Marblewood tearout

[Greg Taylor]

So after taking my beginner's class and spending about 20 hours on the new lathe making nothing but shavings I went to the local Woodcraft and Rockler stores and bought a handful of different blanks to see how the wood turned. Attached are my primate beginnings in ambrosia maple and ebony. But I have a piece of small bowl-shaped marblewood on the lathe now and the tearout is horrific. The tools are sharp so is this a quality of the wood...or maybe just this piece? I'd appreciate any experiences, suggestions, hints...thanks in advance.

[David E Keller]

You're off to a great start. The bit of marblewood I've turned has been extremely heavy and dense, but it's somewhat course grained. I think you may want to sharpen well and make a bevel riding cut in the direction of the fibers when finishing. Sharpening frequently may be needed.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice looking bowl and flower vase Greg!

Without seeing photos of the marblewood - it is hard to say what is causing the tearout. It could be as David says and require frequent sharpening, or it could be the height of your tool rest, the bevel on your gouge, presentation to the wood, speed of your lathe, etc....

Post a photo if you can and we'll be able to come up with some suggestions.

[bob svoboda]

Nice job on both pieces. The great thing about turning is, if you only make shavings, it's still fun!

[Keith Burns]

One thing that really helps with tearout and is often overlooked is the speed at which you are turning. Turning fast is best and actually safer (they say). I was turning a piece of dry spalted punky maple recently at about 1000 rpm and the tearout was horendous even with freshly sharpened tools. It finally hit me to speed it up. Went to 3000 rpm and there was virtually no tearout. But you should only go with what your comfort zone is.

[Tim Rinehart]

I've heard lubricating the piece during final cuts can help prevent some of end grain tearout. I've only tried it a couple of times, and am not sure it made a huge difference. I think it was mineral oil I used (like salad bowl oil) .Tearout is usually more of a problem for me on softer woods.

If you're getting this on the outside of the piece, you may be able to reduce amount of tearout by shear-scraping. It takes practice, and even watching videos is no substitute for watching someone do it face to face.

And as has been said...be sure your tools are sharp enough that to rub your finger over...you could possibly cut yourself, and stay on bevel as much as you can.

Lastly...as I've had to be reminded...sandpaper is a tool too, though we all would like to avoid heavy use of it where possible.

[Greg Taylor]

Thanks guys. A little tool rest adjustment and a faster speed and things worked much better.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Good looking bowl and vase Greg. I use walnut oil to lube the piece then a freshly sharpened gouge with the speed up. Also the gouge I use for the final cuts are a conventional ground gouge. Works wonders.