Youtube Video

[Wood Butcher]

Found this while having a look at the related videos to Stu in Tokyo's videos

Blair Davis--Turning trees inside out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM7Krp9e9ZM&mode=user&search=)
Blair Davis--Turning trees inside out Vol. 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RwP-96FrZA&mode=user&search=)

Probably something you've seen before but if you have any interest in turning outboard this is worth watching. Warning though each video is around 25 minutes!

[Ray153]

I was getting a bit angry watching these videos. Spends all that money on a Oneway lathe but can't invest in a bowl corer/saver?

I don't say it often but that seemed like a waste of wood to me. Hard to say but there may have been another two or maybe three bowls that this turner is making into mulch as he put it.

Shows how "common" walnut is in the US I guess. Still think he should hang his head in shame though for wasting such a resource.

[RETIRED]

..on the other hand he is a professional turner that doesn't have time to muck around.

[Burnsy]

I haven't used a lathe since school and really had little interest in it until I watched those two videos. I like big stuff and those bowls are cool. What would one of those lathes be worth in Aust. it certainly is alot more advanced than I remembered wood lathes to be and being able to turn such massive lumps of wood makes for really interesting pieces? Are lathes capable of handling large pieces like this common around here or are they a rarity?

[Wood Butcher]

Burnsy, the Oneway lathes are not available in Australia but the Vicmarc's are as good. If you spend some time browsing throught the wood turning section you will find heaps of information on lathes.

Just another thing I kept browsing youtube and came up with this series of videos by the same producer. Smaller stuff but still really good viewing.

JT Dunphy--Revealed Treasures in trees-- Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozh6_WCAuQA&mode=related&search=)
JT Dunphy--Revealing Treasures in trees-- Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6UqT775C0E)
JT Dunphy--Revealing Treasures from trees-- Part 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmyG3OO4fZA)
JT Dunphy--Revealing Treasures from trees-- Part 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HJA5spQSgE)
JT Dunphy--Revealing Treasures in Trees- Part 5--Conclusions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G36IMg-hScs)

[ss_11000]

thanx for the links rowan

[Ray153]

..on the other hand he is a professional turner that doesn't have time to muck around.


I have never used a bowl corer so aren't familiar with the set up factors re time etc, but surely if he is a pro then the money he could realise in selling another 2 or possibly 3 bowls from that blank would more than compensate for the time it takes to set up the device as opposed to the time it takes him to hollow out the blank into sawdust?

I was saddened to see it all go to shavings is all, I guess it is a pretty good example of familiarity breeds contempt in a way. Bit like an Australian pro turner doing the same with a Eucalyptus burl.

[tashammer]

http://www.proserpinewoodturners.com/The_Big_Bowl.html

here is a handy little lathe that can turn 2.6 metre segmented bowls.

and have a look at the little pen they made too. Inventive lot up that way, i reckon.

[Hickory]

I was getting a bit angry watching these videos. Spends all that money on a Oneway lathe but can't invest in a bowl corer/saver?

I don't say it often but that seemed like a waste of wood to me. Hard to say but there may have been another two or maybe three bowls that this turner is making into mulch as he put it.

Shows how "common" walnut is in the US I guess. Still think he should hang his head in shame though for wasting such a resource.


Problem with the core tools is it produces a Fruit bowl, Cereal bowl, Salad bowl.... Every time. Where is the creativity and craftsmanship If all you are producing is a product (Half a Hollow Ball) Big Deal if you save the plant's resources if all you produce is mundane.

[rsser]

Wot Hickory said. Although with a straight lance and varying the setup with curved blades as on the MacNaughton you can get some variation in profile.


I have never used a bowl corer so aren't familiar with the set up factors re time etc, but surely if he is a pro then the money he could realise in selling another 2 or possibly 3 bowls from that blank would more than compensate for the time it takes to set up the device as opposed to the time it takes him to hollow out the blank into sawdust?

The main cost for a pro I would've thought is labour not material.

See the Vids of Richard Raffan where he hollows a medium bowl with about six passes.

