My First Bowl

[timberbits]

Hey all.

I bought a Vicmarc VL100 in preparation for Richard Raffins week long course at Sturt this summer. I have been told to pay around with the lathe before I got to the course.

This is my first bowl that I have made. Scrap piece of Huon burl that was too small for pen blanks. Sanded down to 320 grit and finished with danish oil.

I had problems finishing the base of the bowl because my chuck was too small to hold the lip of the bowl. Does that mean I need to buy a bigger chuck?

Comments welcome. Timberbits.

[Cliff Rogers]

....Does that mean I need to buy a bigger chuck?....
You can't have too many. :D

There are several ways to reverse mount a bowl to clean up the foot.
Cole Jaws are one way but I don't think they will fit on a VL100.

The cheapest way is to make a jam chuck.

Stick a bit of scrap (IE: MDF) on a face plate & turn the face flat.
Now set you dividers to the diameter of the bowl & scribe a ring on the flat face.
Use a parting tool (or any square cornered scraper) to cut a groove just inside the line.
Stop it & test it.
You want the bowl lip to be a firm fit inside the groove.
Keep trimming little bits off til it fits.
Now hold it in place by bringing the tail centre up to it but don't tighten it up too tight.
Carefully turn the foot away & sand it a best you can.
Now you can remove it & clean up the mark from the tail centre by hand. :2tsup:

I'm sure that Richard will give you a demo.

[Ed Reiss]

Hi Timberbits...

Very good for your first bowl:2tsup:...and pretty good pics also!

Bigger chucks, bigger lathes, lots of accesories....yep, sounds like we've got the makings of a good turner going!:U

Cheers,
Ed :D

[Cliff Rogers]

Now I'm going to pick on your work, don't take it the wrong way 'cos it is a nice little bowl but you can make it even better. :D

I'm not sure what the marks are in the first pic but I'm guessing it is torn grain that was not cleaned up properly before you applied the finish.
Try holding a finger (not so hard that it burns) against the outside of the bowl while you ever so lightly shear scrape the inside of the lip where that torn grain is.
The idea is to damp any vibration in the bowl (shows up as a howling noise) as it will leave an uneven surface.
When you have cleaned up all the visible torn grain as best as you can, then start with the sanding.
Do NOT apply too much pressure.
Do apply plenty of patience.
Do NOT move to the next grit til you have cleaned up any visible marks.
Be aware that too much sanding near the lip with give you an uneven lip, this is why you really need to get rid of as much of the torn grain as possible before you start sanding.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=83877&stc=1&d=1221701766

Now, the second photo..... See the little red circle?
Can you see the uneven profile near the foot?
When you have come up with a way to reverse chuck the bowl & clean up the foot, you can fix that too. :2tsup:

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=83878&stc=1&d=1221701766

[Rum Pig]

Great effort for a first bowl:2tsup::2tsup:

Nice looking timber.:)
I'm very jealous that you are going to have lesson from Richard Raffin. I think he is a very interesting character.:2tsup::2tsup:

[timberbits]

Thanks for the suggestions Cliff

The first photo, its not torn, it is the fiddleback of the timber. I shines and shimmers when you hold it up against the light. I spent about 5 mins with the 80 grit getting all the scraper marks off the timber. I am beginning to love turning because its so easy to sand!

The 2nd photo. Yeah the foot. Not happy with the foot, that was why I was asking about the chuck. Might re-turn it another day when I have mastered the art of using a jam chuck. Not there, but I think the RR course would help me master it.

Thanks again. Timberbits.



Now I'm going to pick on your work, don't take it the wrong way 'cos it is a nice little bowl but you can make it even better. :D

I'm not sure what the marks are in the first pic but I'm guessing it is torn grain that was not cleaned up properly before you applied the finish.
Try holding a finger (not so hard that it burns) against the outside of the bowl while you ever so lightly shear scrape the inside of the lip where that torn grain is.
The idea is to damp any vibration in the bowl (shows up as a howling noise) as it will leave an uneven surface.
When you have cleaned up all the visible torn grain as best as you can, then start with the sanding.
Do NOT apply too much pressure.
Do apply plenty of patience.
Do NOT move to the next grit til you have cleaned up any visible marks.
Be aware that too much sanding near the lip with give you an uneven lip, this is why you really need to get rid of as much of the torn grain as possible before you start sanding.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=83877&stc=1&d=1221701766

Now, the second photo..... See the little red circle?
Can you see the uneven profile near the foot?
When you have come up with a way to reverse chuck the bowl & clean up the foot, you can fix that too. :2tsup:

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=83878&stc=1&d=1221701766

[Ashes]

Excellent first up effort. I was there not so long ago. The thing that most impresses me about turning is the ability to create reasonable pieces from the start and then progressively create better pieces as your skills improve.

[Ad de Crom]

Timberbits, you did a great job with turning your first bowl, I know not everything is perfect, but for the first time it looks really great.

I made for flattening the bottom of bowls this. It's made of mdf with concentric groves, so easy to center the bowl visially.

Ad :2tsup:

[Sawdust Maker]

Cliff
can I come up to your place for a week so you can show me the errors of my ways/techniques Actually put that way I probably need two weeks :o

timberbits
great first bowl. like the timber and like the shape. I disagree that it was not suitable for pen blanks. could have got a few sierra blanks out of that :D

On the reverse chucking you might want to look at a "longworth chuck". there was a thread a week or so ago which covered all the details. I've a set of the cole jaws for mine and think a longworth might be a lot better.

[Cliff Rogers]

Cliff
can I come up to your place for a week so you can show me the errors of my ways/techniques Actually put that way I probably need two weeks :o.....

Post some pics & I'll see what I can do for you. :D

[timberbits]

I did the wrong thing today. I said to myself "I'll just drop into Carbatec to pick up a bottle of hard shellac"

Half an hour later, I ended up coming out of the shop with a 1/4 inch Hamlet bowl gouge, Vicmarc 220mm bowl jaws and other bits and pieces.

It really hit the back pocket bad. It is evil in there. They always seem to be able take money off me, I should ban myself from that place. It worse than the slot machines.

But my problem with turning the feet is now solved.

[Cliff Rogers]

I did the wrong thing today. I said to myself "I'll just drop into Carbatec to pick up a bottle of hard shellac"......

I just dropped into a new music/electronics/HiFi shop that was having an opening sale..... :- $260 worth of music DVDs later. :rolleyes:

[ss_11000]

great first effort timberbits:2tsup:


Hi all im only 14 and i have only started using the lathe this year but so far i have done 1 Pine bowl, 1 pine cup (5cm deep) and 4 Honeysuckle bowls around 6 to 7 cm diameter and all but one of the pine ones are 3 cm deep the (the pine and Honeysuckle).
Just incase you havn't heard of Hunysuckle it is a hardwood that has a nice reddish pink look to it when oiled after turning

This is only at school but i would like to know a little more about lathes and wood to use and other related things.

Regards Oak
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sit down for a couple of hours and go through the woodturning forum on this bulletin board, read a few threads on: finishes, bowls, goblets, segmenting, between centres, local turning clubs, videos, books, lathe types, different tools etc. and you'll be set to start.
try to get as much practise as you can and if possible, join your local club and perhaps even get your own lathe.
:2tsup:

[Gil Jones]

Fine looking bowl (and wood)!!!

[artme]

Lotsa great advice here mate.
A really top effort- especially for a first bowl!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[Ed Reiss]

I did the wrong thing today. I said to myself "I'll just drop into Carbatec to pick up a bottle of hard shellac"

Half an hour later, I ended up coming out of the shop with a 1/4 inch Hamlet bowl gouge, Vicmarc 220mm bowl jaws and other bits and pieces.

It really hit the back pocket bad. It is evil in there. They always seem to be able take money off me, I should ban myself from that place. It worse than the slot machines.

But my problem with turning the feet is now solved.

How quickly the addictive downward spiral starts!:o Timberbits...you're hooked, welcome to the club!!!!:2tsup:

Cheers,

Ed :D

[Johncs]

It worse than the slot machines.
.

'Tis not. At Carbatec one gets a useful return on the money.:)