HARD Maple, Novice Turner, HARD Project...

[boblon]

I am trying to make a small goblet from a block of hard maple. Now, granted I am a very new turner and all, but I am having a heck of a time with it. Only get a short time to work on it each day (2 days now) and have just about finished the upper hollowed part.

I ended up doing most of the hollowing with a scraper and then removing the tool marks with sandpaper. I know this is not the 'properly skilled craftsman' way to do it.

I'm not really sure what I'm asking, just feeling less than adequate to the task I guess and hoping someone will tell me that it might not be ALL ME and this wood can be tricky cutting into the end grain.

I dang sure am learning I have LOT to learn !!

Thanks for listening [?]

BobL.

(P.S. After all this I will be sorely disappointed if I blow it out turning the stem)

[kwgeorge]

Bob, being totally honest and not just trying to make you feel better I tell you that Hard Maple is a bugger! I have turned nothing else that shows tool marks the way this wood does. If you are rubbing the bevel and pushing a bit aggressively it will burnish areas of the wood that take forever to sand out. If you get a catch the fibers seem to tear very deeply and you have more trouble.

So with all that said I am here to help! Ok here are the tricks to working with this wood. First and foremost on your tools that you will be using you need to soften the area of the tool on the back edge of the bevel. If you look at one of your tools and follow the bevel from the sharp area to where it ends you will notice a kind of sharp area. You need to knock that down with a diamond hone otherwise it will rub on the wood and leave a circular burnished mark. Now number 2 you need to do some “Shear Scraping” you can use the edge of your skew horizontal or most any scrapers edge. What you want to do is to bring the top edge of your tool rest to center height with the spindle. Your scraper will be at least ¼” thick so the edge of the scraper will now be ¼” above center. You will scrap by raising the read of the tool handle and bring the cutting edge of the scraper back to center height. This will scrape at a shearer angle and produce very fine ribbons of wood. You can also do this with the sharp side edge of your gouge like I do but if it is rotated a little too much it will catch so I don’t recommend this until you have practiced it. Make sure your tools are VERY sharp and you may want to dress the cutting edge with a diamond fine hone often.

If you need more explanation of what I have said I could make some drawings so just let me know. We are here for ya Bud!

[boblon]

Ken,
Thanks for the info. 'Shear Scraping' is pretty much what I ended up doing as it was the only way my limited abilities could proceed without the tool grabbing the wood. I have tried to keep my tools fairly sharp but have not tried a diamond stone to keep the edge touched up. Of course I will now

Thanks also for the advice on softening the back edge. That info will definately come in handy.

Hopefully, in a few days I will have a pic to post and not a sad tale to tell of the goblet that 'almost was until.....'

BTW, I made the same square scrapers you did based on info from your site and even used it a fair amount on the inside for some rough hollowing. That is a handy tool, inexpensive to make (used same source you indicated) and sure stays sharp!! Like you state on your site, I'm not sure what the 'cobalt' part of that HSS is, but it sure does hold an edge. Thanks for that tooo

BobL.

[Jim Boyd]

I tried something yesterday that helped some on some curly maple. I remembered that when running curly maple thru the planer it helped to wet the surface to reduce tearout. I made sure my scraper was sharp and wet the surface of the bowl and went at it. A couple applications of water and light cuts and all turned out very well