[Stu in Tokyo]

About the bowl turning, using the coring tool etc or not.
I know only a few "Pro" turners, and they tell me, that with some rare expensive woods, especially if they have a client that wants a nested set, then the coring tools are great, but in those videos, I'll bet you he has a backyard full of that wood, so it is not rare or expensive to him.

As for the speed at which Pros turn, well it is truly fast, accurate and efficient.

A whole nother ball game compared to this hobbyist! :B

[Little Festo]

Have a look at this site, Mike Mahoney's bowls are not mundane. I heard that he makes about/up to $200,000 a year US from turning (from a pretty reliable source).

http://www.bowlmakerinc.com/

Peter

[dazzler]

I was getting a bit angry watching these videos.

Lord - I hope you dont watch the news at night :p :wink: :)

[Hickory]

Have a look at this site, Mike Mahoney's bowls are not mundane. I heard that he makes about/up to $200,000 a year US from turning (from a pretty reliable source).

http://www.bowlmakerinc.com/

Peter

I looked at the site and there are some attractive pieces there but rather he make $0.02 or $200,000,000... If the only diifference between the first one and the last is the size or the species, In my opinion, That is Mundane.

[Ray153]

I understand what you are saying about speed vs coring etc. I don't necessarily agree, but I am not and never will be a pro turner.

I don't care how commonplace the timber is, I cannot convince myself that just turning that timber into shavings is anything but a shame. That is just one reason why I would never make it as a pro turner. The other reason is that I suck at it, but that has never stopped certain "artists" in the past.

I don't see that just because you have used a corer/lance/whatever, that you are automatically going to produce a "mundane" item, sure, might be half a globe, but there would still be plenty of scope/material for applying your own design on the blank.

And, no I rarely watch the news, if the commercial stations actually broadcast the news, as opposed to their opinion or promos for their own shows, then I might be more inclined to watch...........

[Hickory]

Piling shaving on the floor in front of a lathe is no different than piling shavings on the floor in front of a Planer, or chips on the floor in front of the carver, It is a matter of removing the waste to obtain the finished product.

[rsser]

Yeah, faceplate turning is a wasteful process though the volumes overall are small and some turners like Richard Raffan do use bowl savers to get the most out of a fine blank.

But a lot of us use salvage timber that was going to waste anyway and it doesn't take much of it to produce enough blanks to drown you.

As for the devices limiting your options ... well they do. Each nested bowl is going to have to roughly follow the profile of the first. Sure you can put your stamp on it but the profile is the basis.

[cedar n silky]

I bag all my shavings now. We have a lot of compost toilets up in this area and shavings are in demand. Sawdust is a no no in a compost toilet (too tight and doesn't allow air flow) but shavings from a thicknesser or off the lathe are ideal.
If I have excess I add it into the litter on the chook house floor along with a bale of straw, and make compost for the garden!:2tsup:
Up this way nearly al trees and trimmings now go through a chipper, which is better forthe environment than burning, so i guess if its any conselation, at leat turning something and producing a pile of shavings is better than just feeding the whole lot through a shredder. Really valuable and rare timber, well maybe it's worth spending the extra time and use a bowl saver, but they are an expensive tool, and you would need to justify it.:)

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

When we first moved here, the area was fairly flat and mainly bush'n'orchards. Then I took up turning, dumping the sawdust & shavings over the fence. Would you believe there's now a new suburb & housing estate called "Croydon Hills?"

I haven't got it in me to tell 'em that as the sawdust rots they're gonna have issues with their foundations settling... :rolleyes::D


I'm another who's not a great fan of bowl-corers but I do think they have their place in any turner's shop. For example, I have a largish block of beautifully figured timber that I keep procrastinating over. Because it's so beautifully figured, a plain form would probably be best, to let the grain speak for itself. Although it's not particularly valuable, the grain is so glorious that I'd quite happily use a corer, if I had one, to maximise the yield.

But in more typical, day to day turning I tend to agree with Hughie. Which is why I don't have one... can't justify the expense for an "annual tool." :shrug:

I guess you could call me another fence-sitter, with a foot in both camps. :wink: