Don't you hate it when this happens

[Doug W Swanson]

I was coring out a large ash blank today when I had a little catch.

I wish it was just a 'little' catchhttp://www.penturners.org/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif. Actually it was a major catch and the bowl blank came flying out of the chuck and bent the coring tool. FYI the bottom knife isn't supposed to have that extra curve. Ugh.http://www.penturners.org/forum/images/smilies/mad.gif

Now I've got to see if I can straighten this thing back out again....

306459

[Doug Herzberg]

Doug, I think the tool is pretty mild steel, other than the tip. You shouldn't have any trouble getting it back into shape. Those catches while coring can be pretty spectacular.

[Scott Hackler]

Been there, done that! One of the only times I stopped my lathe completely. It took a while to get the blade "shaped" back to something close to the original shape. I investigated my situation and the catch was caused by the blade being below center and I wasn't cleaning the shavings often enough. Fixed those two items on the future cores and found that some WD-40 sprayed in the groove as I go along helps a bunch too!

[Reed Gray]

I do show how to bend them back in my coring video. Mostly clamp the tang in a good vice. use a big pipe wrench or an adjustable type wrench, and twist it back up. They are designed to bend rather than break. They also develop that twist from heavy use.

Being below center is a prime reason for catching, and being scrapers, on the inside of a bowl, you want them at center height or slightly above center. If it gets too far off either way (most often it is too low) you end up with a square peg (blade) in a round hole (the kerf/cut). When setting height for the tool, it is taught to put in the longest blade, and extend it all the way, then lift up on the handle. Well, that is fine for an unloaded cutting edge, but if you try to nibble off the nub with the coring blade after the core has been removed, the blade can drop an inch or so. Some of this is from loading, some is from flex that is in the blade and tool rest. While this skill is more in the master class, I can 'feel' when it is too low, and I actually push down on the handle to elevate the cutting tip. Yes, this means the blade is not supported by the top bar of the tool rest, and again THIS IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS OR SHORT HANDLES. Other than that, raise the tool rest a bit as you get closer to the center. It is difficult to measure exactly how high you have to go. For sure, higher on long blades when you are extended out. My rest collar is set so an unloaded blade cutting tip is about 1/4 inch above center.

robo hippy

[Doug W Swanson]

Thanks for the replies. I sent this photo to Kelton and he replied back within 24 hours. He then called me and asked for more pictures. I sent the photos last night and he's going to give me a call to discuss the situation.
Since this is a set I bought used, I'm not sure if the tip has been modified (I don't think so) but Kel wants to look things over in the photos. So far I'm pretty pleased with how Kel has handled the situation. I wasn't really expecting much but I hope to learn something from this for future coring projects!