[woodenhead]

hi folks just a new member today i ws wondering if someone could help please i just got myself a record cl3 with supernova chuck and the guy threw in a lot of tools but the prob is i havent a clue of what they are i watched the robert sorby d v d he gave me and on the peice where it shows turning a bowl i copied the outside to my great satisfaction it turned out ok but when i went to do the inside the d v d shows yiou him working just from a bit out of centre working into the middle i tried this and the machine threw the chisel like a spiral around the wood so thinking i wasnt holding it right i tried again to my dismay it threw the peice out of the chuck and the foot broke inside the chuck so it must have been in tight so any advise please i was using a iron that this guy told me was a gouge i think, sorry for all the questions

 

[Crazybear]

Hi woodenhead and welcome to the board..

Dont worry about asking questions.. Thats how we all learned

It sounds like you used a bowl gouge which is one of the tools that you can use for this job. It looks like a half pipe.

The trick is to work to the left of centre ( if youre wood is turning anti clockwise) so that the wood is pushing your tool down onto the tool rest. Have your toolrest as close to the work as possible and take very light cuts till you start to gain confidence in your handling of the tools.

We all have had pieces fly off the lathe and it can be VERY SCARY at times.

Is there a club or course near were you live. I am sure they would welcome new members and give as much advice as you need.

I am sure others will be along with more advice soon

 

[woodenhead]

thanks crazybear but i have tried looking for woodturning classes over here and cant seem to get any so i will have to pickle al your brains on here to learn

 

[TexasTimbers]

welcome woodenhead where is "over here"?

 

[Mitch Cholewinski]

woodenhead
Welcome to the forum. always nice to have new friends sign on. As for apologizing for the questions, no need for that, ask as many questions as you like. That is what this forum is all about. There is always somebody ready to try to help you out .As Crazybear told you we all started out needing help and asking questions. If I were you, I would find out exactly which one of those tools is definitely a bowl gouge before turning any more. Once you established that it is a bowl gouge you can begin the practice. You can use only that tool and turn the whole bowl. This way your learning how to use a specific and frequently used tool. Before you cut, the tool has to be absolutely sharp. As to the wood flying off the lathe, it happens to us all, I had one fly today. Make sure the spigot is flat before you put it in the Supernova( I use The super nova too. If it isn't flat it will fly. guaranteed. Make it tight and address the wood with the tool slightly turned to the right and touch the wood lightly from left over to the center of the wood, no further. Just keep practicing on scrap untill you feel a little more confident. If your scared, and we all get scared, try using a scraper that is an inborn scraper and is round on the left side of the tool. You can make large sweeping cuts with this like if you were cutting a large bowl. I used to do that a lot.You can always send members personal messages if you want. good luck. Click on Mitch Gallery if you care to see some of my turnings. There are six pages of them there. Mitch

 

[woodenhead]

thanks folks for the warm welcome and for texas timbers i am from a town called belfast in Northern Ireland can i ask mitch the bowl in your gallery number 1377 is that done from a ring of the tree

 

[johnep]

I just have to ask. Do get any bog oak for turning?
johnep

 

[Mitch Cholewinski]

NE Bowl 1377

Woodenhead
That natural edge bowl,1377, that you inquired about, is turned from a branch of an apple tree I planted many years ago. Not sure what you mean by the ring of the tree. I cut a piece about 10inches long, then cut it in half along the length, cut a spigot on the flat side and then turned the outside of the bowl on the flat side then put spigot in chuck and turned out the inside. I enjoy making these types of bowls the most. Hope this helps. Mitch

 

[johnep]

Our local education authority offer evening classes in craftwork, including woodwork. I am sur that a large city like Belfast would also offer these, or at least carpentry.
johnep

 

[littlebuddha]

Its practice and practic, dont rush, and use whatever tool you like to do whatever job, one tool can do much, i use a three point tool on my small boxes to hollow out also a small skew, so dont limit yourself to a gouge. get as much info as you can books and there are tons of videos out there, check mysite on others, there is a link to a guy that sells great turning vids but some great turners, bowls boxes platters you name it his name is Karl tickle. We all land up having wood thrown from the chuck and catching gouges this is one reason some turners grind the gouges back less catch for one. dont try to run before you can walk, but saying that try whatever if you dont try you will never learn, pick some new tree stuff you will find the very easy to turn even if its for practice and save on the good wood. happy shavings geoff.
Oh if you have the program emule you will find some turning vids on there, just enter search woodturning, turningwood. also utube have a small amount of small vids to watch.


http://www.shapewood.co.uk

 

[john lucas]

You didn't say how you were holding the bowl. If it's a faceplate was the wood punky. Screws won't hold in rotten or punky wood. It it's a chuck you should have the tenon short enough that it doesn't bottom out in the chuck and the top of the tenon is square so the wood sits on top of the chuck and is gripped by the jaws. This prevents the wood from rocking in the chuck which eventually throws it out.
The shape of the bowl also has something to do with it. Bowls that have straight sides that transition into the bottom fairly quickly are hard to rub the bevel all the way down. This transition area will often grap the gouge and kick back. A bowl that curves gently from rim all the way to the middle is much easier to turn.