flying bowls.....

[Karl Card]

I have not been turning due to having to change things around in the shop for the new to me performax sander(which i love). Anyway I have been getting lighting up and sweeping here and there and putting things where they go. Well I thought I have worked hard this pasted week so I deserve to turn something.... looked over at the bench and found a big ole red elm bowl I had started. Things started out ok, started gouging out the inside of the bowl and things are going good and nice long curls of wood are going everywhere..., started and stopped several times to check my wall thickness, things are still going....BAMMMMMM )(^**&&^%$^&$(*^&(*&^()^$#$^%$##$ there are not enough symbols on a keyboard to describe my words...

I can turn a piece of expenive wood and it turns nicely. I get a piece of red elm that I have almost nothing in and I cant turn it... the first red elm bowl I turned I broke my gouge on.. I just dont know what is going on.
I mean I took my time and took just a little off slowly and really wanted to make this bowl because the grain was very nice in it.

These new tools I got from WC though are starting to puzzle me. They are sharp but it seems you cannot control them. The large gouge and the small gouge seem to just grab the darn wood and they they do what they want... my old cheaper ones didnt do that. Needless to say I am about festered up like a blister...

On the other hand though I havent gotten hit yet, and I do mean to say that red elm bowl, 1/2 bowl, flew fast and hard and I was only on the middle speed.

Any thoughts or direction would be nice.

[Al Wasser]

You had success with the "old" tools so.... I would first carefully compare the how the new tools are ground compared to the old tools. They are likely ground differently so you just need to do some practice with them. Get some scrap 2x material and make some bowl blanks and practice, practice, practice with the new grind. You will get thru it --- I did. If you just can't get thru the new grinds then regrind them like the "old" tools.

[Richard Madison]

Ditto what Al said. And if the new tools are V gouges, note the shape of the V. I have some old BB V gouges with a deep V compared to my other gouges, and find them much more difficult to control. The transition from the nose to the "wings" is much too quick for me, and seems to make them much more grabby.

[Wally Dickerman]

Karl, the very best advice I can give you is...Sign up for a beginners bowl turning class or get some hands on instruction from an experienced turner. It's obvious that your tool technique and your approach to turning is your problem. You'll be doing yourself a huge favor. If there is a Woodcraft store in your area, check out their classes.

Wally

[David E Keller]

Sorry Karl. If you wanted to know how to get catches, I could type for page after page. As for avoiding them...

[Jeff Willard]

On the other hand though I havent gotten hit yet, and I do mean to say that red elm bowl, 1/2 bowl, flew fast and hard and I was only on the middle speed.

Pretty unnerving, ain't it?

I remember turning the base of a bowl once, about 800 RPM. And it flew. I didn't see it.
It. Just. Vanished.
I looked up, and still didn't see it. Until it came down. It was like it dropped right out of the ceiling, which is only 7' high.
I waited for the Poltergeist-type movie music to start. It was the most surreal thing I've ever experienced.
It can happen so fast you'll never be able to react. I now understand why some have been known to wear a catchers mask. Glad you got out unscathed.

[Karl Card]

I think I am going to cut some wood I'd never use down to a descent spindle size and start practing on angles. I love the sharpness of the new tools but just have to learn to control them I guess. I'll see how I do in practice then head to the WC.