Red Oak Core

[David Delo]

I received as a gift the McNaughton Center Saver and decided to give it a first try today on a chunk of red oak. Never used a tool like this before and to look at these curved knives and think sure I can make a bowl with these things was a little intimidating. Overcame a couple obstacles but at the end of the day, I got 2 decent bowls out of 1 blank so that's a plus. Forgot to put the machine in low range so I stalled a couple times before changing the belt. Don't know exactly why but you can see the little hiccup about half way down the side wall. Once getting past that, things went smoothly until the end. A little clean-up on both bowls and presto a 12.5" x 3.5" and 8.5" x 2.5" rough-outs. I'll probably have plenty of opportunities in the future but at least for now I can say I've done coring and never made a funnel!!!!! Big shout out to Dale Bonertz, Bob Hamilton and Reed Gray for their YouTube videos. I would have never figured this out without watching their videos multiple times. Thank You!
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[Dale Bonertz]

Good job. It gets easier with practice like any tool. Have fun.

[Dale Bonertz]

BTW I am in the middle of roughing and coring about 25 red oak rounds. Anywhere from 12" to 18" rounds (blanks).

[Thomas Canfield]

I bet you get better by the 24th. Good luck. Looks like you have had some success.

[robert baccus]

Looks really nice--good luck

[Pat Scott]

Good job for your first core. The hiccup is a good thing - it shows that you shifted your entry to go deeper. If you had kept on the current path, you would have ended up with a shallow inner core. Don't be surprised if you stall your lathe even with it in low range.

[David Delo]

Thanks for the comments. 2nd try went a little smoother with a blank almost identical to the first. Got rid of the hiccup bump on the outside of the inside bowl this time and it turned out with uniform thickness well. Still a clumsy operator with this rig but a better experience than the first. Couple adjustments were raising the cutter height a little bit. First time was pretty much center height, this time a heavy 1/16" higher. First time, I used a diamond stone but this time I took the tool to the grinder first for a burr. Only problem now is I'm out of cut up wet blanks so I guess it's time to throw the chainsaw in the back of the truck and find some more.