[Walleye977]

So I got my lathe up and turning made a few things. Wondering what causes the wood to let's say chunk out. Is it full tools or the wood to dry or something else. Thanks

 

[Dave Paine]

I am not sure what you mean by "full tools".

Did the wood have cavities which you exposed while turning?

Did large pieces of wood come off as you were turning? If so what speed and type of tool?

Did the wood feel soft in some areas?

Is the issue just these pieces of walnut or other species?

Many potential root causes.

I have worked with a good amount of walnut, mostly in flat work, some in turning. I have not hard issues with walnut. I have had some boards with knots or obvious areas where the wood was soft or just not stable.

 

[Walleye977]

Oops suppose to be dull tools. The walnut had no cracks and didn't seem to have any soft stops. Maybe I could running the tool the wrong way into the grain?

 

[duncsuss]

If the wood is solid (not punky -- starting to go rotten), this is most likely "tear out".

You don't say what tool you're using -- skew chisel, spindle gouge, scraper, carbide-insert scraper -- but tear out can often be reduced by having very sharp tools and taking very light "shearing" cuts (where the cutting edge of the tool meets the oncoming wood at a 45 degree angle).

 

[Manuka Jock]

Looks like endgrain tearout to me .
Sharp , freshly honed tool , the lightest of touch , just the right speed , and practice , may be the solution

 

[Steve Neul]

I would guess it was either dull tools or insufficient speed or both.

 

[Lilty]

Like others are saying end grain tearout,insufficient speed and dull tool .

 

[john lucas]

All of the above including cutting or scraping against the grain. Even if you use a sharp tool, if it's still scraping rather than cutting it's going to give you tearout problems. Those hole look large enough that's it's probably a combination of forciing the cut, dull tools, and scraping. Here's a video that might help you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfZsH-Xprtg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSybPNw4F1o

 

[Walleye977]

Thanks for all the help