Welcome to Hollow Turning

[Paul Rains]

well, I got an unfriendly welcome to hollow turning, I bought and watched the Jordan DVD's, got the Jordan tools, so it is supposed to be as easy as Jordan does it, right? Wrong!

It about beat me to death on the inside, my question is

I have been NE bowls for a while, but this was like starting from scratch again. Could it been because of the wood I tried to turn - Ash??? Man it seemed like a rock once I got inside, I kept digging, and knocking bowl from mount, or is that more likely bad technique? Also I used a 1/2 bit to drill hole, was that too big and possibly threw me off finding center and getting good start.

Any suggestions on working on inside, and working curved gouge?

[Andrew Derhammer]

Are you cleaning out shavings about every other pass? The hole seems small especially for a beginner (like myself) Do you have a steady rest set up to help steady the form?

[charlie knighton]

spinage or elbo tool :eek:

[Steve Schlumpf]

Paul - photos would help us understand a little more of what happened. What size blank? Face grain or end grain? Which tool did you use? Were you cutting at the center line or slightly above or below? Did you hold the tool at a slight downward angle? How did you sharpen the cutter?

Anyway, as you can see - there are any number of things that can - and will - cause difficulties when turning hollow forms.

[Cyril Griesbach]

Paul, I'm going to guess that it's the technique you used and as a newcomer to hollowing you likely made the "standard" mistakes.

1. Did you make sure that you were cutting on center. Slightly above center is OK but NEVER below center.

2. Remember that it's "blind" turning so take your time, light cuts and "feel" what is happening.

3. Clear the shaving OFTEN. They can build up surprisingly fast especially in the beginning when they have no place to roll around inside the form

4. If you had trouble with the bent tool did you make sure that only the straight part of the shaft was on the tool rest? If you put the bent part on the tool rest it really has no support.

I also have the Jordan tools and find them to be excellent tools and while I don't have John's DVD I have watched him up close and personal so I'm sure the DVD is an excellent tutorial.

One thing you can't do hollowing is hog out lots of wood in a hurry. Slow down, take your time and think things through and I'm sure you'll get the hang of it quickly.

Consider using the hollowing tools on and open bowl where you can see them working, where they're working and connect the visual with the FEEL of the tools working. While still working the open bowl close your eyes and make the cuts to help you with the feel associated with the cuts.

Best of luck.

Cyril

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree Cyril. One thing I was told at a demo in Richmond by the guy doing the demo and one of the pro's watching was when you first do hollow forms take a 2 1/2" to 3 1/2 Forstner bit and drill the hole. They both told me to learn to do the hollow forms thru a bigger hole before you start trying to hollow one thru a 3/4" hole. Like Cyril said it is a blind turning.

[Tom Lewis]

Is the Ash green or dry? Dry Ash can get pretty hard.

[Burt Alcantara]

Try making a bowl with the tools so you get an idea where to place them and watch how they cut. This is how I began and it helped enormously.

Then, move up to deeper bowls with smaller sides until you are making slender vessels. When you feel confident, try an enclosed vessel but as others have said, keep the opening large.

Hollowing through a small hole is one of the most difficult hollowing jobs there is so give your self a break and leave that for later.

Burt

[Wally Dickerman]

Paul, do yourself a big favor and put the ash piece on the shelf for future turning. Get a blank of easy to work wood such as soft maple, alder, poplar.

Forget turning a piece with a small opening. That can come much later. You want an opening that's wide enough that you can see the cutter doing it's thing down inside the vessel. Hollowforms can be done with endgrain or sidegrain blanks. I suggest that you start out with a fairly shallow sidegrain blank. Make things as easy for yourself as you can until you get some confidence in handling the hollowing tools.

Rough the vessel out first. Sidewalls perhaps 3/4 in. thick. Your 1/2 in. hole down the center is about right. Do most of the hollowing with the straight bar. Make your initial cuts from the center out. Try working in both directions. Tuck the tool handle against your side and move your body to make the cuts. You'll have much better control. Work your way down the inside keeping the sidewalls an even thickness. Using calipers, measure often. It's easy to get an area too thin, making later cutting difficult because of vibration.

When you have finished roughing out, completely finish the outside, including sanding. Then come back to the top and work your way down the inside, getting an even final thickness. That way you are always working against heavier wood. Completely finish the rim first. The piece may go out of round and there'll be vibration if you try to come back to work on the rim later.

Again, measure often. Going through the side of a nearly finished piece doesn't make for a happy turner.

Good luck,
Wally

[Paul Rains]

Thanks to everyone, I will do as you say, I am sure I was too impatient and a little over confidant, I will find some easier wood and try, try again.:)