Sharpening HHS tooling

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

I've been learning to hollow out bowls with an opening narrower than the bowl diameter. I'm keeping the shape simple and the opening at least 3 or 4 inches wide on a form that may be 10" in diameter and 5" deep. My goal is to learn the feel of using a boring bar with a 3/16" or 1/4" wide bit as well as to learn to work by feel when there is no good way of seeing where you are cutting. As any of you experienced turners know (and I am not in that category), given the limited visibility inside the form I find i easy to accidentally let the tool grab too much wood and catch now and then. I try to keep the rest a bit high so the tool is slightly down hill but working blind is tough and I still get catches.
My question concerns the sharpening angle you use on the tool bit. If you grind a steeper bevel, say 80 degrees as versus 70 degrees, does that change the propensity for the bit to catch? Are there any tricks or must I just keep working through the learning process?
faust

[Don Geiger]

Hi Faust:

I keep all my bits at 70 degrees. Early on I discovered and learned from other turners that if the bevel is much steeper then it can come into contact with the inside wall of the vessel and prevent cutting.

I assume you are hand-holding the tool. I learned to make a mark on the top of the tool handle to indicate when the bit is level. This mark is used as a visual reference so I know the orientation of the bit when it is inside the vessel. Also, use the bit to cut grooves and then clean them away. The grooves and the ledge you leave after removing them gives you reference points to feel so you always know where your tool tip is located.

I took two classes from David Ellsworth my first year of turning and have assisted him with numerous classes since. David teaches hand-held tool hollowing. He be teaching at Arrowmont in June, 2011 and I will be assisting him again. You might consider attending his class. He is a great teacher.


Don Geiger

[Joel Albert]

Faust,

We are on the same journey--getting the feel for hollow forms is a bit daunting! Not to mention down right scary when a major catch occurs. Currently taking a class at our local adult ed on Hollow Forms and I can highly recomend a good class and lots of practice.

For now we are all doing it handheld and concentrate on taking cuts that keep a wellform shelf in which to easily find the next cut.

Some of the other things I am concentrting are:
1. Keep the handle level or the tip slightly down--this can be a big problem as the night wears on since the handle is heavy and the tendency is to bring the tip up.

2. Keep aware of the tip rotation--someone already suggested you make a mark to indicate where the tip is horizontal. I tend to keep it horizontal or slightly tipped to the left to reduce the cut.

3. Take lighter cuts. Anchor the tool handle to your hip and rotate with your body, not your arms. We are practicing taking 3 cuts (sort of horizontally), and then a cleanup cut to clean-up the vertical wall of the shelf we are working on.

I would be interested in pointers from other members on this--I am definitly in the beginner stage.

Does anyone have a recomendation for a good video on this?

Thanks

Joel