shavings and heat

[Mike Minto]

when turning a blank - roughing, in particular - when (not if in my case) the shavings being removed get hot (i mean, burn my hand hot), does that signal that my tool is dulling, or does it mean anything at all? thanks.

[Kaptan J.W. Meek]

Yes, the tool is probably dull, but in really hard wood, or Wet wood as well, it can mean you trying to cut too much at one time.. pull off of it abit, and take two cuts to remove that much wood. It takes a little longer, but you won't burn your hands either.

[Kim Ford]

That's why I wear a glove, shavings can get hot.

The rpm is critical and I have overheated the tool turning cedar at a high rpm. I just cranked down the rpm and everything was fine.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I wear a glove on my left hand for just such a reason. Sharp tools and lighter cuts help.

Forgot about the heat issue... I have only experienced hot shavings when the wood was dry. I have had wet wood steam as it was coming off the tool but it was never hot enough that I noticed anything through the glove. Dry wood gets hot enough that I can feel it through the glove but it doesn't burn.

[Reed Gray]

A dull tool does build up some heat. Just cutting through the wood generates heat. Ever use a card scraper on flat work? I have gotten a number of blisters from them, and the tool was sharp. Wet wood will not get as hot as dry wood. Most of the hand problems I had were because of abrasion. When using a gouge, the shavings were directed over the top of my hand and little finger. Options are to hold the gouge from underneath, rather than your hand on top of the gouge, which was a trick I learned from Stewart Batty. Another option is to use a scraper for roughing. I prefer the scraper. Most of your roughing cuts are a scraping cut, and although a gouge does a fair job, I think the scraper excells here. I never considered the possibility that taking off too much wood in one pass would generate more heat. When roughing, I will take as much off in one pass as the lathe and wood will let me, wet or dry.
robo hippy

[curtis rosche]

what tool and what type of wood? there are some woods that heat cant be avoided. like when turning a laminated beam.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Like some others have already using, I personally wear fingerless leather gloves whenever I'm rough turning, or re-truing dry bowls. I actually have a pretty good callous on my left pinky finger from when I'm too stubborn to stop and look for where I set the gloves down the last time I wore them... Its a lot worse when i'm turning dry wood, no question about that, but often certain woods are bad for splintery, abrasive shavings--hickory,oak,locust, etc. The harder and better they are for firewood, the more they chafe your pinky!!!

[Tony Kahn]

I use a golf glove for just that reason.

Curtis: Are you talking structural glue lam beams or LVL type beams, i have some glue lams 5 1/2 x 10 been thinking of trying for utilitarian bowls.

[curtis rosche]

yes Tony, thats what i was talking about. that glue just heats up your tool

[Bernie Weishapl]

Yes dull tools will cause hot curlies and I have found that it happens on dry, hard wood. I wear a weight lifting glove with the fingers exposed and they work really well.