A lot of firsts for me!

[Lee Alkureishi]

Hi all,

Started a new project, representing a lot of new things for me. Most went well, but with a few hiccups. Here goes:

- First time attempting a hollow form. Quickly realised that my oland and bowl gouge weren't going to work for the nooks and crannies so, I decided to make a couple more tools using 5/8" steel rod and 3/16" HSS cutters. Here's the results:
230128230130

To my surprise and delight, they work great! The stabilising bar really helps with the torque, but I'll need to pad up the handles better - my fingers are still tingly from the beating they took!

- Next, I realised the angles I needed to hold the tool wouldn't work, as the lathe is up against a wall. So, for the first time I rotated the headstock. Worked great, rock solid!


230126

- First time attempting a really thin-walled vessel. It went well, up to a point...
230125

- nicked the lip of the vessel on my way out - disaster!
230124

- Decided to salvage the remainder of the piece, turning it into a bowl instead of a closed form.
- Also my first time using light to gauge the thickness of the wall - very handy!
230127

- So here's the finished result. I'm pretty pleased with it, though it still has a few problems. Seen in the pic above, there are some cracks that developed in the wall. This was a very green ash log, cut into a bowl blank 2 days ago. I roughed out the outside same day, then stored it in an airtight tub full of the shavings until I could hollow the inside yesterday . Even as I was hollowing, the cracks started developing - I'm guessing because of the delay. Had originally planned to rough turn it, and dry it after DNA soaking. But, after I noticed the cracks I decided just to finish turn it and see what happens. Hopefully they don't keep going!

230132230133

- Still have to reverse mount it and turn off the foot, but I'm hesitant to take that step as the bit where the tenon meets the bowl is REALLY thin - got a little overeager with the hollowing there! I'm also not sure whether to use cole jaws or a jam chuck, as the wall is super thin and I don't want to mar it or worse, break it. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks for looking!

[charlie knighton]

Lee, great job, the only way to get experience is jump in, you have seen some demos somewhere and are pretty handy at making tools, keep adjusting your tools and your forms, you are climbing the learning curve, enjoy

[Eric Gourieux]

Nice job, Lee. Isn't the learning curve fun? You might consider purchasing a handle. Your tools should fit, although you may need to shorten the handle on your tools. That will help alot with vibration and tingly fingers

[Breck Whitworth]

Lee if you have the long rubber inserts the ones that are about 1-3/4 to 2" long I would use the cole jaws because the pressure would be on the curve instead of the fragil rim. If not use a jam chuck with some soft foam (not rubber) between the base of the jam chuck that fits into the bottom of your bowl. Turn a round diameter piece with a soft concave shape that is wide enough to fit into the bottom of your bowl. Should be fine either way. If you have the long inserts for your cole jaws I have placed a thin piece of soft foam around each screw-in cole inserts to prevent any marring of my surface.Good Luck
Beautiful bowl out of this experience though!

[Jim Burr]

Looks like a learning day and productive as well! I learned the hard way about vessel/hollowing tool protocol. Looks great so far!

[Eric Holmquist]

Looks like you are having fun! I decided to learn to make hollow forms for 2012. I've been making tools and experimenting with forms. I've blown up a few but have succeeded at more. Keep it up, it gets more fun as to work at it.

[Lee Alkureishi]

Thanks for the feedback!

I don't have the longer cole jaw foam inserts - will need to look at the shorter ones and see if they're long enough to hit the rim. Unfortunately, been stuck at work for the last 24 hours or so... will eventually get back to the lathe (and my wife!).

Eric: You mentioned shortening the handles to help with vibration, but I thought that the longer handle was necessary for leverage on deeper hollowing? Although, the larger tool handle is maybe a little overkill though! I was thinking about using some dishwasher hose for a soft touch, then filling the handle with silicone caulk or lead shot to lessen the vibration... I much prefer a homemade solution rather than storebought :) Will report back on how successful it is!

Thankfully, the cracks don't seem to have worsened much so far (at least, the last time I was home to look!) - hopefully it's done cracking...

[John Keeton]

Lee, hope you were able to shake loose from work! It sure gets in the way of fun.

Well, you learned the number one rule on hollowing - never withdraw a hollowing cutter with the lathe spinning!!! My guess is, most all of us learn it the same way - but, it is a lesson learned quickly.

I would think a jam chuck would be the preferable way to remove the tenon and leave a short foot. All the stress would be against the tenon and none on the thin area coming off the tenon. Any other method will put stress on the union of the tenon and form with bad results! You are still going to have to use caution when refining the tenon. I do think this one needs a slight foot on it for some lift, and that is good as you probably would not be able to completely remove the tenon without creating a funnel from this one.

[Steve Schlumpf]

John is right - shut your lathe off BEFORE removing your cutter! Only have to blow turnings up a few times before you remember that rule!

Also, when turning green wood, get a spray bottle, fill it with water and spray down the turning whenever it starts to dry out. That usually keeps the wood from checking and once it is done... then you can DNA it.

[Ken Glass]

Lee,
Great save. Experience is the best teacher. All of us can relate to your problems and solutions too. The more you turn the easier it will all get. Kepp up the good work.