Flying curls, anyone?

[Michael Stafford]

My wife has been helping me document some turnings and yesterday we were taking some pictures of a box hollowing operation I was doing with a spindle gouge. Gotta admit that is a nice stream of curls frozen in the air in this photo....:D

[Bernie Weishapl]

Looks good Mike. Kinda cool when they fly off in nice curls.

[Mark Cothren]

Your wife sure has some manly hands.....:eek:

Hey, don't tell her I said/typed that...:D

Nice pic there Mike...

[Michael Stafford]

Too late Mark, she is on her way to Arkansas with a switch. I told her to look for the 6'4" redheaded guy....

I just thought it was a cool picture with that ribbon frozen in the air....:D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Big Mike..........That is cool! When I first got my lathe Carole V. suggested I needed to turn some green wood. All I had been turning was kiln dried stuff. The first time I turned some green wood and got the "curl flow" going it was mesmerizing!

[Michael Stafford]

Ken, that is kiln dried Goncalo alves being turned in the picture. Some woods turn beautiful curls and some turn chips. This wood threw out long ribbons that stayed together for a long time.

[Mark Cothren]

Too late Mark, she is on her way to Arkansas with a switch. I told her to look for the 6'4" redheaded guy....


Whew! I'll leave my shoes off then cuz I'm only 6-3-1/2" barefooted...:D

[Dennis Peacock]

Nice pic there Big Mike!!!!!

Hey Mark...you'd better leave your shoes on.........:rolleyes: :p :D

[Jim Becker]

This spinny thing really is an addiction...it gets you by the curlies!

[Corey Hallagan]

That is cool! Mike, what kind of a grind is on that spindle gouge you are hollowing with. I didn't know you could do that with a spindle gouge. Man, that is a big mitt wrapped around it too :)

corey

[John Hart]

I'm impressed with the shutter speed! Sheesh....It even got a clear pic of the grain in the wood! Too cool!:)

[Michael Stafford]

Corey, I hollow boxes with a spindle gouge with a fingernail profile ground at about 55 degrees. It is a little shorter bevel than some of my other spindle gouges but I find that the edge is supported better with that angle and I have less chatter. It works well for me as you can see I was taking almost a 3/8" cut with no problem. It depends on the wood of course also.

Actually I have small hands....Just look big in the picture...The box blank can serve as a reference as it is less than 3" in diameter.

[Corey Hallagan]

Thanks Mike for the info!

corey

[Dick Strauss]

Big Mike,
Did I notice that the face of your tool points to the left in the pic? Are you just using a pull cut across the face or do you deep hollow this way as well?

I'm just wondering if I'm missing a new (better?) technique for hollowing boxes...

TIA

[Michael Stafford]

Dick, I use this to deep hollow. There are actually two different methods for using a spindle gouge in hollowing. You can use the back hollowing method championed by Richard Raffan where the spindle gouge is used facing the right hand side and is introduced to the wood with the flute turned slightly more than vertical and pushed and rotated into the wood. I find this method to be too aggressive for dry wood although I am sure that others will say that they don't have a problem.

The method I prefer is to introduce the gouge near the center of the blank with the flute aimed between 9 and 11 on a clock face, push in and sweep to the outside of the blank. If your gouge is sharp you will cut the wood grain cleanly. Some will argue that this is a scraping action but if you look closely at the picture I included at the beginning of the thread I think you will see the area behind the gouge is cleanly cut and not in need of much sanding. Of course the shape of the inside of the box will determine how effective this method is. If the box has a more or less rounded interior then the gouge is very effective at shaping and will greatly reduce the need for sanding. If the inside has straight sides and a flat bottom then the gouge can only be used to hog out the interior and the back hollowing method is faster and more aggressive. In the straight sided and flat bottomed box regardless of gouge technique used a scraper will have to be used to clean up the sides and bottom. At least by me...I guess there are more skilled turners who can turn an entire box without a scraper just as there are turners who hollow end grain for boxes with a bowl gouge. I just feel I get a cleaner cut with the spindle gouge ground the way I grind it.

Hope that makes sense. I would recommend reading Richard Raffan's book "Turning Boxes" for a better explanation of backhollowing. It is a tricky technique to master.

[Jim Becker]

Some will argue that this is a scraping action but if you look closely at the picture I included at the beginning of the thread I think you will see the area behind the gouge is cleanly cut and not in need of much sanding.

Properly done, "scraping" is a cutting technique, not an abrasive process...curls come off a properly prepared scraper just like they do off a gouge or skew. They are just smaller!

[Dick Strauss]

Mike,
I tried the method that Raffan shows in his video where he uses the 8 o'clock position for leverage and the 2 o'clock position for the actual cutting. I find that I quickly run out of any leverage using Raffan's technique. I have used your method but only in a shallow setting with a bowl gouge.

Can you post a pic or two of your spindle gouge so that we can see how you grind it?

TIA,
Dick

[Michael Stafford]

I will try to remember to get some pics this weekend. Please nudge me with a PM should I forget, Dick. I am actually using a detail gouge now with a much steeper grind. I like the extra steel under the flute in the detail gouge for hollowing. I will post pictures of it and some regular fingerground gouges that I also use for hollowing.

Oh, and to answer your question, no, it is not a pull cut it is a sweeping cut where the gouge is pivoting from the center to the outside. In this cut there is almost always a nipple in the center that is higher than anywhere in the cut.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Pretty cool Mike. Really though, how'd you get those ribbons to stand up like that.:rolleyes:

Ernie

[Tyler Howell]

More Spin Crack!!!:(
In flat land we sweep that stuff up and toss it.:rolleyes: :D

[Ned Bulken]

This spinny thing really is an addiction...it gets you by the curlies!
oh my, ow!:eek: