Help with my first bowl

[Babytoolman]

Hi Guys,
I am turning my first bowl today and i need some advice.
The Blank (redgum) is now 190mm x 90mm. It started at 190mm x 110mm. I have turned the back of the bowl so it has a 20mm deep part for the chuck so i can turn out the middle of the bowl. What i would like to know is;
have i done the right thing in the preperation?
What is the best tool to smooth the outside of the bowl?
When i start to work the inside of the bowl do i start from the outside in or inside out?
I really appreciate your help. I am waiting for the 29th of August to attend the woodturners guild to learn.

Roger

[smidsy]

Hei Roger,
I am still a relative newbie myself but I shall offer what I have found from the two bowls I have turned.

I have actually found that the bowl gough is quite a good tool for smoothing the outside of the bowl once you have the shape. When you finish with the chisels you will want to sand the bowl and you can get rid of minor marks during sanding. Start sanding with 60 grit and work up to at least 400 depending on the hardness of the wood - I've done two bowls out of Jarrah which is an Aussie hardwood and I found that much finer that 400 grit is pointless but for softer timber you might go up to 1200 grit.
For the inside, what I do when I put the bowl in the chuck (using the bottom recess that I've carved out) is use the live centre in the tail stock to support what becomes the inside of the bowl to stop the bowl breaking out of the chuck. I work from the outside of the bowl toward the centre and leave about half an inch in the centre of the bowl for the live centre to support - the middle bit where the centre is I don't take out until the last minute. Some say that this isn't necessary but I've seen guys throw nice peices of work away because the work's broken out of the chuck and got damaged in flight.

As I said, I am a relatively newbie but this is what I have found so far.
Cheers
Smidsy

[Babytoolman]

Hi Smidsy,
Thanks for the tips mate. I will get to it tomorrow. I must be doing something wrong because the chisels catch on the outside of the bowl as i am shaping it. The live centre i am assuming is the peice of equipment in the tail stock. I will try this method as i am not sure. Should i use the bowl gauge to do the hollowing?

Roger

[smidsy]

Hei Roger,
Yep use the gouge for hollowing, and the live center is the tail stock gizmo.
If the chisels are digging in it may be that you are at the wrong angle.
The way I was taught to turn is to start with the heal of the chisel - the absolute bottom of the cutting edge.
Put the chisel against the timber on a high angle with the end of the handle really low and decrease the angle (bring up the handle) until the chisel starts to cut. This way you get a gradual cut and you are less likely to get dig in.

One thing I would suggest if you haven't done so already is find a woodturning group in your area. I joined one here in Perth and learnt so much just in my first night - these guys have an enormous amount of knowledge, and not just the turning, but things like sharpening chisels.
Cheers
Paul
(AKA Smidsy)

[Toggy]

BTM,

By catching on the outside of the bowl; I am guessing that you are getting "dig ins". i think that you will find in general practice is use a roughing gouge to take off excess & give a reasonably balanced blank. It is strong & heavy & will take a fair bit of pounding. Once you have your general shape and using your bowl gouge; let the heel of the bevel touch the spinning blank 1st, then bring the tip down slowly until it starts to cut. The heel will just sit there & rub all day and do no damage. Basicly use the heel as a pivot to engage just enough of the cutting tip to engage. Easier said than down.
If using a scraper of a gouge too flat you will most likely get dig in. Exciting aren't they.
Hopefully better turners than I will explain it better.

Ken

[Kris.Parker1]

Just on that note, are your chisels sharp enough? Just a thought. And also, maybe you are coming in at the wrong angle, try a straight angle and then work your way around slowly until you get the desired result. One more point, try taking small chunks first that way it takes a bit longer but also stops the chance of taking a large chunk you didn't want to take and ruining your wood.

Cheers

Kris

[Babytoolman]

Guys,
This is it so you can see what your help helped me do.
I have yet to put a finish on it. I am going to use a cream and a wax.

thanks again. It works for me even though the wood has allot of cracks in it.

Roger

[smidsy]

Hei Roger,
I don't see a pic, but hopefully you'll try again because I'd like to see what you've done.
In terms of cracks, I would leave them there. I've had people tell me that you can fill cracks & holes and fix (so called) imperfections in timber but to me this is dumb. To me one of the pleasure of working with wood is the individuality of the timber and the fact that flaws in the timber add to the uniqueness and character of each peice of work.
Cheers
Smidsy

[Babytoolman]

I will try again.

[smidsy]

Hei Roger it looks nice - those cracks add to the character of the peice and it should come up gorgeous with some wax or polish.
This was my first bowl - the timber is an Aussie hardwood called Jarrah and all I did for the finish was wax.
Cheers
Paul
(AKA Smidsy)

[Babytoolman]

Hi Smidsy,
Here it is with some product on it. I think it looks great but i am biased.
Your bowl looks fantastic. I am goint to find some of that timber and give it a go.
I do have a couple of questions you may be able to answer because you did a deep bowl and mine is only shallow.
What tool did you use to go that deep?

I used the bowl gouge and i found it digging in. Do you turn a bowl like that over the bed or do you turn the head and turn it at 90%?

I found that i could not finish the bottom properly because i could not hold it on the lathe once i finished turning inside. I only have a VM120 with the standard jaws. Do you have any other sugestions?

Thanks for all the advice.

Roger

[smidsy]

Hei Roger,
That does look nice.
What I do for the bottom of the bowl is turn out the recess for the chuck and sand the surrounding area before I turn the bowl over. When I'm finished I put advesive felt on the bottom of the bowl which is a nice finishing touch, stops the bowl from scratching the shelf it sits on and also means that the finish of that surface is not critical - just a sand will do.
The felt is fairly cheap and you should be able to get it (if not from a woodwork shop) from a place that sells sewing supplies and fabric.
The good thing about the felt is that it's availlable in different colours so you can vary the colour to suit the colour of the timber.
For my bowl, I just used a 13mm (about half inch if you're in imperial) bowl gouge.
I don't know if you'll be able to get any Jarrah in Canada because it's native to south west Australia - the technical name is Eucalyptus Marginata if you want to try.
Cheers
Paul

[Babytoolman]

Hi Smidsy,
Mate i am in NSW in Camden. So i will be able to get that okay. I am really excited about the different woods and what we can make.

Roger

[Toggy]

BTM. Roger,

I think your digin problems are because you are turning end grain. Claimed to be the hardest way to turn bowls etc.

Try getting a slab of timber or a smallish log. Cut the log down the centre through the heart and turn each half of the log. Is the most common way of turning bowls.

Ken

[smidsy]

Hei Roger,
Apologies for that - for some reason I got it in my head that you were in Canada.
One thing you might want to do is see if you can get hold of a new railway sleeper which is where that bowl came from.
I bought a new sleeper 2200mm x 200mm x 100mm for $30, if you cut it in to squares you get ten blanks at around $3 a piece which works out quite reasonable - for me, at $3 a pop I can afford to kill a couple in practise.
Cheers
Paul