How I Remove a Recess

[Phil Anderson]

Awhile back I posted a video I made detailing how I remove tenons. There has been some talk lately about whether or not to remove recesses. I've made a video of how I do that. About 10 minutes long. Feedback appreciated. It's not high-production, just used my phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFnjpMcND7M

[Robert Willing]

I go about it almost the same way you do with the jam chuck. If it is a shoulder I use a carving gouges to remove the nib, but remember to brace the item against a solid stop to keep from taking off your knuckle from your finger. I liked your video.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

The manner you removed the recess is done commonly for that and the tenons as well, there are also other ways to do this when the regular manner isn’t as easy as something else, like with a natural edge deeper bowl, see pictures.

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And yes it can be done with vacuum if you have that and if there are no openings in the turning.

Sometimes the size or shape make for special ways to do the turning, like here where both the size or large openings made the piece to weak to put the pressure on it, I use the mega jumbo jaws most often as they are very flexable in how you hold a piece without damage safely.

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[John K Jordan]

Awhile back I posted a video I made detailing how I remove tenons. There has been some talk lately about whether or not to remove recesses. I've made a video of how I do that. About 10 minutes long. Feedback appreciated. It's not high-production, just used my phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFnjpMcND7M

Looks good. I didn't have time yet to look at the entire video so you may have mentioned this: one thing I remind people is whether they plan to either remove or leave the recess it is often good to shape the central part of the recess when cutting it. It looks like you may have done this in the example piece. That way, of course, the area under the jam piece in the tailstock is already shaped which simplifies things a lot (and lets you add more detail.) Forget that and it can be a lot more difficult to finish at the end and the options for detailing are more limited.

This piece was held in a recess which was a little larger than the flatish "donut" in the center; I cut the detail and sanded before reversing the piece.

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(I don't particularly like the result but that's beside the point!)

To protect the bottom I cut a 3/16" thick from HDPE plastic. I squeeze this between the work the the tailstock jam piece to protect the wood. I find that thickness is thin enough to flex a bit to conform to any shape on the bottom but thick enough that even a sharp steel cup on a live center won't mar the work. (Although I usually support with a piece of turned wood, even with the plastic.)

JKJ

[John Grace]

I've tried all of the above to varying levels of success which is why I recently switched to vacuum chucking. A pricey method but it gives me greater confidence in completing the bottom.

[Joe Frank Porter]

I turn a lot of bowls from green wood and use the recess. After my finished bowls have dried and finished warping, I sand the bottom on my bench top belt sander. This allows the bowl to sit flat and minimizes the recess. I do this just prior to putting them in the shops to sell.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I have turned a lot of bowls, though never as a production turner, I will take the time to finish my pieces, and hate a recess left in a bowl, so I take the extra step to remove or remodel it and add some extra cuts as decoration, also burn my name, the year it was made and the wood it is.

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