Richard Jones
11-03-2011, 9:22 AM
211809211810 Sorry for the poor pics, but my wife absconded with this to sell at the store before I could get decent ones. About 14 x 6, no finish. These rougher ones have been moving quite well at the store, so I continue to improve with my tool usage vs. sandpaper. This one only has 80 and 120, and not much of that. A few things I learned:
1. I used CA (visible at far side of interior pic) when I was roughing this to stop a crack. The stain is very deep and I’m unable to remove it without doing the donut trick. I’ll be more careful with the roughouts in the future.
2. If you know you’re not going to sand something very much, you are much more aware of tool control and marks. I will certainly revisit this on subsequent pieces, even if they are finished quality. Good practice.
3. Some experiments with the brown paper bag drying method have revealed that the wood dries much slower with the bag than without. When I took this bowl out of the bag last night, MC was about 11%. This morning it was about 7%, which is about what my basement is. So, it might behoove me to remove a roughout from the bag a day or so prior to re-turning so it can acclimate. I have been fortunate so far that nothing has cracked, either in bags or not. I contribute this to them being in my basement, which will never be confused with the Sahara desert.
4. Placing shrink wrap over my vacuum chuck foam-edged PVC seems to really protect the wood from marking. Painters tape also assists in optimizing the vacuum if your wood is thin and/or porous (like hackberry!).
5. Trust your vacuum. In conjunction with sharp tools and the proper angle of attack, 18-20 on my gauge will hold just about anything. If you use the TS for extra support, don't overdo the pressure or you may mar your work. A sharp spindle gouge cutting towards the headstock puts less pressure on the piece than if you cut across the grain.
This is not meant to be a tutorial, just some ramblings that I thought someone could benefit from.
Rich
1. I used CA (visible at far side of interior pic) when I was roughing this to stop a crack. The stain is very deep and I’m unable to remove it without doing the donut trick. I’ll be more careful with the roughouts in the future.
2. If you know you’re not going to sand something very much, you are much more aware of tool control and marks. I will certainly revisit this on subsequent pieces, even if they are finished quality. Good practice.
3. Some experiments with the brown paper bag drying method have revealed that the wood dries much slower with the bag than without. When I took this bowl out of the bag last night, MC was about 11%. This morning it was about 7%, which is about what my basement is. So, it might behoove me to remove a roughout from the bag a day or so prior to re-turning so it can acclimate. I have been fortunate so far that nothing has cracked, either in bags or not. I contribute this to them being in my basement, which will never be confused with the Sahara desert.
4. Placing shrink wrap over my vacuum chuck foam-edged PVC seems to really protect the wood from marking. Painters tape also assists in optimizing the vacuum if your wood is thin and/or porous (like hackberry!).
5. Trust your vacuum. In conjunction with sharp tools and the proper angle of attack, 18-20 on my gauge will hold just about anything. If you use the TS for extra support, don't overdo the pressure or you may mar your work. A sharp spindle gouge cutting towards the headstock puts less pressure on the piece than if you cut across the grain.
This is not meant to be a tutorial, just some ramblings that I thought someone could benefit from.
Rich