McNaughton Coring

[Reed Gray]

After reading Mark's interview, and his comment about wanting to get the McNaughton coring system and it being so expensive, I had to comment. I am one of those people for whom need has little or nothing to do with buying a tool. Of course I bought the whole McNaughton coring system. Of the 11 blades, I use 3 of them 90% of the time, the 2 more curved blades of the standard set, and the most curved blade of the mini set. Perhaps 9% of the time, I use the other mini curved blade. You don't HAVE to buy the entire setup. That cuts the price from about $540 to about $290. If you sell your bowls, this will pay for itself with about 10 cores in the 8 to 10 inch range. The Woodcut coring system is in the same price range, about $263 (Craft Supplies).
robo hippy

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Thanks Reed! A coring system is in the near future for me! Time to start researching. How does the Woodcut coring system compare to the McNaughton. Ever use it? I have also been eying the Oneway system but it seems restricted. Thanks ,Kurt

[Reed Gray]

I just did a demo for the Northwest Woodturners on Thursday night on the 3 coring systems. As short as possible:

If I had the choice of only one system, it would be the McNaughton. It is so versatile, you can core deep cones, and platters as well as regular bowls. About the only thing that you can't core with it is a hollow form.The drawback is that there is a learning curve. They now have a laser pointer for it so you can tell exactly where the cutter is, so now I have no excuses for making lampshades. I think the pointer needs some tweeking yet, but the idea is good. I find it the fastest to core with and quickest to set up and use, and that is in part because I use it so much. Mike Mahoney has a DVD out on how to use it, or find some one to show you how. I will have a DVD out of my own, hopefully early next year.

Woodcut bowl saver is a nice little unit, notice I say little. The big blade is 5 inch radius, so a 10 inch core can be removed with ease. You can take lager cores, they claim up to 13 inches, but the bottom of the core will be concave, and you can loose some depth that way. It does connect to the tailstock (their way of dealing with the stresses of cutting out so far over the tool rest). I find this an inconvenience because I never have my tailstock on when bowl turning. It does work without it, okay on cherry, chatters a lot on black locust, but I don't recomend it.

The Oneway is the most stable, and I prefer it when I am coring bigger bowls, in the 14 inch plus range. The support finger that comes with is is nice. the down side is you have to turn off the lathe a couple of times while coring to advance the support finger. This isn't much of an inconvenience. The biggest drawback to me (besides the price) is sharpening the cutters. You have to take them off the blade, by unscrewing a hex head bolt that is packed with dust, then take it over to the grinder, then remount it onto the blade. I have never been able to get what I would call a satisfactory edge on the cutters. They now have a jig for sharpening the cutters (it isn't on their web page yet) which I have on order, and will try it out as soon as it gets here.

The other systems mostly need to be touched up with a diamond slip stone, or you can do light cuts on the grinder.
robo hippy

[Mark Pruitt]

Reed,
I'm glad you spoke up about this. The "complete" set does seem to be excessive, more than an average turner would need, but it's hard for someone with no experience in using it to know which cutters are "the most important" to have. Your assessment is very helpful and I hope other users will chime in and give their thoughts as well.
Mark

[Frank Fusco]

Reed, thanks for that info. Your advice brings the McN down to an affordable price range.
Looking at those systems in the catalog, they strike me as being feasible to use only with a powerful lathe. Is that an accurate assessment?

[Dario Octaviano]

Anyone know where the cheapest place to buy the McNaughton (standard) system is?

I've been planning on buying this sytem for a while now and with the new bigger lathe...it makes perfect sense to get one (sooner).

Also, I've read that the guides post is too short for PM 3520B and need to be adapted...is this true and how?

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Dario. I believe if you let them know when ordering they will supply the correct post with the order at no additional cost. Just the impression I've gotten from reading different threads. I might be wrong. I'm in the same boat as you with the PM. Reed! What would you get with the $290? I think it's time to start pushing my wife's buttons!

[Reed Gray]

HP needs are 1 hp plus. All of the coring systems use a cutter that is 3/8 inch wide with the exception of the McNaughton mini system, which is just over 1/4 inch wide. If you can take shavings that wide with your lathe, then it will core. For the demo I just did, they had the 1 hp Oneway. It will handle the job, but you have to go easy. I have the PM, and it has plenty of power. Of course, make sure your tools are sharp. If you have speed ranges, then use the lower speed/higher torque range.

The post that comes with the tool rest is short, and you do need a longer one for the PM. They can send it along.

For the $290, you get tool rest, small and medium curve blades for mini and standard sets, and 17 inch handle. These are the prices in the latest Craft Supply Catelog. The Cutting Edge carries it, and I think that Lee Valley has it also. I think that you have to order it through Woodcraft, but they don't keep it in stock. I don't think that Packard carrys any of the KM tool line.

For what it is worth, I think that McNaughton needs to make a tool rest that will fit the 12 inch lathes for use with the mini blades. With the way it is now, it will have the cutter well above the center, and all systems need to cut at center height. The mini blades cut the easiest. You can get serious binding, especially as you get nearer to the center where the circle is a lot smaller.
robo hippy

[Jim Becker]

If I'm not mistaken, Bill Grumbine uses the McNaughton coring system. I'm considering one for "some day" myself. No matter what coring system you choose, horsepower is required. The more, the better. This is tough work on the machine as the knife gets into the wood very deep and there is a tremendous amount of friction involved no matter how "clean" you get the cut.

[Martin Braun]

If the place you order it from does not have the extra long post blanks, they will likely refer you to Greg Jensen (gnjensen at cox dot net). He is the North American tool rep for McNaughton and will ship you out a tool post blank very quickly. You then cut it down to size with a hacksaw.

If one really wants to go cheap, buy the standard rest assembly and one or two of the standard curved blades. That puts the cost at roughly $180 by craft supply prices. Then make a handle out of some pipe & allen screws. The handle does not have to be beefy as the post takes the brunt of the punishment.