kabamm.... need some help please...

[David Coburn]

Well, I had a really nice natural edge bowl going but it got away from me... I was trying to go down an internal side to thin the wall a bit more and got a bad catch... I've got a lot of questions...

1) Question #1 is: "How do you go deep in a narrow bowl, almost a wide mouthed vase?"
maybe it is a wide mouthed vase... It's a total of 6" tall and at the widest spot the rim is also 6" wide. It quickly narrows to about 4" and goes straight down... maybe narrows a bit more.. It was definitely tight and I couldn't get my rest in a very good position.. I was hanging a long way off (at least in my novice mind, it was a long way off)... But I've been watching some of the youtube videos and it seems they hang a long way off in these situations all the time. I made it in to about 4" but it was getting very difficult to get deeper due to my tool rest, especially at the turn between the side and the bottom.. It was also hard just going across the bottom. I put my big tool rest away and got out the bowl rest I bought the other day, but it didn't really help much. I as able to get right at the center by reversing the direction of motor. I was trying to use a 1/2" bowl gouge and a 3/8" bowl gouge. I tried a scraper but I rarely use it and it didn't feel right (seemed really grabby) so I went back to my gouges...

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2) Also, is there any hope of salvaging this? I went ahead and put cynoacrylate into teh crack and then rubbed shavings all over it (inside and out).. I was able to stop some wet wood cracking the other day by doing this... I know it's not at all the same thing but I really hate to just give up on this one because it was going to be really nice... I've got some transtint dye that I had intended to use anyway, which would kind of camaflouge the repair.. Just looking for thoughts on how you guys might approach this fix or if it is even possible... Here's a picture of the actual crack (outside).. I don't have a really good picture of the inside gouged out area.. It only traverses about 1/4 of the diamater (maybe 1/3rd)...

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3) Lastly, what tools (cutters and supports) do you need to turn a vase (wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, and deep...)? This is basically what I was trying to do but either didn't have the skill yet (very possible) or was going at it incorrectly...

Here are just a few more pictures of the situation to give you more information. I would appreciate any help, advice, personal experience that you would like to share...

A few more pics..

I made about 4" deep:
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Widest point at rim is 6":
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The bowl tool rest that I was trying to use... 1st pic is right after the catch... second shows gives a little size reference for the rest:
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thanks,
david

[Dennis Ford]

I would call that a vase and use hollowing tools near the bottom. The rest looks like it worked well for a good ways but after that you were getting pretty deep for a bowl gouge. A bowl gouge would be perfect for the outside and a lot of the inside of this piece but a straight shank hollowing tool will be much easier to use near the bottom.

[Thom Sturgill]

I agree with Dennis and would add that with the pith running side to side it will move even if it does not crack, and will have to be thin and even to avoid cracking. The curvature that you have would make it want to push in on those two sides I think.

[David Coburn]

Would something like the Sorby Multi Tip Hollowing Tool be what you mean?

[Al Launier]

I'm not a turner, and this may be off track, but if the inside were bored before turning the outside, would that provide a way to better prevent an accident as you described & a better way to control the thickness. Just a thought.

[David Coburn]

It seems that Hunter hollowing tools and EZ wood hollowing tools also get a pretty good review.. Actually they come up a lot more than the above mentioned Sorby...

Yes, on the drilling out comment, but I'm still not sure that would have stopped my issue here.. I think it was more about the tool I was using and how I was using it..

thanks,
david

[David Coburn]

What would you guys think about the Mid Size #1 Easy Hollower?

david

[Dennis Ford]

I am not one of the many fans of carbide tooling for wood so can't comment on the Easy Hollower. Almost all of my hollowing tools are home-made, this tool is the style I recommend:
http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=packard&Product_Code=106210&Category_Code=tools-ellsw-hollo

[bob svoboda]

I'm happy with my EZ hollowers. They get where you need to be and will leave a very smooth surface if used correctly.

[David Coburn]

Thanks for the feedback Bob. I picked one up just a bit ago... I did a quick test and it will take a little getting used to for me... So far about the only tools that I've really been using have been my 1/2" & 3/8" bowl gouges and my standard 1/8" parting tool... The #1 hollowing tools doesn't feel like any of those but I'll use it till I get the feel for it...

cya,
david

[Bruce Pratt]

Hunter 5 and big half round scraper should do it.

[Harry Robinette]

You should turn the wall thickness as you go deeper NOT after you have already hollowed it. You should be able to get the wall to half of what I see here if you work it as you go deeper, with a hollowing tool or a custom tool rest that you can keep control of your tool.
That's how I was taught and it's worked well for allot of years.

[David Coburn]

Harry,

I was turning the wall thickness as I was moving downward into the bowl/vase. The catch happened at a depth of about 4". Wall thickness all the way down to about 3.5" was just under 1/4". I was pushing down the side of the wall and just starting to make the corner to move toward the center when I got the catch. Your point about a "custom tool rest" is a good one for sure. I have three tool rests: 1) the large straight one the came with my 1624-44 lathe, a small one that came with my now gone HF lathe, and the small bowl tool rest you see in the pictures... I used the large one for most of what you see.. I had done the last inch with the bowl rest, but it didn't really provide the support that I needed the way I needed it... I was hanging pretty far off the tool rest when the catch occurred and I think the lack of support up close to the cutting edge is the main reason it happened...

I bought the EasyWood #1 straight hollower today and will be using it on the next deep bowl/vase that I do...

thank you for your input.
david