls etc.

Ok yr bowl should look like a bowl by now, if it doesnt well ???? who knows.
Grab yr skew chisel and even out the rim, salad bowls often use a nice soft curved rim but its to you.

speed up as far as it will go.

Now sand the bugger back, heavy grits first, then take it up. Maybe add a few rings to the rim so it looks cool.

Now sit back and admire the bowl ;0)

Then grab some foodsafe finish like organoil, lemon oil, nature wipe or whatever and give it a good few coats. Speed up and polish...use nitroC if u want it to be fully waterproof but for salad bowls and such its good to be able to re-oil it in time as its needs it. Cos of the inverted tenon u can also whack it back on the lathe and touch it up if it ever needs it.

Daddadada!!!!! its done. remove from lathe and brag about it and show people.

Theres a few adaptions possible for this process but thats pretty well it.

Sometimes its good to practice on a smaller bowl first just to get yr techniques happening and get to know how a certain kind of wood will behave.

have fun and post a pic when yr done..

cheeeeeeers
john

[Richard Findley]

Hi Reeves,

Generally good advice but I'd pull you up on one point... the use of a roughing gouge on bowls! This is something that should not be attempted:no: !!


If it stays on and yr lathe doesnt boogie across the shed grab the roughing gouge and true it round.Then stop the lathe, tight every thing up again and make pencil marks of where u want the outside to start and end in curve terms.

Still with roughing gouge curve the bottom of the bowl...

They are properly known as Spindle Roughing Gouges because this is what they are designed for. They have a relatively flimsey tang and a BIG area of cutting edge which makes a potentially dangerous combination:oo: . Better to use a large bowl gouge, 1/2" or so, which are designed for use in this way! They are solid bars set a long way into the handle and hence much more solid and safe!

No offence Reeves but I thought I should point this out... just in case...

Cheers, Richard

[reeves]

Richard well, technically u may be correct but i suggested using the roughing gouge only on the outside as the blank was held between centres so technically its a spindle cut and to rough the outer curve it works fine, takes off a lot of wood. In fact I use the roughing gouge for heaps of stuff 3/4 inch, ground in a hybrid manner ;-), one wing is longer than the other but for that particular curve as u say a big bowl gouge will do fine.

One thing i like about turning is that there are rules or proper ways of doing things and then you can find yr own way with whatever works for you. I have actually hollwed out bowls with the roughing gouge no problems ;-)

[BANNED]

Hi all
reeves, thanks for the lesson, I'm new to wood turning, and I had no problem to follow you. Indeed, as I was reading, as was seen each movement happen in my mind, as the shape of the salad bowl taking form. By the time you finish, I had a 14" x 7" salad bowl, nice and shiny, imprinted into my brain. I basically cut Wild Dingo's plum log in two, as the other half I would do a matching, flat fruit display plate.

Wild Dingo, I wouldn't be scared about a peace of wood that size and that round. I've only turned 8 peaces in a wood lathe, and my last peace was 16" x 13" (some pics on my second thread). I know that, some would call me mad, but if is any scary bit about it, is the fact that I done it in a GMC. I got accustomed to watch lots of wood turning videos, and half were turning peaces they couldn't lift themselves, some up to 200 kg. Obviously some timbers are a lot heavier then others, some logs can look big, but they are rather lite, when others can triple in weight, for half of the size. Even tough, I've cut your log in half, (in my day time dreaming/imagination flowing, blame reeves..!), I will be looking for a log like yours, and I will try to create something out of the full log. I need to see the log fitted on the lathe to create a picture of the form! or at least the starting form...!
Sorry guys, I'm not much a pen turner, with all due respect for those who are, is nothing wrong in turning beautifully small peaces of timber or other for pens, what I mean is, that I do prefer to work with larger peaces, when I get some decent size blanks, which is rare!
So your answer W D, no you are not dumb!

Gil, will you share that "handout article" with me, please. I would be interested in have a look, thanks.

Does size really matters????? :fireworks:
Cheers
GV

[Gil Jones]

GV,
Sharing is no trouble, check your email.

[BANNED]

Thanks Gil,
There is lots of good information on it.
Cheers
GV