How do I ........

[Doug Whitson]

Chuck this thing up? I'm a newbie to turning.... I know...Vortex and all that and you are probably right. So I've got this bowl blank, I've got the outside the way SWMBO want's it, now, do I glue a "foot" on this? Do I Hot glue something to the bottom to put in my chuck? What's the best way to deal with this for a new guy? This is my first bowl so be gentle ok?

43665

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Doug........first off welcome to the vortex!

I'm a newby turner too. Hopefully somebody with more experience than I will respond. I've never done it .....I suppose you could glue a block to the bottoma and turn it to form a tenon.

For future reference, on the limited number of bowls I've turned, I've always turned the bottom like you've done but turn a tenon on it. Then I chuck up the tenon and turn the interior of the bowl. Then I use a compression chuck to turn the tenon off the bottom. I made a compression chuck/jig out of two pieces of plywood. One circular piece is bolted to my faceplate. The other piece is circular with a hole in the middle. I place the bowl between the two pieces and bolt the 2nd piece to the first piece compressing or capturning the bowl between the two. The allows me to turn the tenon off the bottom of the bowl. I hope this is clear?

Good luck with your first bowl! Turning bowls is a kick!

[Forrest Price]

Another option would be to turn a "recess" in the bottom of the bowl, and use your chuck in expansion mode to hold the bowl. The recess then becomes part of the bowl's design. Put a couple grooves in it for decoration if you like..etc.

Good luck, and Welcome!

[Doug Whitson]

I would like to have turned a tennon on the bottom but there just didn't seem to be enough material left over for a bowl if I did that. The fixture you made sounds like a cool thing to have. Any pics? At any rate thanks for the reply, guess I'll wait to see what the pro's thnink I should do. I'm surprised more haven't chimed in, maybe I did a foopah? I forgot to check the archives, my bad, sorry folks.
Later,
Doug in AZ.

[George Conklin]

Hi Doug,
I'm a newbie turner also. I've learned more from watching
Bill Grumbines videos. Highly recomended! www.wonderfulwood.com (http://www.wonderfulwood.com)

I'm sorry, but I can't explain what you need to do. I'm sure somebody here will be able help.

[Doug Whitson]

Thanks Forrest, that sounds like a nice way to chuck it up. How deep should the recess go?
Thanks,
Doug in AZ.

[Doug Whitson]

Thanks George, I'll think hard about the videos.
Later,
Doug

[Adam Howard]

When I'm working with dry timbers and want to make a bowl that uses the full thickness of the expensive wood, I usually glue on a block.

I plane or sand a flat spot on the blank and glue a 1x3x3 block on the bottom. I usually just put the blank on the bench, set the block on with glue, and put weights on top to press. I've got 3 25# weights I use for that. If I have a bunch of them, I can even stack them with the weight on top and do several at once. Let them set overnight.

If you're patient (which I'm not), you can use sandpaper on a flat block at the lathe to flatten the bottom. You can also use the tailstock for a little clamping pressure to set the glue block. But this way, you don't get to use the lathe until the next day. Since you have the profile the way you want it now, I'd use this method to glue on a small block to turn as the foot.

Once you have the glued block on, screw on a faceplate from the top. Do the spinny thing, turning the foot and shaping the outside profile. Then you can chuck and turn the interior.

As Forrest said, you can turn a small recess (expansion chucking). I prefer a foot because the bottom ends up feeling better somehow, but then you can ask 10 turners and get 15 different answers that will solve your problems.

[Doug Whitson]

When I'm working with dry timbers and want to make a bowl that uses the full thickness of the expensive wood, I usually glue on a block.

I plane or sand a flat spot on the blank and glue a 1x3x3 block on the bottom. I usually just put the blank on the bench, set the block on with glue, and put weights on top to press. I've got 3 25# weights I use for that. If I have a bunch of them, I can even stack them with the weight on top and do several at once. Let them set overnight.

If you're patient (which I'm not), you can use sandpaper on a flat block at the lathe to flatten the bottom. You can also use the tailstock for a little clamping pressure to set the glue block. But this way, you don't get to use the lathe until the next day. Since you have the profile the way you want it now, I'd use this method to glue on a small block to turn as the foot.

Once you have the glued block on, screw on a faceplate from the top. Do the spinny thing, turning the foot and shaping the outside profile. Then you can chuck and turn the interior.

