Gloat and a question: McNaughton or Oneway

[Greg Ketell]

My wife has told me to order a coring system for my birthday. Gotta love a woman like that!!

So the question to all you guys that have or have used both, which one? I have the PM3520b.

Thanks for the input!

[David E Keller]

Your wife doesn't have an unmarried sister with a similar disposition toward turning, does she?:D

Congrats on the b-day gift... I don't have a system, but I'm looking forward to seeing the recommendations... I've got a birthday coming up you know!

[Jake Helmboldt]

Your wife doesn't have an unmarried sister with a similar disposition toward turning, does she?:D

Congrats on the b-day gift... I don't have a system, but I'm looking forward to seeing the recommendations... I've got a birthday coming up you know!

Me too! Thanks for the birthday idea. Usually it is something from Lie Nielsen since we happen to be there every year around my birthdya. Of course a lot of you guys are probably saying Lie who? My poor LN tools are feeling forgotten these days.

[Greg Ketell]

Your wife doesn't have an unmarried sister with a similar disposition toward turning, does she?:D

Sorry, sister-in-law is married and spends all her money on herself. :(

[David E Keller]

Me too! Thanks for the birthday idea. Usually it is something from Lie Nielsen since we happen to be there every year around my birthdya. Of course a lot of you guys are probably saying Lie who? My poor LN tools are feeling forgotten these days.

I think you can take the blades out of those old LN tools and make scrapers and parting tools.:eek::D

[tom martin]

Greg, You can't go wrong with either one. I have the Mcnaughton, and have cored many sets, but if were to do it over I think I would get a oneway or woodcut(?). I like the idea of a pivot point. I still occationally turn a thin bottom (usually on other peoples prize burls!) which would be harder to do with a pivoting set.
On the plus side for McNaughton, its faster to set up, less expensive, and does a good job . There are a number of good videos that show how to use it.
I confess that I haven't tried any other systems than the McNaughton and probably will never buy another because the McNaughton is doing the job (usually). i core every bowl blank I turn because its faster than hollowing with a gouge and you end up with another blank. Whichever you decide on, you should be happy.
Tom

[Steve Vaughan]

I'm with Tom on this too. I've got the McNaughton and though I haven't used it too much, it's done well for me. The only reason I went with this one was the price at the time I was looking. I like how the Oneway is set up though.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Greg I have the oneway and have cored one set of bowls. I like it and it is easy to use. I don't think you can go wrong with either but like I said I used both and went with the oneway. I just liked the ease of use.

[charlie knighton]

i got to try the oneway coring system this past weekend at the Virginia Woodturner Symposium. it works very well with short learning curve. the thing about the oneway system is that it has support post for the blades so the blades do not bind. you also need at least a 16 inch swing. i have not tried any of the other system so it is hard for me to compare them.

[David Campbell]

I have a coring system (McNaughton) system that I would like to sell, no handles though, someone picked them up and walked off with them. I have the complete set of knives and they haven't been used very much much, would make someone a good price on them.

There is much interest in these, so I will post a photo of what I have, so please be patient.

[Gary Conklin]

I recently picked up the Mc from another memer here, and the few times I have used it I found it to be fairly simple. The Mc appealed more to me for the ability to vary the shapes a bit more.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

I have the Woodcut. I got it because I liked the idea of super simple. And that it is. It isn't as flexible as the others. It has 2 blade sizes and you use each one once according to their docs.

I am told you can play with angles and changing position in order to get more sizes out of it. But i was less concerned with making a Mahoney style 9 nested bowl set and more concerned with just not wasting away, as much fun as that is, the entire inside of a nice big bowl blank.

I got mine with a longer neck-stem-thingy, that's the technical term, from Craft Supplies here in Provo. It is about 40 minutes at most from my house. They were quite helpful in selling it etc...

Someday I will have to figure out how to get more bowls out of the coring but I think what I like best about it is that it is pretty much foolproof. No funnels etc... :)

One of these days when I take the training wheels off I think I will get a OneWay. By then I should have plenty of money to go with my new skills. :)

Joshua

p.s. Oh I bought it from CSUSA when they were running a 20% off your whole order deal. So I got it for right around $200 even. Was just too good a deal to pass up.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I have McNaughton and use it regularly on my Powermatic. I would say, for the money, it is a great tool. The One Way may not be as versatile, but is very capable of producing relatively thin cores for nesting bowl sets. I have made a few funnels with my McNaughton, but I am satisfied with the overall results. You must keep it sharp and oil or wax the blades for each cut.

[Reed Gray]

I have all 3 systems, and you can search for more detailed posts if you want.

McNaughton is the one I use, exclusively. It is faster to set up and use, once you get the hang of it. There is a learning curve. It can core any shape except hollow forms. It has the best deep parting tool out there, and you can core plate forms because it has flatter blades. The Standard set will core just about 99% of everything you will want to core. They are the only system that has a set of blades designed for the mini lathes.

Oneway is the most expensive, and the most stable if you are going big (14 to 18 inch cores). You have to remove the tip to sharpen them, and if I was going to use it full time, I would have a belt or disc sander for the tips as I find the grinder wheel difficult even with the holder. You do have to stop the lathe to advance the support finger, which on a big bowl can be 3 to 5 times. Easy to use.

Woodcut is small. The big blade is a 5 inch radius, so you can go slightly larger than that, but not much. You do have to hook the tailstock up to the back of the platform that it is on for coring. A down side to me since I never use a tailstock for bowl turning. Works fairly well on 12 inch 1 hp lathes. Easy to use.

robo hippy

[Vince Welch]

Good question Greg! The Oneway is expensive but to me seemed like it might be easier to use the the McN. I heard many stories about how difficult the McN was and the stuggles people were having. Reed is one of just a few I know who prefers the McN. The advantage is that the McN is suppose to be more versitile and you can core more shapes. Well, for me, when I am coring I basically want one flowing shape...nothing fancy. I do not need a bunch of different shapes as I'm coring.

A couple of things are a must with these systems...the knife has to be very sharp always...you must have a very good tenon... and the chips cannot be allowed to build up. Also I think it helps if you use wet wood. These are things I found to be helpful. I saved up and got the Oneway and have never looked back! I usually core in the winter january and feb and I still have bowls from 2 years I have not gotten too. Hope this helps, Vince

[Tim Rinehart]

Greg,
I've had a Oneway for about 5 months or so, and have used it several times (4-5 or so). As has been said, it's very solid and easy learning curve. I picked it up at CS during a closeout and got a great deal that I couldn't pass up. I have found that you can change your knives and angle of entry and pivot point to make subtle changes to the shape of the cut, approaching the flexibility of the McN system. You may recall this post... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=149538

On the 'learning curve' side of the McN, I came across a deal recently(I think this is probably a gloat) I couldn't pass up on an early generation McN system, with 3 posts on the tool rest and the original non-pointed grind. This essentially means it is limited to 2 blade widths, but this set came with 7 knives...so it's pretty much the same as the current 'max' kit. I decided to give it a try on a piece of walnut crotch (yea, you're supposed to practice on lesser stuff) and I got 4 beautiful shallow bowl/platter stock from a blank that was about 14" diam by about 5" deep. I would have had a difficult time doing this with the Oneway. The cuts came out fine, one a little shallow at base, but if it doesn't crack/warp during dryout, should be just fine.

I think the biggest challenge is just getting used to the visualization part of using the McN, given that you have alot more control on the direction/shape of cut. I am already thinking I'm likely to use the McN more than my Oneway, for reasons of easy setup and flexibility. If you are thinking about any kind of near straight cuts for platter type stock or deep funnel cuts...the McN is the only system to consider, IMO.

Good luck, can't wait to hear what you decide.

[George Guadiane]

I have the OneWay setup on my PM 3520. I bought it second hand, but it was the one I wanted anyway.
Limited, it seems in the shapes it will cut, but if you only want it to core bowls, it's great. I bought some extra cutters so that I can swap out and stop to sharpen less often. All of the blade sets use the same cutter size/shape.

[Alan Zenreich]

I have a coring system (McNaughton) system that I would like to sell, no handles though, someone picked them upo and walked off with them.

David, please check your private messages. Thanks.

[Jack Mincey]

I have been using a oneway system for 3 years now and it does all I want with no problems. I came into a Mc system last year for nothing, but just haven't had a reason to try it out yet. I do use the nice handle on one of my home made hollowing tools. This might help. There is one Mc system that went through 4 of the members in my local club and none of them ever got used to using it. They all cored some bowls, but none said it was easy so they sold or gave it to another turner in the club. We do have one member that is very good with the Mc system but I think he might have had some personal instruction from Mike Mahoney on how to use it. Two things if you go with the oneway system. #1 Keep and eye out at Hartville Tool for sales on the oneway system and it can save you some money. #2 Oil the pivot point, Where the knife blade and support finger fit into the base every use. I had my large blade seize up last year and it took a while to get it lose. No problem since I start putting a few drops of oil on the shaft that fits into the base.
Jack

[Cathy Schaewe]

I bought the oneway recently, mostly because I feel like I have enough to learn about turning without adding a difficult corer to it. I'm very happy with it. Bought it at the Hartville Tool sale ....

[Bill Blasic]

I use the McNaughton and it is the best buy for the buck and the most versatile. I believe the learning curve thing is overblown. Used by Mahoney, Grumbine and Reed Gray with all three providing DVDs. If you also own one of Randy Privett's hollowing systems he sells an adapter that allows you to use the laser from his system on the McNaughton.
Bill

[Ralph Lindberg]

I think most of the major (usual) points have been hit by one person or another.
I have the McNaughton, I have had zero issues with using the smaller coring blade. To the point on 6 to 8 inch bowls I can setup the system and pop a core out faster then I could turn it into chips. The other advantage this gives me is the small core can then go direct into the fire-wood bucket (all cut-offs and core go into the wood stove)

I continue to have issues with the larger blade, I've looked at it to see if I can tell if the shape is wrong, and it doesn't appear so. I need to take it into a club meeting and see if someone else can see something

[Reed Gray]

Ralph,
What problem are you having with the blade. There have been problems with the bends in the past, less so now, but if the blades aren't bent to a perfect arc of a circle, they tend to drift a lot more, and can be almost impossible to core with. If you have one of the plastic circle template things from Craft Supplies (or other places), lay the blade out on it and see if the curve is good. You could also trace the outside of the blade on some wood or paper, then flip the blade over, and end for end, and line it up again.

robo hippy

[David Campbell]

I have a coring system (McNaughton) system that I would like to sell, no handles though, someone picked them up and walked off with them. I have the complete set of knives and they haven't been used very much much, would make someone a good price on them.

There is much interest in these, so I will post a photo of what I have, so please be patient.


Have posted two photos of the knives, click on my names in the turners forum then view gallery.

[Alan Zenreich]

David,

Thanks for the photo of the knives. As mentioned in a private message and a post, I'm interested. How can we connect to discuss a deal? Thanks.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Robo
The issue is binding. I've "looked" at the larger blade, with only the curve of the smaller blade to compare it with, and can't see a difference. Maybe I should compare it to a "perfect" circle of the same size

The local club (Olympic Penninsula) is having a turning day in a week-and-a-half and I plan to take them in then and talk to a couple of guys that do a fair amount of coring and see if they can see something I am missing.

[Reed Gray]

If you have access to Mike Mahoney's new DVD, watch how he opens up the cut pretty wide. This does help on larger bowls. It also helps more if you use the spear point to really open up the kerf. I grind my tips down square so the shavings are not as wide. Most of the time when coring, the blade tends to drift to the outside of the cut, and the blade and the cut are different arcs. You have to open up the cut a bit. If the drifting is really bad, the curve of the blade could be bad. Mostly, this is in the tip of the blade, where it goes straight, rather than following the perfect arc of a curve. Any slight deviation will cause the blade to drift. Most of the time, it is of little consuquence. Do check the radius of your blade.

Other than that, binding can be caused by being too high or low in the cut. Most of the time it is because of being too low. Cutting height is determined by putting the blade in at full extension, lifting the handle to the top of the T bar, or newer square opening, and making sure that the tip is at center height when at full extension. The system has some flex built into it, and if you start at center height at the beginning of the core, you will be considerable below center when you get to the end of the core.

If some one in the club has one of the large plastic circle templates, have them bring it so you can lay the blades on it to check the curve.

Are you using the large blade from the large set of coring blades? It is more difficult to core with than the standard set of blades, and you should learn to use the smaller ones before stepping up to the big ones.

robo hippy

[Hilel Salomon]

Hi,

If you read my recent thread, I've had a problem with my Oneway. That said-I have two sets each of the McNaughton (every knife) and the Oneway (I have shops in SC and VA) and both have their positives and negatives. The Mc knives are easier to sharpen, and there is a very wide variety of shapes you can get. The Oneway has more support (if the rest is correct) and is easier to use with the tailstock on the blank. A full set of Oneways is expensive!!! and the Mc's are relatively cheap. I also know people who use some of the Mc knives for non-coring jobs. If you are going to do a lot of shapes, get the Mc. If you are only going to core occasionally and like the regular rounded shape, get the Oneway. You probably will be happy with either.

Luck, Hilel.

[Gene Sparling]

I'm a relative newby, bought the McNaughton, it works very well, not as threatening as I feared from reading online. I like the freedom to vary size and shape, but that sword of course cuts both ways, I've messed up a few cores and I'm still learning how to "aim" the thing, but I do like it. It took coring about three blanks to begin to get comfortable.

[David Campbell]

I have a coring system (McNaughton) system that I would like to sell, no handles though, someone picked them up and walked off with them. I have the complete set of knives and they haven't been used very much much, would make someone a good price on them.

There is much interest in these, so I will post a photo of what I have, so please be patient.


These knives have been sold.

[Greg Ketell]

Thank you all for your replies. Based on all your feedback, previous threads, discussions on other forums... I've decided to get the Oneway Easy-Core system.

The major deciding factor was that the learning curve to master the mcnaughton and the practice required to stay proficient with it does not fit my turning style (sporadic turner at best). And Tim Rinehart's demonstration of non-circular bowls (http://sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=1528977&postcount=1) showed that it IS possible to get other shapes using the oneway so I don't think I will be missing much using it rather than the mcnaughton.

Now to wait for a good sale!

GK