Hello gents,
I'm a new turner (a couple of months) and I'm having some turning problems. When turn pretty much anything, I get grain tearout on practically every wood that I try. I used to think it was because I was using dull, substandard tools but I recently upgraded.
My lathe is one of the green Central Machinery ones from Harbor Freight. It may not be the ultimate lathe but I didn't have a thousand dollars to spend on one. My chisels used to be a set of carving chisels not meant for turning. I recently purchased a set of real turning chisels from Wood Turners' Catalog they seem to work a little better.
The woods I am turning have been cedar, pine, spruce, walnut, purpleheart, and cherry. Even when I turn pens, little bits of the wood get ripped out and the only way I can get a truly smooth surface is with a lot of sanding. I had okay results using the skew but this does not turn out great. I also don't get a smooth surface when using the scraper.
If there's any way to remedy this, I'd like to know. I can upload pictures of my turns if that helps. I am definitely not an expert and am looking for all the info I can that will help me improve my craft. Thanks for your time and help.
Ed
I'm a new turner (a couple of months) and I'm having some turning problems. When turn pretty much anything, I get grain tearout on practically every wood that I try. I used to think it was because I was using dull, substandard tools but I recently upgraded.
My lathe is one of the green Central Machinery ones from Harbor Freight. It may not be the ultimate lathe but I didn't have a thousand dollars to spend on one. My chisels used to be a set of carving chisels not meant for turning. I recently purchased a set of real turning chisels from Wood Turners' Catalog they seem to work a little better.
The woods I am turning have been cedar, pine, spruce, walnut, purpleheart, and cherry. Even when I turn pens, little bits of the wood get ripped out and the only way I can get a truly smooth surface is with a lot of sanding. I had okay results using the skew but this does not turn out great. I also don't get a smooth surface when using the scraper.
If there's any way to remedy this, I'd like to know. I can upload pictures of my turns if that helps. I am definitely not an expert and am looking for all the info I can that will help me improve my craft. Thanks for your time and help.
Ed