Order of tools while turning a standard bowl

[Sam Beagle]

So I am rather new, but I'm loving turning. I have the roughing out figured out pretty well. But I'm having trouble getting my bowls insides cleaned free of marks from the gouge. I have watched hundreds of videos. But I just can't seem to get them clean enough off the gouge. I just ordered some easy tools carbide tools. Hope this helps. Can someone explain what they finish off with.

[Roger Chandler]

Do you have a secondary bevel where the heel is ground off a bit on your bowl gouge? If not you can get bruising of the fibers and they are simply tool marks that are hard to sand out. You should try this to see how much it improves the finish off the tool.

[Grant Wilkinson]

Are the marks at all depths? If you are getting more marks at the transition between wall and bottom or along the bottom, it may be that you need a "bottom feeder" gouge. The angle of the bevel can be upwards of 65 to 70 degrees. It allows you to keep the bevel supporting your cut all the way through the transition and across the bottom. Also, depending on how deep your bowls are, be mindful of how far over the tool rest you are cutting. If you are too far out, you'll get chatter.

[Thom Sturgill]

The shorter the bevel the tighter a radius you can cut with the tool without having the heel dig in. 1/8" top bevel should be plenty. Grind away the area below this bevel to relieve the heel. Do this in a couple of steps if you need.

Roger is quite correct that this is the most common cause of tool marks on the inside. They are harder than the surrounding wood as they are crushed (compressed) fibers and are very hard to sand out. The other main cause is not using the bevel at all. This leaves ridges which DO sand out.

If you are not doing a smooth curve, rim to center, but fairly straight sides and flat bottom, then changing gouges is probably required.

[Reed Gray]

Sam, short of a one on one session, it is hard to guess what is causing the tool marks. First is sharp tools. Second is presenting the tool to the wood so it cuts clean, and you don't get catches. Third is moving with the tool as it cuts so you get a smooth surface. It isn't an easy dance to figure out though. As the others have said, removing most of the heel of the bevel helps get through the transition and across the bottom of the bowl. Most transition areas need a 60 to 70 degree bevel to get through. A sharp heel will bruise the wood with marks that you can't sand out. Other than that, if you are getting ridges, your steering wheel is loose, which is the moving with the tool as you cut part. I don't know if you have seen my video clips or not, but most of it is devoted to bowl turning, and covers all of the above. Type in robo hippy on You Tube.

robo hippy

[Pat Scott]

I would have suggested buying a negative rake scraper instead of the Easy Wood Tool. A NRS (Negative Rake Scraper) will not catch, it will remove tool marks and will smooth out the inside curve.

[Sam Beagle]

Ok. I will look into that scraper. Thanks.

[Bill White]

Watch Reed (Robo Hippy). You'll learn a BUNCH.
Bill

[Reed Gray]

Thanks Bill.

For me, the jury on negative rake scrapers is still out. I have had good results with end grain turnings, but with bowls, it is another matter. Since they are still scrapers, they can leave some tear out. How much seems to be determined by the wood. For sure, better results with harder woods like Myrtle or Locust, but not so good with softer woods like Big Leaf Maple. They are good for leveling out tool marks/bumps/humps, but I still prefer a shear scrape.

robo hippy

[steve worcester]

practice practice practice
It is more technique that you think.
A shorter bevel helps, but only if the sides are too steep to allow the bevel to ride. But a shorter bevel is more difficult to ride than a longer one. Additionally, the idea of a short bevel is that the bevel is causing too much heat build up and causing burnishing.

[John Grace]

While there are a number of variables, the EWT 'finisher' will give you a reasonable finish across the bottom with minimal marks provided the tool edge is sharp and the wood is on the harder side. I recently purchased and have been learning the 'fluteless' gouge that Doug Thompson sells...it gives me a far cleaner finish than my EWT finisher as is great along the bottom of bowls and in difficult transition areas. I also recently added a 1/2" thick round nose scraper to my collection...with a sharp burr edge it does a very nice job cleaning up end grain on the outside of my bowls. Reed Gray's videos are wonderful and in one of them he demonstrates the same procedure using several different tools...that may help you also. Good luck...John

[Reed Gray]

The best advice I ever heard about bevel rubbing is 'the bevel should rub the wood, but the wood should not know it'. I still struggle with this because as soon as things don't feel right, I want to clamp down and use more pressure, where the light touch does a better job. Well, except for roughing....

robo hippy