Bowl steady question...

[Harvey Ghesser]

I like to make thin, large, bowls and that means trouble toward the end of hollowing sequence.

Does anyone have any opinion regarding bowl steadies? The kind offered by Oneway? Will it really help? Or do I just need to keep practicing?

Thanks to all!

Harvey

[David DeCristoforo]

I have one of Jeff Nichol's units and I have yet to use it on a bowl (or even really make a bowl for that matter!) But for hollow forms with narrow bases, it has proven invaluable.

[Bill Barou]

Harvey, I have had good success with the Oneway bowl steady on thin bowls. Sharp tools with light cuts work best to limit flexing and tear out.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Harvey I have the oneway bowl steady and it works. I really like how it keeps the flexing down and cuts down on viberation. I wouldn't be without it now.

[Harvey Ghesser]

Thank you, Bernie and Bill! You've both convinced me:)

[Reed Gray]

I have never used one. Just learned to do without it. If you take the inside down in stages, say an inch at a time, finish cuts, then another inch, and finish cuts, it isn't too difficult. The thinner you turn, the more gentle you have to be with your final cuts. Once you are done, and go down some more, you can not go back because the wood will have moved. Even dry wood adjusts to having mass removed.

robo hippy

[Don Geiger]

Take a look at the ones from Robust (www.turnrobust.com).

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Harvey a BIG bowl will flex even if you have it still quite thick walled, it will try to move away from the tool and start to flex back and forth, I have a bowl-steady, made it myself, it makes a big difference when cutting these large pieces, I made these pictures some time ago just to show the difference between cutting without and with a bowl-steady, you can see where the cut is rough and ridged because of the bowl moving and then next to it a much smoother cut, and I wasn't trying to see how clean a cut I could make, this is just normal wood removal to get to the final shape, HTH

One is cutting the rim, the other is while cutting the inside wall.

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[Harvey Ghesser]

Thank you, Reed, Don and Leo! I need a bowl steady! Now to get one!:D

[bob svoboda]

I have one of Jeff Nichol's units and I have yet to use it on a bowl (or even really make a bowl for that matter!) But for hollow forms with narrow bases, it has proven invaluable.

Just checked Jeff's site and it appears he's not making any more steadies at least for a while.