A Dovetail Foot?

[Baxter Smith]

Only could work a couple of hours yesterday morning (not enought time for me to finish one of these) so you got a break!

Wally - This is my attempt to take your advice. Picked a roughout that was the least hollowed out inside so I could make a longer tenon/dovetail foot. I also wanted to see if I could get more of the curve horizontal - if that makes sense. Not quite sure what the 1/3 rule is but I assumed it was the width of the base compared to the piece. Don't know if I hit your suggestion - but I like it.:)

I have included some pictures of the foot evolving. Any suggestions as to how I might have gone in a slightly different direction are more than welcome.

You are probably as tired of these bowls as I am of sanding them! That brings me to a question about sanding. On the last 4 or 5, the tips of the wings inside and out have not come out as clear as I would have liked. Am I sanding bark into the sapwoods endgrain? And if so, do I just need to be more careful in the direction I sand, or sand more. I'm not going to get an answer I like so just go ahead and give me an honest one!

They will all probably get another coat of oil so whats a little more sanding.

There are 12 more roughouts, (don't worry I have enough) but the 9 I have finished are more than I could have hoped for a week ago. Without this site and the information found here, this someday project would have stayed just that.

I thank you for help making it happen.

Baxter

[Mike Minto]

nice bowl; they keep getting better and better, baxter - very nice wood, too - great grain, intact bark - great.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

One thing I see you could use other than a better live center for wood turning, is the use of a small washer on the end of your center so your pointy center doesn't go in as far and split the wood, Very nice end-result on your bowl :)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Baxter - that is one nice looking NE! Really like the foot on this one! Looking forward to seeing your next one!

[Thom Sturgill]

I don't generally like a footed bowl, though I've done several. Too often they just look like the turner didn't bother to remove the tenon. But it looks like you're nailing it now. Good proportion and it gives the bowl a nice lift. Keep up the good work!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Nice work on this one Baxter. I normally don't like feet on bowls but you did a good job on this one.

[Baxter Smith]

Great idea on the use of a washer! Thank you.
It was the first one I had split like that as I was starting to part it off. I think it was weak there anyway because of the pith but I am applying more pressure than I probably should. I am afraid of the bowl either slipping or moving off center. Should get a newer piece of leather or find that shelf lining that some have referred too.

Since I discoverd Craigslist and this site about 10 months ago, I have gotten some great information, had a lot of fun, and parted ways with some green! Great deals (thats what I tell my wife)and money well spent but I sort of hate to ask this question.:)
So Leo, or anyone else, could you reccomend a better live center for turning?

Thanks for your impressions!
Baxter

[Steve Schlumpf]

Baxter - I am still using the stock live center that came with my lathe - 3 years ago! But I have always considered the Oneway live center to be top of the line. Here's the site - but take a deep breath before you see the price! http://www.oneway.ca/spindle/live_center.htm

I know they do go on sale every once in a while - but there are many other brands that would most likely work just as well.

Lots of luck!

[David E Keller]

Great work Baxter. As for the sanding question, I just recently started power sanding with an attachment for my drill... I wish I had bought one long ago.

Oneway seems to be the most often mentioned live center, but I have the Woodriver brand from wood craft and I've been happy with it.

I've enjoyed your turning marathon

[Richard Madison]

Baxter, you are a woodturnin' sonofagun! Like some others, am not a "foot fan", and/but you did a great job on this one. Nice smooth curvature on the bowl too.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I have and use and recommend the Oneway live center set, but i also use the cheap center that came with my little Delta, it is a bit shorter, and sometimes I need that extra space, though that cheap center also has a cup and separate point, though it has only one small cheap bearing in there and the point keeps falling out for the shoddy machining of it.
But I think you can get those centers for something like $15 or $20, I suppose one can't complain too much for that price :rolleyes: :eek:

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks Steve. Think I'm going to my drawer of washers!
All kidding aside - for a moment at least. I also checked the woodcraft site as well, both before and after I read David's post. What is the advantage of either the wood river or Oneway for what I just did? (Other than all the attachments which I did not study in any detail) The angle of the point is smooth all the way back on those. Is it just likely to be in the way on certain cuts or is there something else?

If ignorance is bliss, maybe I should just stick with the washer. I bought a whole box of 5/16 a couple of months ago for building some mobile bases and I have quite a few left. Probably too big, but I have smaller ones as well!

Ditto the power drill attachment David. Made my turning look a whole lot better than it really is! Had two 1 inch soft discs that I used at times. The foam went on one the first bowl I did and the velcro was about gone on the others and totally unusable today. They are at the top of the list for lathe things to buy. At least I thought they were!:)

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks Leo. As soon as I read your post and "separate point" something clicked and I went out to the shop. Looked through a couple plastic boxes of lathe stuff and found this and all its parts. Used it a little over a year ago. Turned a spindle for an old spool bed I pulled off the woodpile at the landfill. Never even thought of it when I started thinking bowls a couple of weeks ago. Couldn't tell you why it would be better but I assume it is. So what else is new!:)

[Jim Sebring]

One benefit of the Oneway center is the standard 3/4 x 10 thread on the end. I've made up unique tips out of hard maple block scraps, tapped them with a used $4 tap, and screwed 'em on.

One tip I made has a cone shape smaller than the aluminum one supplied in the Oneway box. Another is just a square-ended block I sometimes use up close to bowl bottoms when reverse sanding just to insure the chuck can't unscrew very far if it decides to come loose.