new turner

[Paul Engle]

Hi all,
Dave Hout on DIY only turns green stuff , is that right? I tried a bowl of really hard euw ( U ) wood from Oregon and talk about howling , screamin bowl gouge, so much chatter I give up. wife dissapoint as i refuse to attempt to finish turning it. Any help would be great.
ata loss for chips
:(

[Mike Ramsey]

Paul, most of the work I've seen Dave do was dry I think.
I've never turned any (U) wood before but if you keep your
tool sharp and take light cuts you should be able to get thru it ok.

[Gary DeWitt]

I just turned some 8/4 VERY dry walnut yesterday, face grain with a bowl gouge, no chatter at all. Very sharp irish grind on the tool, honed with a diamond hone for the last shear pass. I keep the rest 1/4" from the piece or closer when possible. Only negative is, the tool and the shavings get quite hot! Not smoking, but enough to be very uncomfortable on the back of the tool rest hand. I found that backing off pressure on the bevel helped, but didn't completely cool off the cuts. Maybe look into your tool presentation, as in angles? Experiment a bit, looking for the sweet spot?
Let us know how it goes.

[Frank Kobilsek]

Paul

I am willing to bet you have two problems, maybe three.
1) Too fast. Chatter and and potentially air borne object injury can be caused by speed. Slow down your RPMs
2) Hard wood can be a challenge but not really that big a deal if your tools are sharp and presented correctly to the surface. Chatter can be caused by scraping with the gouge instead of cutting.
Maybe 3) You don't say how far you got on the piece of yew. If it was still out of round, she's gonna bounce. Again speed and tool presentation are key.

Please find a local turner to give you a quick lesson for your enjoyment and safety. I guarentee your wife will be more disappointed in an injured you versus a wasted peice of yew. If you can't find a club or mentor practice on softer stuff for a while but advice above should be applied.

Don't quit, we don't like to loose new members to our weerd little cult here. Unless of course you have a brand new high end machine and a few dozen exotic blanks we can pick up at your garage sales cheap next summer, then we feel guilty for about two minutes when we loose a new member.

Frank

[Bernie Weishapl]

Paul you got some good advice above. I will say again make sure you have sharp tools and take light cuts making sure the bevel is rubbing. I sharpen the tool for the last pass on the grinder and like Gary I use a diamond hone after that. I turned a dry black locust bowl back in Feb. which by the way was my first bowl and it is like trying to cut concrete. I was ready to throw in the towel and quit. I got some advice from some very savy turners who said slow down the lathe, sharpen plus hone your tools, and make light cuts. Paul it worked for me and can for you. As Frank said find yourself a place such as woodcraft or a local turner to give you some help. Don't give up now you will be fine.

[Lee DeRaud]

Paul, most of the work I've seen Dave do was dry I think.Yup. He did do one show on "twice-turned" bowls where they roughed out a green blank and then finish-turned a different (dried) one, sorta the way Emeril cooks a standing rib roast in 30 minutes. :D

[Paul Engle]

Ok , super flute sharpened on 1000grt wet stone , honed on hard arkansa , lathe minimun speed is 1100 rpm ( i know ouchhhhh) need electrical device to slow down motor ( varible speed for 1/2 horse would help) I do ok with other hard woods but the U is a real rock.I will try again, thanks for the advise.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Paul..........I had a couple of slabs of rock hard apricot given to me. I found like some of the above stated that presentation, light cuts and sharp tools were a requirement. I also found that taking light shear scrapes with the bowl gouge allowed me to take out the rough spots. Good luck!

[Andy Hoyt]

Ummm. Is euw (U) wood actually Yew?

If so - and while I have no hands on experience with it - I've heard that it can be very straight grained and makes great things like bows (as in arrows). For centerwork it should be just fine, for facework, your machine is spinning way too fast.

[Jim Young]

I would start off with some softer wood. The harder woods make controlling the tool a little harder. Cedar and mahogany are great. Once you get used to the tool positioning then try some harder woods. Wet wood is also easier to turn. I'm slightly (and I mean slightly) past beginner so the memmories are still fresh.