Newbie Question

[Gregg Feldstone]

I took an 8" log and left it in the round and mounted on the lathe with the pith in the center. I am having a hard time hollowing it out with a bowl gouge, as its all end grain. The wood is possibly cedar elm.

[Jude Kingery]

Hi Gregg,

Probably lots of different ways folks orient their blanks on the lathe, but I prefer to half the log, then band saw the round half, and then turn it that way. So you turn with grain both sides and then cross-grain two sides if that makes sense. Might try that next time and see if you like it a bit better? I don't do many with a disc of a log because sometimes I'll lose the center ring - turn mostly Mesquite. Best to you! Jude

[Allen Neighbors]

Depends on how deep you're trying to hollow, Gregg. Bowl gouge is not made for hollowing deep and narrow vessels. It'll do on bowls, but when you have to go deep into a narrow piece of wood, there are numerous tools for hollowing that will do a much better job. An easy one and a cheap one to start with is an Oland Tool. http://www.aroundthewoods.com is a good place to look first for play-by-play instructions for making an Oland tool.

[Jim Kountz]

Gregg, as a fellow newbie turner myself I just asked a similar question not long ago. Do a search for "blank orientation". There were some great suggestions on that thread as well as a link to a pdf file explaining in great detail about how to mount your blanks as well as what to expect with each method as far as grain orientation and such. Very helpful!!

Jim

[Curt Fuller]

Gregg, one thing that makes endgrain hollowing a little easier is to drill a hole, about 3/4", in the center first. You can drill it with a drill press or on the lathe with a jacobs chuck in the tailstock, or even using a small gouge. But then instead of attacking the endgrain straight on and having it chatter and fight with you, you can work from the inside of the hole towards the outside. It smooths the process out a lot. Also, if you grind a scraper so that it has a curved end and an edge along the left side you can remove a lot of wood with it before making your final cuts. Hope that helps.

[Richard Madison]

Depending upon what you are making, drill the largest hole that is feasible. Drilling is easier and faster than hollowing. Pay attention to depth of drilling. Even with a Forstner the tip extends a little deeper than the depth of the main cut.