my second bowl

[ss_11000]

hi all.

this is the second bowl i have turned ( that hasn't gone to the scrap pile). i am very happy with the way it turned, except for a few chsel bites that made me concentrate way more. what i'm not happy about is the sanding of it. the inside wall is crap, maybe torn grain, and the bottom has little spirals on it from sanding. methinks i din't spend enuf time sanding but it was kinda hurting my wrist ( where i was holding the paper probably) and i wanted to get it finished so it was kinda rushed.

Question, when sanding a flat bottomed bowl or box where do you hold the paper ( if you dont have one of them sander thingys)
question2, how do you finish/sand right in the corner ( thats weird i thought circles didn't have em) where the walll meets the base.
question3, what scraper would be best, would a round nose do a sufficient job if done properly?

[Tassie Boy]

Hello Stirlo,

im a complete newbie to the art of woodturning apart from a few projects at school. Great to find a woodturner the same age as me too..

Great bowl btw. I would also like to turn some bowls could you offer me any advice?
Thanks DYlan

[ss_11000]

Hello Stirlo,

im a complete newbie to the art of woodturning apart from a few projects at school. Great to find a woodturner the same age as me too..

Great bowl btw. I would also like to turn some bowls could you offer me any advice?
Thanks DYlan

welcome to the forum.:) ...cool, another 14 yr old, that makes 3 on this forum:) ....

for some advice, try a lite search and you will find a lot of useful info from brilliant turners...there are also some turners in tassie, you could try to arrange a lesson or demo or something....

to turn bowls, you need a scroll chuck or something similar, i turned this one on a normal face plate ( cos i dont have a chuck yet,).
i would also try to get to see it in progress first as i rekon its pretty dangerous if you dont know what your doing, even if you just read a book from the library or something, it helps alot.
btw, do you have a lathe at home or do you use the schools?

[arose62]

and i wanted to get it finished so it was kinda rushed.

Something I've learned (and am still learning) is that you end up looking at the shortcuts for far, FAR longer than it would have taken to fix them.

I did a couple of pieces with that approach - wanting to have something finished in time to show a visiting relative, for example, and ended up not being terribly proud of the piece.

Now, I have some examples to think about when I'm tempted to rush to finish:o

Also, it can take as long (or longer) to sand and finish a piece, as it does to turn it! (Of course, real pros can get a pretty impressive finish straight off the tool, but for us mere mortals ....)


Question, when sanding a flat bottomed bowl or box where do you hold the paper ( if you dont have one of them sander thingys)

Not sure what you mean, so here's two answers:
1) if you look down the axis of the lathe towards the piece on the headstock, you should be sanding in the quarter between 6:00 o'clock and 9:00 o'clock.
2) you can wrap the sandpaper around anything that helps you get into the area you're trying to sand. I've used curtain rods, rulers, even a paintbrush!

You can easily make a "sander thingy" by gluing sandpaper to a lump of wood with a bolt through it. Chuck the bolt in a drill, and viola!

For me, the answer to those sanding circles was a foam sanding pad in a drill.

Cheers,
Andrew

[ss_11000]

yeah, i should have just left it and finished it another time.

with the drill sander, is the drill turned on to get the paper moving so not to burn the paper or scratch the wood or do you just move it in a figure 8 motion?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

this is the second bowl i have turned ( that hasn't gone to the scrap pile). i am very happy with the way it turned, except for a few chsel bites that made me concentrate way more. what i'm not happy about is the sanding of it. the inside wall is crap, maybe torn grain, and the bottom has little spirals on it from sanding.

Good bowl just the same. The rest is just practice, practice and more practice. It's good to see you're picking the faults... but I've sad news for you; get used to it. Even when no-one else can see 'em, you'll always see bits you could've done better. [sigh] It's part'n'parcel of taking pride in your work.


Question, when sanding a flat bottomed bowl or box where do you hold the paper ( if you dont have one of them sander thingys)

I sand in the same general area the tools'd be cutting. Left side, about toolrest height while I watch the right side. If the paper grabs, (which it does on odd occasions) it'll flick your arm down. If sanding the top or bottom areas it'd flick the arm left or right instead, but it bends the fingers first and mine just don't like bending sideways. :eek:


question2, how do you finish/sand right in the corner ( thats weird i thought circles didn't have em) where the walll meets the base.

As Andrew said, you can put anything behind the paper to get into those hard to get places. Thongs (those rubber things on yer feet! :cool: ) are good for this, you can cut 'em up to fit. Personally, in corners like that I just fold the paper several times to stiffen it up, 'cos I've found that the stiffener (whatever you use) can leave marks on the side of the bowl if it accidentally touches, which means yet more sanding work. Depends on what you're using, of course...


question3, what scraper would be best, would a round nose do a sufficient job if done properly?

Best? That's arguable. A round nose is perfectly fine, provided you move it across slowly. Too quickly and it'll leave spiral patterns, but I reckon it's the easiest to use. A square one is easier to ensure a flat bottom with and can be traversed more quickly, but it takes more practice to use it right. Angle it even a bit to the left/right and it'll dig in or taper off. You need to be able to hold it square while traversing it along the rest.

