Rookie Questions:

[Keith E Byrd]

I have recently received 30 old lathe tools - research shows that some were made around 1850! I have done some basic turning and recently bought a couple of videos. Now I have questions - If I get to be a pest tell me.
1. Why do you do green wood turning? Doesn't the item shrink, twist, warp etc during drying?
2. I have several gouges that have very long bevels ground into them. If you are supposed to turn with the bevel how would you use these? The bevel is probably an inch long on a couple of them?
3. What is the trick for turning square wood to round? I have a gouge that is about 1 3/8 wide but it is very, very slow turning it down. Seems like I probably chip more off than I cut.

Thanks for your help

[Sean Hughto]

1. You can turn green or dry wood. Green is pleasant in tha teh wood is supple and cuts easily. It can be very wet as in sprays of water going all over you, your lathe, and you shop. There are several way to deal with the warping and preventing the potential cracking in drying. That would be a chapter in itself.

2. Old tools will work, but are not quite as convenient to use as HSS.

3. What sort of turning are you doing as in facegrain (think bowls) or spindle (think chair legs)? For the former, a bandsaw helps. For the latter, a roughing gouge will make fairly quick work of it.

[Keith E Byrd]

1. You can turn green or dry wood. Green is pleasant in tha teh wood is supple and cuts easily. It can be very wet as in sprays of water going all over you, your lathe, and you shop. There are several way to deal with the warping and preventing the potential cracking in drying. That would be a chapter in itself.
:)I have some logs that are about 35% on my meter that I will try. WHere do I get the tips on dealing with the drying?
2. Old tools will work, but are not quite as convenient to use as HSS.
:)They seem to sharpen easily. Is it because they won't hold te edge?
3. What sort of turning are you doing as in facegrain (think bowls) or spindle (think chair legs)? For the former, a bandsaw helps. For the latter, a roughing gouge will make fairly quick work of it.
:) just practice. Spindle turning - I have a roughing gouge but it seems to go awfully slow.

[Sean Hughto]

The more specific you can be about what you are doing, the better the advice you'll get - these folks here are teriffic.

What sort of wood are using, and what size turnings are you making? I believe windsor chair legs, for example, were often turned with green wood (maybe not 35% green though) and just dried in the air. Riven chair leg sized pieces of large logs with no pith are not likely to cause much trouble. With bowls the drying alternatives are numerous from DNA to rough turning with anchor seal to kilns and paper bags.

Regular carbon steel is not as durable nor as resistant to heat (e.g., very easy to blue - ruin the temper - on a power grinder).

[Keith E Byrd]

the green wood is box elder and I will be just learning on doing some bowls. Since it is green do I just rough it out and finish turning it when it's dry?
Before I actually started on the box elder I was just practicing some turning and felt that the square to round effort was pretty slow. Just using pine 4x4 to practice.

[David E Keller]

Congrats on the 'new' tools. If there are a few that you are uncertain about, why not post a few photos of them? I think we'll be able to give you better advice if we know exactly what you're using.

Sean is right about carbon steel tools which is likely what you've got there... They take a great edge but they don't hold an edge very long.

Another thought... Have you sharpened the tools? Roughing gouges usually make short work of a soft wood like box elder, but nothing cuts well with a dull tool.

[Roger Chandler]

Seriously, sharpening is crucial! The importance cannot be overstated in any way...........

Posting the pics of the tools, and how you use them and on what you are turning will give you a wealth of feedback from some pretty accomplished turners on this forum

Welcome to the creek, and to the VORTEX!

[Jim Burr]

Hey Keith...welcome to the spinny side!
Sharp sharp sharp!! Another way to enjoy and be safe is the proper way to use each tool and the faces, angles and directions to use each tool in. If I may...get advice first!!! and then practice. Nothing can take the glimmer out of your eye faster than using a roughing gouge where a bowl gouge would have been safer and easier! And by the way...if we don't see pictures..it didn't happen:D:D

[Reed Gray]

Try to find a local club. Best learning experience ever, and cheap as well.

robo hippy

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Seriously, sharpening is crucial! The importance cannot be overstated in any way...........


Plus 2 on sharpening. When I first started years ago, I hand sharpened. I THOUGHT I had my gouge sharp. But no. After getting a Tormek, I discovered what sharp meant. Much easier to turn. Most here get a Wolverine jig though. Just get any sharpening system, and you'll be MUCH happier.

Secondly, speed is your friend. Turn as fast as you feel comfortable. If you're spinning the piece slowly, you'll remove less material.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome to the spinny side. I would guess that most of the tools you have are spindle gouges and are not good for bowl turning. I agree that photo's of the tools would be good and help us to identify them. Find a turning club near you and that is the best learning experience you can have. I wish I had one near by but the closest is 300 miles. Looking at the AAW site there are 11.

[Keith E Byrd]

I'll see if I can find a local turning club to check out - my only problem there is time - I usually don't get to work in the shop until in the evening - work schedule is crazy.
I will also post a few pictures and hopefully I can learn the difference between spindle and bowl gouges!
For sharpening I have low speed grinder with a white stone and a wolverine (I think) jig.

[Keith E Byrd]

I was going to upload some pictures but I can't figure out how. There doesn't seem to be a way to upload pictures in a reply?
Ok here are a couple of pictures. This gouge is about 1 1/2 inch wide. Metal is buck brothers steel and probably - best I can tell - late 1800's.
The 2nd gouge is about 1" wide

[Keith E Byrd]

New question: Tried some turning tonight. I have a piece of brazilian cherry ( i know it is very hard and probably dumb to try to learn on) 1. In trying to round a block I had trouble keeping it tight between the cup and spur center. When I could get it tight it burned the wood (started smoking) at the cup center. How do I stop that?

[Sean Hughto]

Choose the "go advanced" button. You can attach images.

[Sean Hughto]

You might want to try a live center with a point instead of a cup?

[Keith E Byrd]

The cup center has a point - more info on a live center?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Keith,

A live center has a revolving section. It uses bearings and therefore turns with your turning. It should not cause your wood to smoke.