new guy turning a bowl

[Charles Bouchelle]

I was turning a bowl of Walnut ( dry) yesterday I was having trouble with the cuts not being smooth .I am thinking the tool is not sharp enough, i was using an Ellsworth that I just sharpened but I am new and I am quite sure it was not super sharp.or could it be the lathe speed, or just my poor technique? I even resorted to trying to sand the area,and could not get it smooth.I would have posted a pic,but the bowl is now in various areas of the shop when it "gernaded" due to a catch.

[Chris Stolicky]

Off the top of my head:

- Could be a sharp issue.
- Could be a lack of riding the bevel. If you are properly riding the bevel catches are rare.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Charles - as you know, it's hard to give advice when you can't see what went wrong. So, I would like to suggest you get with your local turning club and if possible have a member demo how to turn a bowl. Things make a lot more sense once you can see how it's done. Also, there are a number of good videos out there (Bill Grumbine's Turned Bowls Made Easy comes to mind) and also some how-tos on uTube - check out fellow Creeker Bob Hamilton's series .

[Thom Sturgill]

Good advice from Steve. It could be any one or all three in combination. Typically lathe speed needs to be as fast as is safe. Most new turners (myself included) turn at too low a speed. It is claimed by some that higher speed is safer. That's kind of like the adage that more people get cut on dull knives than sharp ones. Sharp blades (and higher speed) allows you to cut with lower pressure which equates to better control.

The forums are great for answering technical questions, critiquing work to help us improve design, and inspiring us to try new things. But not for training.

Its best to have a mentor that can work with you to get you started right before you develop too many bad habits. The videos are great and have their place (I have one of Grumbines and several of Jimmy Clewes' as well as others) but work even better when you have SOME experience to help understand what they are saying. They can't correct your body position or tool movement, that takes another trained human watching you turn.

I think many of us take the DVDs back off the shelf and re-watch them as we progress. We pick up new incites every time we re-watch the videos as well as helping us correct bad habits we may have drifted into.

[Thomas Canfield]

Charles,

One other suggestion for starting out is to turn some green wood to develop your skills riding the bevel and cuts. The green wood works much easier but will not finish like the dry wood. I would suggest turning 4 to 6 green and not worry too much about the finish, wall thickness, or shape but just techniques. A good mentor would also be very helpful. It seems that turning a bowl is somewhat like riding a bicycle - hard to explain and you need to get the hands on experience, but once you get it, you got it and its all improvements from there.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great advice and will echo that speed can play a factor. What speed were you turning at? When I first started I rarely would get a bowl above 500 rpm and had the same problem. One day face shield in place I sped the lathe up to 800 rpm. Low and behold it got better. I turn at around 1100 rpm now. I use a wolverine jig for sharpening along with my Tormek.

I agree with finding a turning club and watching someone turn a bowl. DVD's were my friend when I started turning but got to watch a few demo's by Mike Mahoney, Al Stirt, and Larry Hasiak. I learned more in those 1/2 hr demo's than with all the DVD's I have.

Have fun and keep at it. It will become easier the more practice you get.

[Charles Bouchelle]

Thanks for the advise I joined a club but only one meeting ago. I was turning at around 800 RPM. I had the Walnut in the shop and could not resist the urge to turn it. I have the Wolverine jig and the Ellsworth jig to sharpen but as a newbie I am cautious in the turning as well as the sharpening. I will play around with some green wood later and see how that goes.