First bowl roughed out!!!!

[Barry Stratton]

Success! While definitely NOT the nicest looking bowl on this site, its my frst successful semi-round, kinda hollow bowl shaped thingie so I'm pumped!

Grabbed a chunk of firewood off the pile (lots of choices here - birch and spruce), hacked off a piece, bolted it to the faceplate and proceeded to vibrate it roundish. Unbolted and mounted to my new Grizzly chuck (You'll like it Stu!) and the fun began. Hit the "groove" with the spindle gouge and drilled to depth. Is that sweet or what? Almost went right thru the bottom as I was having so much fun. Swithced over to the skew and chips and curlies were a flying.

It's buried in a pile of shavings on the floor, going to stop and find some DNA tomorrow to give that a try. This stuff cracks like crazy but I'll see if I can save something out of it. About 6" wide and 5" tall.

I learned several things tonight:

1) Sharp is good,
2) dull is bad,
3) the grinder is your friend,
4 Sharp is fun,
5) dull is not so fun,
6) tighten your chuck really good,
7) my "cat like"reflexes are still there, and
8) I wanna do it again.

36397

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Man that is neat!

.......hey.......... when did you get that chuck..... last week....??

What took you so long.... :D

Cheers!

[Dave Fifield]

Good first bowl Barry :).

However, I'm a bit confused about how you turned it with a spindle gouge and a skew :confused: From the photo it's obvious that it's a chunk out of the side of a tree, so you must have had it mounted so the grain was at 90 deg to the lathe's turning axis. Therefore, AFAIK, you should have been using a bowl gouge to safely cut the cross grain (both inside and outside of the bowl). Maybe you changed the grind on your spindle gouge? If not, then I believe you should proceed with caution - I remember being told that using a spindle gouge on cross grain (faceplate turning) is very dangerous and a basic no-no. Was I told wrong? And, the only time I use a skew chisel on a bowl is (rarely) to take a very fine cleanup cut right before sanding....you say you had curlies flying off your skew....hmm?!

Dave F.

[Michael Stafford]

6) tighten your chuck really good,
7) my "cat like"reflexes are still there
36397

Those two statements sound like they could result in a contribution to the "bowl launching" thread.:D Just remember, Barry, you may be fast but you ain't 1200 rpm fast. A bowl can hit you three times in a blink at that speed.

Nice job. Your rough out looks nice and I hope it stays together for you.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

From what I saw in using the identical chuck today, the tenon on the bowl should be straight, or flat, NOT dovetailed, correct?

I found that with the C-man lathe's spindle lock/indexing stop engaged, the two bar attachment system was really easy to use.

This chuck is no Oneway or Nova, but for the money, it seems really good.

Oh I can't wait to get back down there and try it some more :D

Cheers!

[John Hart]

From what I saw in using the identical chuck today, the tenon on the bowl should be straight, or flat, NOT dovetailed, correct?....

Stu...I think I know the chuck you are talking about. If you look at the edge of the jaws, they are dovetailed. You should turn your tenon to match that. The dovetail offers some significant holding power and stability. Found this out the hard way.:o

Hey Barry! Nice Bowl!!!! It's gonna warp so don't get discouraged when it does. Looks like you left plenty of wood there to get it round again after drying. Way to go!:)

[Jim Dunn]

Sheeeeesh, don't you guys ever sleep?? Oh wait I forgot there ain't anywomen in Alaska:(:o:). Very nice 1st bowl. Barry

[Jim Davenport]

Great start, I love natural edge stuff.
Welcome to the "bowl chasing olympics". I've chased a couple accross the magic garage.
I think the "Vortex" that we slipped into somehow alters the "space time continuum thing". One minute you're happly turning, the chips are flowing. Then in a flash your bowl disappears, and reappears on the other side of the shop:eek:
You're right about sharp tools, I sharpen mine several times during a turning session.
I've also figured out that specially with green wood every once in a while stop and tighten the chuck!!
Another thing I've found is to put a plastic washer on your spindle before you thread the chuck on. It keeks the chuck from binding on the shoulder of the spindle, and makes removal much easier. I was lazy and bought a couple at the woodcraft store, but you could easly make one

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Sheeeeesh, don't you guys ever sleep?? Oh wait I forgot there ain't anywomen in Alaska:(:o:). Very nice 1st bowl. Barry

Low blow, low blow!! ;)

At least the sun come up over the horizon for a few hours a day now....... ;)

http://images.grizzly.com/grizzlycom/pics/jpeg500/G/G8783.jpg

This chuck,

"G8783 4-Jaw Chuck For Round pc. - 3/4" x 16 TPI"

Dunno, but the inside there looks fairly straight to me.....

[Mark Cothren]

That's a great start, Barry! Look forward to seeing it finished up!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Way to go Barry! You are the Man!......Standby for sticker shock on that DNA. I paid $13.00 a gallon....I can only imagine what it'll cost you in Alaska! Good Luck with that NE wet bowl!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Hey, can't you get Everclear up in Alaska....?

95% :eek:

[John Hart]

Here's the dove tail illustration Stu. Look closely at the side profile of the jaw and you'll see that it is dovetailed on the inner diameter and the outer diameter.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Yes sir, you are correct, I forgot to mention that I found that out tonight.

Cheers!

[Ed Scolforo]

Barry, Nice work. Looks like you got a really smooth finish on the wood. Keep them coming!
Ed

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Welcome to the vortec, Berry. It only gets BETTER!

Bruce

PS: forgot to mention....................High Praise for trying one of the hardest bowls as your first! NE's are tough!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Hey Barry nice job. Looks like you are moving along. Like Bruce says it gets easier and better from here on out.

[Corey Hallagan]

Barry you did a NE as your first! That is just cool! Nice job and I hope it finishes up good for you!

Corey

[Jeff Horton]

.....Standby for sticker shock on that DNA. I paid $13.00 a gallon....I can only imagine what it'll cost you in Alaska!g,

All you need is at the local farm suspply. Some corn, some copper tubbing, a big pot....

[Barry Stratton]

Thanks for all the kind words. Yet another "first" I'll always remember!

Ken - DNA at Ace Hardware in Anchorage AK - $11.99/gal. They can order 5 gallons for me at $42.00. Milk is $3.99 a gallon - go figure!

I waasn't very clear last night when I typed this up so.... I guess I'll be more clear on what I did - I used my roughing gouges to make the outside round and form the profile. The only thing I used the spindle gouge for was to "drill" the bowl before hollowing. I've read about that here and in Rowley's book, so am assuming it was safe. Also, I used the skew to hollow it out as I don't own a bowl gouge (yet). I could of swore others here do the same thing. And I got a bunch of thin strips of wood 2-4 inches long while hollowing so called them curlies. I'm a rookie, so what do I know......

I really, really do appreciate the comments, critiques, and concern for my safety. Heck, at work, most folks are cheering for the bears to win....

Thanks!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Barry.....John Hart uses a skew and a scraper IIRC to make his bowls......

[John Hart]

Barry.....John Hart uses a skew and a scraper IIRC to make his bowls......

Yep....And I enjoy it too!! :) :) :)

[Mike Ramsey]

Good looking bowl Barry! Keep em coming!