1st turn from new lathe

[Jack Wood]

I got a Delta lathe and a Jet bandsaw(stealth gloat:D ) for fathers day and a Oneway Talon chuck with it.(posted pics in general woodworking already) I have never turned anything using a chuck so this was a test. I have been using a lathe that my grandfather bought in the late 50's early 60's from Craftsman and loved it for what it meant to me but oh man what a diiference this new lathe is!:D I hope to take some turning classes soon so I can make use of what this setup can do. Heres some pics.

[John Hart]

Nice Bowl Jack...Ash I presume? I bet your family is pleased to see the equipment put to such good use!

[Cecil Arnold]

Good first bowl, you'll love turning on that Delta and since you've been turning already you know how addictive it is. Say goodby to flat work.

[Dennis Peacock]

Looks really good there Jack!!! :D

Nice shape to the bowl and looks like you did good on sanding as well. How did you finish the bottom of the bowl? Do you have a compression chuck or a set of cole jaws? Just wondering.

[Jack Wood]

John the wood is Royal Paulonia. Dennis The bottom wasn't all that great, I tried to sand it flat but it was a little ugly. I need to learn how to part the tenon properly. The chuck is a Oneway Talon which compresses the tenon but can also expand, but I'm not sure what a "cole jaw" is:rolleyes: Cecil your right about the addiction, but at least it's legal!:D

[Raymond Overman]

Jack, that is a nice looking bowl. It looks like you're well on your way to being comfortable with the new tool. Which Delta did you get by the way?

As for chucking to clean up the bottom, cole jaws are the large diameter jaws with buttons to grip the rim of the bowl while you finish the bottom. They're useful but the same thing can be accomplished other ways too.

Such as:

A jamb chuck - Take a scrap of wood and turn the turning around so that the jamb fits in the bottom of the bowl. Bring the tailstock up and remove the tenon. Use a sharp wood chisel or carving chisel to remove the final small piece from the center. Sand. (This is my favorite method and seems to work well for me)

A compression chuck - Take a disk and a ring of material attached to a faceplate and compress the bowl between the two, holding it with bolts. You then have complete access to the bottom of the bowl. Instead of a ring, you can also use duck tape or packing tape to hold the bowl to the center of the disk.

A router jig - use a router jig to remove the tenon with a straight bit.

A textured foot - Use texture around the tenon to hide the chuck marks. Leave the tenon where it is and it becomes a foot.

[Ernie Nyvall]

One heck of a gloat Jack. Congratulations!! The bowl looks good. I like the rim.

Ernie

[Jim Ketron]

Nice Job Jack! The Talon is what I use also Love it!
Here is a Homemade set of cole jaws I made

[Jack Wood]

Jim can you elaborate a little on the the "Cole Jaws"? Ray I got the 1440 Delta. Thanks Ernie!

[Dennis Peacock]

Jack,

I can bring mine with me when I come to Huntsville very soon. You can borrow them and try them on a bowl bottom that's ready to be finished. I've seen cole jaw sets made from Baltic Birch plywood and they worked as well or better than my aluminum cole jaws.

The little black knobs you see there Jack are actually rubber "knobs" that have a screw center. You adjust them to fit slightly larger that your bowl with the jaws open. Put the bowl in the cole jaws, rim against the cole jaws and tighten the rubber bumpers onto the rim of the bowl and voi-la...it's held in place while you make "lite" cuts on the bottom and finnish the very bottom of the bowl.

Make sense?

[Carole Valentine]

Nice work, Jack. I have some of that Royal Pawlonia and gave up trying to turn it. It was so soft I had two tenons break off with very minor catches. Mine is plantation grown so it is really soft compared to the wild Pawlonia. Maybe I will try it again now that my truning and sharpening skills have improved a bit over what they were when I tried it before.

[Ed Scolforo]

Jack: GREAT job on that bowl! I hope you enjoy your new lathe.
Ed

[John Hart]

I wonder if there are some plans out there for a homemade set of cole jaws? Jim's work is quite a ways out of my league but I'd be willing to try a 3/4" plywood version.

[Jack Wood]

Dennis I would really like to try the Cole you have when you come to visit! I will work up a bowl ready to finish. I, like John, would also be interested in plans to make a cole jaw. Carole I'm not really sure where this wood came from but I do believe it was harvested locally. A buddy of mine makes award winning Turkey calls and I get all of his remnants and wood that he say's isn't good enough, though it looks perfect to me!:rolleyes: It is a very soft wood and was a pain to finish out, very large cell size so you get those little areas that just won't smooth out. And having seen some of your work on this board I have no doubt that you will be able to work with it after some more time working it. Thanks Ed, I am already enjoying it and hope that as I learn how to use it I'll like it even more. It is much more powerful than my old lathe and the first time I turned a chunk of chittam wood that had a knot in it, it threw it across the room like a rocket!:eek: which is why I wear a face shield! Way to many rev's on that piece! So the learning curve is steep as of now:D