As Forrest said, you can turn a small recess (expansion chucking). I prefer a foot because the bottom ends up feeling better somehow, but then you can ask 10 turners and get 15 different answers that will solve your problems.
Great Advice Adam, My thought was to glue on a piece of maple then make "sneaky" feet out of it once I had used it for a place to clamp. I take it that normal glue up procedures apply? Do you preferr CA, yellow, hide????
Thanks,
Doug in AZ.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Doug...........DUH! I didn't even think about turning a recess! Thanks Forrest .....I remember now you like to do that!

Doug .....it's a little early but I can tell you from my personal experience....you'll get plenty of replies here from the best this site has to offer! I got started turning here. I hassled the turners here and they gifted (?) me with a lathe and tools. My wife says they didn't get even .....they got ahead! Every since they "Bombed" me with my Jet Mini VS they have very generously answered my every question and didn't hesitate to positively comment or correct my mistakes!

I didn't know any turners locally and the nearest school is 120 miles away. I bought Bill Grumbines video and was gifted with Raffan's videos. I'd highly recommend Bill's video for bowl turning and Raffan's for general turning!

These turners are a loud but friendly and generous bunch!:)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Doug.........Here's the thread where I showed my hastily turned compression chuck. In the future I plan on making more rings with varying sized "holes" for different sized bowls, platters etc.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=34652

Good luck!

[Raymond Overman]

Doug,

I'll chime in with an opinion. I'd use a glue block with wood glue (titebond II) and leave it on the lathe. I'd bring the tailstock up to apply pressure to the glue block and apply clamps if possible. After the the glue dries, I'd turn the glue block down to an appropriate diameter for your chuck, reverse the piece, and remove the faceplate. I'd pull the tailstock up while removing the meat of the piece and finish it with sharp tools and the tailstock out of the way. After sanding and finishing the top, I'd reverse the piece with a jamb chuck and remove the waste block.

Though I've used the collett chuck method in the past, I'm not a fan of it now because it leaves a telltale sign of how the piece was held in the lathe. I've found that finishing the bottom so that someone has to ask, "How'd you do that," seems to produce more interest in the bowl.

You'll find that one of the first things people do when they look at a turned piece is pick it up and look at the bottom. I'm not knocking what other people have suggested. I'm just saying that the bottom, in my opinion, is easier to clean up with a tenon.

We want to see the finished product no matter which way you go so post a pic.

[Doug Whitson]

I hate to keep saying this but, Thanks Raymond, I have to admit I am more inclined to go with your suggestion, the only problem is the jam chuck. I have zero experience with one, I know what they are, but the thought of trying to make one with my limited experience just scares the crapola right outa me. I haven't seen anyone comment on the "sneaky" feet thing, is that passe' now? My initial thought was to glue a round on the bottom, use it for my "tennon" then sand, saw, grind, whittle, carve three or four little feet from the round? Sound doable?
Thanks,
Doug in AZ.

[Raymond Overman]

Doug,

A jamb shuck isn't that complicated. In fact, all you have to do for your short bowl / platter is put a doubled over rag (I use old blue jeans) over the jaws of your chuck and bring the tailstock up to the center point of your glue block (which should still be marked from where you turned it). Tighten the piece to the chuck and turn the tenon away until you have a nub about 1/4" or less. This should be easily removed with a sharp wood chisel and cleaned up with sandpaper.

[Travis Stinson]

You betcha. Turn a normal foot with the center dished out. I used a Dremel with a 1/2" sanding drum to remove all the wall of the foot except for the 3 legs, then power sanded to blend in with the body.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c213/tstin27/TS305a.jpg

[Doug Whitson]

That sounds easy enough. I thought a jam chuck had to the same size diameter as the ID of the bowl? I can see what you are talking about and it makes sense, no need to get all fancy and stuff. I liked the bowl/platter comment, it is kind of a cross breed. LOL OK out to glue it up.
Thanks All
Doug in AZ.

[Lee DeRaud]

My variation, at least for smaller pieces (up to the capacity of my Jet Mini):
1. Screw in the faceplate and put the blank on the lathe
2. True up the backside (if it's not flat already) with a square scraper
3. Glue on a disk of poplar with thick CA, using the tailstock as a clamp (and to center it)
4. Turn the outside and true up the poplar disk.
5. Chuck it up and turn the inside.

The disks I use are sized about 1/8" bigger than the point where the chuck jaws are "round", which is about 1/4" bigger than fully closed on my chuck...works out to about 1-3/4". And they're only 1/4" thick: that's plenty for the chuck to grip, and the stress is all at the glue joint so thicker really doesn't help. The advantage of using CA is that the lathe is always available, even if you don't want to leave the tailstock in place while you turn the outside.

