3 weeks later

[Jeremy Leasure]

It's been about 3 weeks since I got my new lathe. I've been busy practicing away with rough outs. Still have some problems on the bottom inside of bowls, particularly ones with somewhat wider flat bottoms. Just can't seem to get a good flat surface with a gouge or scraper. I know it doesn't matter on a rough out, but I wish I could get the hang of it. There are around 67 bowls in these photos. Species include gum, persimmon, pecan, ash, hackberry, walnut, sycamore, bradford pear (from a town called Bradford no less) and a few mystery woods. Also my hands are getting pretty sore.

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/um1.jpg


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/um2.jpg


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/um3.jpg


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/um4.jpg

[Jim Burr]

Ha!!! Are you kidding me!? I don't do that much in 3 months!! All that practice is paying off!

[John Keeton]

Jeremy, not only do you have a SERIOUS turning addiction:eek:, but I understand the EPA is investigating you for domestic deforestation practices!!!!:D

[Brian Effinger]

Wow! You are a turning dynamo, Jeremy. I may just sub any bowl turning out to you - it would be easier and far faster. :D

[Doug W Swanson]

Holy cow! When do you sleep? Some nice looking stuff there!

[Ken Glass]

Jeremy,
Wow, what a huge display of rough outs. Well Done. You are a monster.... As far as getting the bottom of bowls perfectly flat, I discovered some time ago the inboard Scrapper, and it made all the world of difference for me. Here is a link to some: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCSIDE2.html These happen to be the set I bought 4 years ago and use them on every bowl bottom. They are great for a final very light shearing pass also. Hope that helps.

[Bill Wyko]

Sheesh!! I feel the vortex pulling in your direction. There's a warp in the ozone and light is bending. Your a turning machine sir. Be careful and good luck.

[Chris Studley]

That a lot of work.. Does your temp really say 103 degrees? Nevermind... 1:03pm.

"the vortex is strong with this one..."

[Baxter Smith]

I can see why your hands would be sore! Quite the collection of roughouts!

[Primvs Aebvtivs]

That's a years worth of roughing out! (Well for me anyway!). Amazing standard, and a lovely selection of grain and forms there. Good luck, the vortex is stronger than I thought...

[Jeremy Leasure]

You know, I thought I was starting to get burned out. Then, I started getting faster at it. Then even faster. I'm still getting faster but it's about peaked I think. But the point it's getting more fun the more I do, because I can rough them out quick one after another and see what's in those logs. Hopefully when they all dry I'll improve to merely "glacial" from my current "petrified" speed at finish turning/sanding them.

Edit: I did 8 more small ones since I posted this thread. Please send help.

[Jeff Fagen]

I don't think I've seen anyone with such an affliction.:) Keep the photos coming I love it! My go to bowl gouge is Jamiesons 5/8 swept back grind gouge,works great for finishing bottoms.

[David DeCristoforo]

I believe this qualifies as a "passel" of bowls...

[Mike Cruz]

Busy, busy, busy... That is just sickening...

[Reed Gray]

Every cut is a practice cut. To learn to get smooth even surfaces, you have to learn to move the tool more with your body than with your arms. It is a dance. When moving, keep the handle constant. To get a flat bottom plate, straight tool rest, constant tool angle, finger pinched down on the tool for a depth stop, and slide gently along the tool rest. With a curve, it is the same thing, a curved tool rest helpful, but the curve never seems to follow the shape of the tool rest. Move with your body, and keep tool angle constant to the wood. Your accelerator is pushing with your handle hand, and you steer by pivoting your body. Steering must be smooth, and coordinated with the push. Takes a bit to get the hang of it.

robo hippy

[Bill Bolen]

Congrat's on that load of roughout's and the varied forms most especially. Be aware that your taste in forms is likely to change a bunch over the years so don't get to far ahead. You might just find yourself wondering why you liked a particular form so much when it comes time to finish turn. I did that to myself when I found a stack of smaller rough outs from 4 years ago.:(

[Doug Herzberg]

Every cut is a practice cut. To learn to get smooth even surfaces, you have to learn to move the tool more with your body than with your arms. It is a dance. When moving, keep the handle constant. To get a flat bottom plate, straight tool rest, constant tool angle, finger pinched down on the tool for a depth stop, and slide gently along the tool rest. With a curve, it is the same thing, a curved tool rest helpful, but the curve never seems to follow the shape of the tool rest. Move with your body, and keep tool angle constant to the wood. Your accelerator is pushing with your handle hand, and you steer by pivoting your body. Steering must be smooth, and coordinated with the push. Takes a bit to get the hang of it.

robo hippy

Poetry.

Jeremy, when do you sleep?

[Dan Forman]

Jeremy --- That's quite an assortment of bowls you have there! Looks like you could give ol' Hayes a run for his money at that rate.

One thing you might want to consider, given your difficulty getting smooth, flat bottoms, is to slow down, treat each green bowl as if it were a dry one, and spend more time practicing tool control, try to get each roughed bowl as smooth as you would a dry one. I think that's what Reed was getting at when he said "every cut is a practice cut". You will be far ahead if you work on your tool control when doing rough outs, as there is plenty of room for mistakes, whereas if you wait until you are finish turning, there is much less room for error. It will slow your pace a little, but you will be able to approach your dried rough outs with greater confidence, and probably be happier with the finished product. This is what I do anyway, and I feel it has been helpful.

Dan