bowl saver

[ian m]

Hi
Does anyone have experience with wood cut bowlsaver attachment
does the fixed curve cause limitations to its usfullness
thanks

[bobsreturn2003]

have the kel mcnaughton and wood cut , feel they are both good woodcut easy to use ,you measure up and know where you are going ! hopefully. the kel mcn allows more choice of cuts. does a range of sizes . takes a lot more guidance if you want a good result and costs more. am looking at a one way from canada, seem to have the best idea , again a range of sizes . have used local ones for years ,and saved lots of great blanks from being sawdust . check out their videos best regards bob

[rsser]

Thanks Bob; interesting comments.

http://www.fholder.com/Woodturning/lyn.html for more views Ian.

A trawl of posts indicates that the Macnaughton is more flexible but harder to use; needs a motor over 1 hp and won't fit some lathes (an issue of distance between banjo top and lathe centre to accommodate the tool gate).

[Cliff Rogers]

I have the woodcut one, it has 2 cutters with different radii.

I haven't used it much however I was happy with the results.

The shape of the blank it saves works for me.

[Baz]

I have the McNaughton, used it heaps of times, find it best on green burls, it does require a large blank to get anything useful out of it.
Cheers
Barry

[Jim Carroll]

As indicated above both the Woodcut and the Mc Naughton have their good point and bad points

Woodcut only gives you the dedicated curve of the 2 blades and is easy to use on green or dry timber { dry timber requires a bit more work}

The Mc Naughton tool will give you more flexibility on shape,
If not set right can be real hard to work and requires a bit more brute force. If you have not set up right you can go through the side real easy.

Both require a minimum 1 hp motor and I am talking a proper motor.
You are cutting with a cutter about 8mm wide and that is a lot of load on the motor.

[ian m]

Thanks
I guess you get what you pay for
Will try wood cut and maybee up grade as skills and money permit
my concern was mainly if the config of woodcut would be limiting
lathe is old but 750watt motor

[Richard Findley]

Hi Ian,

I've got the woodcut and am very pleased with it:2tsup:. I think the best thing about it is that it is pretty much fool proof, I've not yet cut through the bottom of a bowl with it and, lets face it, it allows you to get AT LEAST 2 bowls out of that 1 nice piece of timber:;. Here are some pics:

Cheers,

Richard

[Hickory]

Them rascals is OK if you want to make a series of soup / cereal bowls... Not too creative for my thoughts but a way to get more bowls from one piece if you are after rapid production of crappy bowls... MHO

[dai sensei]

I've got the woodcut and am very pleased with it:2tsup:.

I got the same (even the same lathe) and I am happy with it. I do not make heaps of "like" bowls, but mearly use it to save the timber from just being turned away. As Richard shows, you can get at least 2 bowls or differing shapes, or you can use the center for some pen blanks.

[Jack Riley]

I have the Kel McN. and the Oneway and both are very good. The Oneway system is easier to use since it supports the cutting tip over a much broader range. The KM is more flexible by allowing you to squeeze out an extra blank or two from the trunk!

[Richard Findley]

Hi Hickory,

"...Crappy bowls." I'll try and not be too offended by that comment! I'd of thought that having twice as many bowl blanks to turn would have doubled your creativity???:;

Richard

[Jim Carroll]

As you say Richard twice the bowls twice the fun.

You start with a 12" x 4" blank and then core this to get a 10" x 3" blank then if you want to go again you have an 8" x 2" blank.

Just because you core out the centre does not mean the smaller one has to be cored as well.

This is where you can use your artistic influence on a smaller peice to get it right when you are ready for that larger peice.

Also you may have noticed that some of our more influential turners are making smaller peices as they are easier to sell than large peices, and a lot less work involved as well.

[Mike Jefferys]

There is an analogy here with many pursuits in this thing we call life. A challenge that has an easy front end usually, or even very often, runs out of puff but a tough front end (or learning curve) often means means plenty of scope down the track. It's usually one or t'other.

The McNaughton has a tougher and more complex learning curve (time taken to get results) versus the systems which are annular and start from a fixed point which are simpler and more predictable. So, INMHO, it's horses for courses, if you want a means to conservatively double or triple the yield from a piece and turn out soup bowl shapes, go for the Woodcut, if you want more flexibility with starting point and result go with the McNaughton. Both approaches are valid but you can have both with the McNaughton, you just unload more cash to do it. Moral: Complex, more sophisticated gear is usually capable of simplicity, simpler gear usually never offers complexity.

I digress but a truly exquisite form is rare in a turners life (at least it is in mine - in truth I can count them on the fingers of a sawmillers hand). There are shapes which just say hello, this is perfection and there are what we mainly make and flog every day or so, but the moment when you do crack it is special. Nothing to do at all with scale at all BTW, but it always, in my opinion, reflects two things, practice and a will to get better.

(Evil vested interest disclosed - I market the McNaughton).