I prefer a round nose. ;)

[ss_11000]

thanx skew and andrew, both very informative posts....greenies if i can ( and it appears i cant give skew one)

[lubbing5cherubs]

Another good job, Stirlo. Love that wood you used
Toni

[Zed]

you young blokes should claim this forum as "research" and thus claim extra credits at school - the blokes/blokettes on this forum will blow away your instructors every time!

stirlo - i attended a speech where the "ever so modest" richard raffin indicated that a good bowl follows a gentle arc in a convex manner whereby the inner side was parrallel to the other side and no visual indication between side and bottom of bowl (Ie no corner where side and bottom meet)

those big gouge marks in the bottom of your bowl could have been removed with some scraping - dont let the purists say to you " scraping is not valid technique, you must CUT the timber" not true so long as it works son....

however - if your happy with it claim it as art and tell the critics to shove it :D

(I say ever so modest because he aint - quite the contrary rather - mind you its not misplaced either his work is great )

tried to give you a greenie, midget, but I gotta spread the love first u pimply wood geek! :)

[rsser]

Scraping needs to be done with no more than about a third of the tip doing the work; any more and you risk a catch. Grind it fresh for the job, and bear in mind you can't go right up the side - bowl flex will give you chatter and tear out.

Re hand sanding, with care you can get good results with your paper backed by a same size piece of scotchbrite pad. Keep moving it - holding paper still will give you scratches. As Skew said, make sure the pad doesn't contact the bowl. Finally, work slowly up all the grades; before moving to the next, brush out the dust and inspect from several angles. You may find marks from a previous grit still there so then you back and and try again.

Brush the dust out of your paper; don't use paper that's got spots of resin. Don't sand too long or hard or you risk checking from the heat.

[Edit: see the thread 'New Tricks' for more on sanding]

[Gil Jones]

Hey Stirlo, nice bowl! Tad rough at the bottom edge. I will post my sanding tool again here. It is easy to make and to use. Keep up the good work young man.:)

[Caveman]

Hey Stirlo - nice bowl. Can't really add to the good advice already given but just to comment - good effort and keep it up. I wish I'd started turning at your age!
What timber did you use btw? Looks real nice.

[Auzzie turner]

Hey Stirlo, see my bowl here (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=33001)

[Tassie Boy]

Good thinking Zed i might just show my wood work teacher the site 1 day and see what he says!! Some of the stuff on here is past his leauge!!..

[rodent]

I use a multi tip scraper from sorby and a mini version for small bowls .Try hand sanding with the grain lathe off that will get a lot of thoughs scratches out .

[CHJ]

Don't know what sort of internet access you have but if you have BB or patience then there are a couple of vids on the sorby site showing the sanding discs at work.

I personally don't like this particular tool as the plain bearing gets clogged with grit/dust and prefer one fitted with a ball bearing but the info of use is valid.

http://robertsorby.co.uk/SorbyMedia/sandmaster1.wmv 14Mb

http://robertsorby.co.uk/SorbyMedia/sandmaster2.wmv 47Mb

For finishing the bottom of a bowl especially near the centre 'power sanding' with the head fitted in an electric drill is more effective.

If you can get it try some foam backed abrasive for hand sanding, saves burning your fingers and will often get the grit in a difficult corner and blend the curve.

And as has been said in previous post be prepared to spend time hand sanding with the grain and the lathe stationary, sometimes I spend as much time hand sanding one or two rogue spots longer than the rest of the finishing put together.

[ss_11000]

thanx guys for the comments and advice.

as for what the timber is, i have no idea. i have a few pieces of it left from a box of wood a fellow turner gave me when i was starting out. it is fairly easy to turn even though it is dry. also it is as light as a feather.

[Auzzie turner]

The wood seems to reccall to me that it is an English wood---The grain in it, and also that it is lightweight. Keep up the good work Stirlo.;)

[ss_11000]

hi all, i have just turned my 3rd bowl and will post piccies later.

i have tried some of the sanding techniques mentioned and have seen better results from them.

[Auzzie turner]

hi all, i have just turned my 3rd bowl and will post piccies later.

i have tried some of the sanding techniques mentioned and have seen better results from them.
Cant wait to see them.:D

[ss_11000]

hi all, i have just turned my 3rd bowl and will post piccies later.

i have tried some of the sanding techniques mentioned and have seen better results from them.

see my 3rd bowl here (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=33159)

[ubeaut]

Stirlo - See me when I come up to Newcastle and I'll show you how to use one of the Vic Wood Rotary Sanders (the original and the one everyone has tried to copy) http://www.ubeaut.com.au/rotary1.htm

Might even have one for you at a very, very, special price.

I have tried most of the copies all and 20 years on the Original Vic Wood Rotary Sander is still the only one I have found that works brilliantly all the time.

Cheers - Neil :)

PS Seems pics in above link don't come up when clicked. To view them click here (http://www.ubeaut.com.au/ubhome.htm) then on the Rotary Sander link near bottom, left side of page and they will work when the next page comes up.

[ss_11000]

neil, i'll more than likely be at the show...looking forward to meeting you guys, and would love to be shown how to use one. i'll make sure i come to your stand first so i dont spend all my money without getting a sander.


cheers