Bias Turning?

[SeanS]

I saw a couple of great pics submitted by Sir Chiz of some bias turned she-oak pieces. I have wondered about doing this kind of thing myself, but (being stupid!) haven't figured out how to do it. It seems that when you change the location of the bowl between the centres, there will be a lot of eccentricity introduced, leading to a hell of a lot of vibration when the lathe is restarted. Am I missing something obvious? Can anyone explain please how bias turning is achieved?

Cheers,

Sean

[Sir Chiz]

Sean,there isn't much vibration at all,the piece is actually quite well balanced,
it looks odd when it's spinning,but is quite smooth.
Start with a "square" piece,cube actually,remove the corners just enough to match the diameters of your centers,it's easier to "recenter" on those corners.
After the corners are turned off,the block is recentered corner to corner,
45 degrees to the original axis.
Here's a couple pics.

Chiz.

[SeanS]

Sir Chiz,

Thanks a lot for the reply and the pics. I understand now (enough to give it a try anyway). All my wood has been hand collected (by me!), so isn't square. I might have to fork out the dollars and buy a few nice squarish bits from somewhere to give it a try.

Thanks again, have a good evening,

Sean