Bowl Turning Is An Artform

[Jim Frye]

I have turned the faceplate mounting block down to being concentric with the faceplate and am now building up the bowl end to be a tight fit in the bowl recess. I'm using thin strips of red oak that I ripped on my BT300 many years ago as an experiment. The strips are 1/64" thick and have been hanging on the shop pegboard for thirty years just waiting for a use. I have learned a lot from this error in bowl turning. I turned the faceplate block between centers instead of mounting it on the faceplate and turning it round. Had I done that after I turned the base recess in the bowl blank, I would have saved a bunch of time. As my Grandmother used to say: "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get".

[Jim Frye]

I turned the veneer end of the faceplate block down to where it is a snug fit in the bowl base recess and redid the paper glue joint. Hopefully, it will be good to mount back on the lathe so I can start hollowing out the inside of the bowel. At least things look concentric now. Fingers crossed.

[Jim Frye]

Had a bit of a breakthrough today. I finally figured out how set up the slow speed grinder and how to properly grind the deep flute bowl gouge. And then actually got to using the tool properly. The badly dried brittle hard maple, combined with the somewhat marginal power of my lathe, makes hogging out waste a, well, a waste, so I'm limited to light cuts. Actually, I have learned how to use the gouge with shearing cuts and repeatedly filled the lathe with long spaghetti shavings that clogged the vac hose! The paper glue joint is holding strong. A 12" dia. workpiece is still a sizable mass, but it's workable. I think I might learn this new skill and ultimately enjoy it. It's pretty quiet and time flies making shavings.

[Jim Frye]

Not to brag, but today's sessions were really fun! I can now approach the cut without trepidation, regardless of the tool in hand. The hard maple is still a challenge and a half, but doable. I'm convinced now that bowl turning is fun. The thumb arthritis limits my session time still, so I need to get to the hand surgeon and get a steroid injection.

[Jim Frye]

Work continues on hollowing out the interior of the bowl. So much material to remove. I've got the rim down to where it turns to follow the exterior shape and am working the center down to the bottom around the center support for the tailstock. While the shop assembled lathe is working well, this piece is clearly approaching the upper limit of the design's capability. Still working in half hour sessions due to the thumb arthritis.

[leehljp]

I am enjoying reading your experiences. My inherited "essential tremors," which shows up when I am tired and that is mostly in the evenings, is keeping me from doing much turning.

[Jim Frye]

I'm "working" in two half hour "shifts" now. It takes that much time for my thumb to start complaining and for the shavings to build up around the work area now, so it seems like a good time to take a break. Just finished a turn and can't believe how much material I removed this time. Couple of more days and I'll have to start worrying about wall thickness.

[leehljp]

It has been a while but I used an old timer's trick for wall thickness - I use a light bulb or bright flashlight inside and rotate by hand to see when I am getting "thin" walled. I have only done three (I think) thin walls that light revealed its thinness. You better believe I took my ever-loving time on those walls. I enjoyed the process and knowing that I could do it, but it certainly would not pay off financially for the amount of time I put in. I think I might could have sanded the thickness out of it faster! But it is enjoyable, and thin walled bowls are generally sell for much higher prices.

[Jim Frye]

Not looking to do "thin" walls at this juncture of my skills. I'm shooting for something like 3/8" thick as I hope this will be used for entertaining at family gatherings. I do have some large calipers to check my work.

[Jim Frye]

Had two long sessions today and really got things hollowed out. Decided to take a peek inside the ShopVac and had to do a double take. The 16 gallon tank was FULL!. Nor just full, but it looked like someone had sheared a wooden sheep or two. Remember the old packaging material called "excelsior"? The ShopVac was full to the brim with a finer version of it. Sorta like 0 steel wool and just as matted and tangled. This stuff will be a challenge to till into the garden this fall.

[leehljp]

I had to laugh at the full Vac. A lathe sure makes more shavings and a TS or BS.

[Jim Frye]

By the time I'm done, I'll probably have enough to pack the leg lamp from "A Christmas Story" for shipment.

[Jim Frye]

Well, I got the interior hollowed out to the designed profile and will start smoothing it out with scrapers. Almost down to my desired 3/8" wall thickness. Will sand the interior to finish grits and then part off the center support pillar and finsh the bottom. Never done that before and feeling a bit of trepidation. Hopefully, I can pare it down enough to just snap it off.

On another subject, I've discovered the work piece warps a bit between turning sessions. I don't unmount anything, but what was running smoothly when I stopped for the day, has a wee bit of run out the next day. I assume it's from exposing a large area of fresh wood on one side of the blank. I suppose it also could be due to releasing stresses in the pieces that make up the blank. I know the hard maple I used was improperly dried as the full boards warped while acclimating in my shop prior to use. Still learning after all these years.

[capncarl]

Warping wood is not just isolated to Lowe’s or Home Depot lumber! I’ve had similar to you described in my Tiny Tables after I attach the legs to the aprons using dominos and glue and clamp up everything. I leave everything sitting flat and square only to come back the next day and find the table base so warped that it must have walked all over the shop during the night.

[Jim Frye]

Finished sanding the bowl to 220 grit and have started to remove the center support and this will be a real challenge. I made a huge mistake when I reversed the blank to hollow out the inside. Since my only mount is a faceplate with screws, it left four holes on the inside face of the blank and in my lack of experience, I copped out of turning the center support as small a diameter as possible and turned it outside of the screw holes until I got beyond them. Now I have to part off a 2"+ diameter center support down inside the bowl instead of a 1" diameter one. Another lesson learned.

[Jim Frye]

Parting off the center support has been challenging (as expected) and I have been creating mistakes by trying to do too much at one time, and have dinged the interior of the bowl with my haste. Fortunately, I left the wall thickness of the bowl a bit thicker than the planned 3/8", so I have some wiggle room once I get the center post removed and the bottom flattened. I should be able to sand the mistakes out and still keep the designed shape.

[Jim Frye]

Got the support column parted off and the residual remains on the bottom turned down to a flat area. I had a catch when the center support let go and have it mostly sanded out. Next up is final sanding, applying the Danish oil finish to the bowl, and removing the paper glued faceplate mount on the bowl base exterior (my next area of trepidation).

[Jim Frye]

Finished sanding the bowl inside and out to 220 grit and gave it a rubout with a 0 non woven abrasive pad. Have applied four applications of Watco natural Danish oil and am waiting for it to cure before giving it a final rubout with a 0000 non woven abrasive pad and Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner. Then, I will attempt removing the bowl from the faceplate mount and finish the recess in the base. The Danish oil has highlighted all of the grain flaws in the wood I used. That's why the wood was scraps, I guess.