Removing the waste-block and finishing the bottom, your choice of method...I use 3-4 different ones depending on the size/shape of the piece and how lazy I'm feeling that day.

[Doug Whitson]

So I followed the sage advice here and put a "bottom" on the bowl/platter. I let the CA glue set up, flipped it around, chucked it up and she wobbles like a Stop sign in a hurricane. Guess it's back to square one unless there is a way to make it straigten out. I turned the "foot" to get it round and make sure it was lined up with the center, what I forgot to do was make sure the bottom of the foot was square to the bottom of the bowl/platter. I hate being a rookie, I'm going to see if I can shim it out straight, if not, guess I will have to put the face plate back on and try it again.

Thanks all for the great advice and encouragment.

Later,

Doug in AZ.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Doug...........it should not be a problem. YOU DO NOT want that foot bottoming out in your chuck. The outside edges of the chuck should be resting on the shoulder/bottom of the bowl. Put it back on the faceplate and turn your foot thinner so it is NOT long enough to bottom out in your chuck. Does this make sense?

[Andy Hoyt]

I too vote for the jamb chuck approach.

If you get back to trying that method bear in mind that the chuck need not be big.

Before you reverse the bowl to hollow the interior be certain to mark the center of the glue block (or tenon).

After completing the interior, remove the piece from the machine and mount a scrap lump of wood (with a faceplate or scroll chuck) and turn this down to approximately match the interior curve of the piece (but don't get hung up on exactness) and with a diameter that is roughly the same size (or a bit bigger) than the tenon or glue block that you need to turn off.

For what it's worth, I make about one jamb chuck a year and leave it permanently mounted to a faceplate. Each time I use it. I true it up and am good to go. After a year or so it gets too small, so I make another. It is not a big deal and blows all of three minutes to make a new one.

Take the pin out of the live center and bring the remaining ring up to the mark you left in the center of the glue block (or tenon) and crank the piece up to the jamb chuck loosely. You remove the pin so that you can make minute lateral adjustments that the pin would make impossible. I use an old mouse pad as a cushion between the bowl and the jamb chuck. Just about anything will work fine.

Spin by hand to confirm everything is aligned concentrically. But don't gauge this by observing the rim of the bowl (ignore that) and confirm it by looking at the area you need to turn. Once it's okay, add pressure with the tailstock.

Light cuts with a small bowl gouge should remove the bulk of material - which should end up being about the size of a thimble.

Switch to a detail gouge, set the lathe to a moderate speed and remove as much of the nub as possible. With practice, you can remove it all by paring in with the gouge and just as the last fibers of wood vanish the gouge wedges itself between the bowl bottom and the nub that's hung up on the tailstock ring. Nothing falls apart or launches. I do this one handed so I can hit the kill switch.

Alternately, just get the nub small, remove from the lathe and carve/powersand the nub away.

Hope this helps.

[Doug Whitson]

Talk about blunders, I posted last, then went to look one more time why it was so wobbly. Turns out I did not tighten the chuck! DA mistake, I had mounted it on the bench and got so caught up in the mechanics that I forgot the chuck - will not happen again. I did not realize the "foot" piece I'm putting on had to be smaller than the chuck. Makes sense! OK, time to slow down and make this happen right, I'll reconfigure, trim the foot, and try again.

Thank you,Thank you,Thank you,Thank you,Thank you,Thank you,Thank you,

It may take me a month but I will turn this dern thing.

Later,

Doug in AZ.

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

I'll add something else here, for your next experiment since this one is already in the works. The sacrificial block is used by several turners, but another method you can use with the sacrificial block is a layer of kraft paper (grocery bag paper) between the sacrificial block and the workpiece. Use titebond, and when the piece has been completed, a tap with a sharp chisel should neatly remove the sacrificial block. You can then sand the remaining paper and glue residue off the bottom.

[Doug Whitson]

I've used that method before on a inside out turning I did. What a mess but I can see where it might be benificial in this case. The failure I mentioned ealier was a classic case of rushing things and not paying attention to detail. I'm going to slow down and rethink how I'm doing my prep work. That hunk of walnut (11X1.75") spinning freely at 600 rpm shook me up pretty good. It stayed on the lathe but only because I had listned to Andy and had put the live center on it. This is the second mishap with this piece. The first happend when I tried to use an angled scaper and dug in at lightning speed about 1/4" deep. I'm beginning to think this thing is cursed.
Thanks for the reply,
later,
Doug in AZ.