Bowl Turning Is An Artform

[Jim Frye]

Absolute disaster of a session tonight. Catch after catch in an area I was trying to reduce. Fortunately, they are rather shallow, so won't affect the finished shape. I failed to follow my golden shop rule of walking away when things go awry and kept pressing on. More after I correct this mess.

[Jim Frye]

I have my variable speed 6" grinder/hone set up just to the right of the lathe. It has an 80 grit aluminum oxide wheel on one side and an 1 1/2" wide charged cotton wheel on the other side. Makes it easy to step aside and get a new edge quickly. If this exercise goes well, I may invest in some new tools. I currently have a Craftsman carbon steel set and a Delta HSS set. This is all sort of a shoestring setup to see if wood turning was something I would like to do other than a necessity. When I put this lathe together in 2001, I had neither the budget, nor the space, for a dedicated lathe setup. The design I came up with is somewhat of a benchtop unit even though it weighs 120 pounds, but I ended up spending less than $300 building it. It stores on a rolling dolly made from a laminate countertop scrap and clamps to the fixed work bench that is bonded to the basement walls and floor for vibration absorption.

[leehljp]

"I made inner and outer templates to guide the shaping"

I am not the professional by any means, but I will say that your idea to follow the templates is one of the best things one can use and do. Freehand in new turning - makes lots of shapes, but not all shapes are really attractive. DAMHIKT - and a dozen times over!

My one suggestion that I learned by accident was - learn how to sharpen the good HSS tools properly and finely tuned. "Precision Shaping" became hugely easier with the sharpest tools. Many turners will use carbide inserts to get to close to shape (in bowls and pens) and then turn to HSS for fine tuning. Some say that carbide inserts are as sharp as HSS, and that might be true in some cases, but good HSS tools can be finely tuned to a higher degree than carbide inserts, and the "feedback" in the "feel" becomes evident. In many cases, the sharpest tools reduces sanding considerably.

[Jim Frye]

Precision Benchtop Woodturning System? Have I heard something like that before???

Yes, very tongue in cheekiness.

[LCHIEN]

Precision Benchtop Woodturning System? Have I heard something like that before???

[Jim Frye]

Well, I almost have the outside of the bowl roughly shaped. I made inner and outer templates to guide the shaping. A little more gouge work and then I can sand it before reversing to do the interior, which has me a bit concerned. I don't have anything like a Nova chuck and am using a face plate to mount the workpiece on the lathe. Oh, and here's a picture of my shop built lathe that I'm using.

[Jim Frye]

I've been spending time learning to turn a bowl. I started assembling the bowl blank on February first. The arthritis in my thumb limits my time at the lathe to about 20-30 minutes at a session, but I'm getting better at it. I have learned to handle and sharpen the bowl gouge so I'm not tearing things up every time I touch it to the work piece. Another thing I've learned is that I probably shouldn't have used hard maple as my first try, but I will press on. Patience is a virtue here. More as I progress with learning this new woodworking skill.