Logs to bowls - a learning experience

[James Biddle]

OK, I've got Anchorseal is on it's way and I've started the process of turning these logs into bowls.

After getting tossed around while rounding out the first log, I now realize the importance of making the blanks as round as possible on the bandsaw first. Should I be using the cage for this step?
http://home.comcast.net/~jbiddle/pics/blank1b.jpg

I'm thinking of trying to split each of these into two blanks. What do you think?
http://home.comcast.net/~jbiddle/pics/blank1a.jpg

An unintended consequence of my lathe location is chips being tracked into the house. I may need to rethink it.
http://home.comcast.net/~jbiddle/pics/blank1c.jpg

[Kurt Bird]

Hi,
I just did exactly what you are doing earlier this week. Same lathe, too. Use the shield if it makes you more comfortable. Definitely use a face shield, and remember to use a sharp tool, if your'e not sure, then sharpen it. And, take your time! There's no rush, the process is fun, too! Unless you move the lathe outside, you will have shavings (boy, will you have shavings) that will be tracked inside. Good turning!
Kurt Bird

[Hilel Salomon]

You'll get very good advice from truly great turners, but in the meantime, let me tell you what I've found in those situations where I couldn't use a bandsaw to make the blanks really round. If you start from the backside (the tailstock side) and use a really heavy bowl gouge ( I use the 3/4 or 5/8" Crowns, the wear and tear on your arms will be reduced considerably. Sometimes, I'll let the gouge slowly sink in bit by bit rather than sweep in one continuous stroke. The ideal though is to make the blanks as round as possible.
Luck, Hilel.

[Steve Schlumpf]

James - I use my chainsaw to round out blanks by cutting off the corners before putting them on the lathe. I have a bandsaw but find it easer to just throw the blank on the lathe and then use sweeping motions from the tailstock side (same as Hilel) until I get the blank somewhat round.

[Rich Souchek]

Sure, bandsawing round turning blanks would be handy, but there is no bandsaw big enough in my shop.
I usually cut my turning blanks with a chain saw. Roughly, by eye, cut a trunk of big limb section off as a cookie. Then rip the cookie in half with the chainsaw thru the pith. Then put the piece on a cutting platform and cut off the 4 corners with a chaisaw.
That's all, but removing the corners a bit helps with the worst.
One other thing is I start to rough turn the blank from the tailstock end, truing up the end and putting a tenion there. Then start cutting the end and side corner with a winged" bowl gouge.
Rich s.

[robert hainstock]

You might give some thought to adding some heavy weight to the musterd by installing a shelf on those two suports on the stand. That big block of wood is is like a hammer head out there swinging on the end of a long handle. needs some weight on the other end of the handle, as it were, to hold it down. I have seen Steve Schlumpf's large Jet 1642 dance around pretty good and he has an awful lot of weight in the stand. I cannot imagine what it would be without the added weight. :):)
Bob

[James Biddle]

You might give some thought to adding some heavy weight to the musterd by installing a shelf on those two suports on the stand. That big block of wood is is like a hammer head out there swinging on the end of a long handle. needs some weight on the other end of the handle, as it were, to hold it down. I have seen Steve Schlumpf's large Jet 1642 dance around pretty good and he has an awful lot of weight in the stand. I cannot imagine what it would be without the added weight. :):)
Bob

I was able to run the lathe at around 300 rpm when I first put the blank on without any significant wobble. After rounding to a cylinder, I kicked up to about 600 and it ran smooth as silk. But, I'm not sure if those are optimal turning speeds or not.

I think the Jet weighs about 450 lbs (website). How much weight does he have on his shelf? The mustard weighs about 675 pounds with the extension. I've thought of adding a shelf and some weight to the lathe, but I don't have enough experience yet to know how much weight I need.

[Alex Cam]

I was able to run the lathe at around 300 rpm when I first put the blank on without any significant wobble. After rounding to a cylinder, I kicked up to about 600 and it ran smooth as silk. But, I'm not sure if those are optimal turning speeds or not.


Hi James,
Something to consider:
You don't need a bandsaw to easily round blanks. When I started off I either 'thunked' away at 300rpms or spun them in a friend's band saw. The thunking method sucked, and to be honest the bandsaw method scared me. Pinch the blade a few times with an uneven blank and you'll have to invest in new shorts!

Another method to consider (the one I use now) is balancing the blank between centers by progressively adjusting the balance point. You take a guess, then let it rotate between the point of the spur center and the point of the live center so the heaviest part spins down. Then you back off the tailstock a little, raise one side, and tighten the tailstock back up so just the points are engaged. Repeat until it's evenly balanced and doesn't swing down when you let it go.

With this method, you can spin all but the worst blanks up to ~1600 rpms fairly easily and round them off with just a few passes of your bowl gouge. All said and done, I can have a blank rounded off in about 5 minutes, and all between centers.

Once it's round you can re-adjust it to line up the grain or highlight a feature and then round it off again. Or you can turn a tenon, take it off and mount it on a faceplate, use a glue block, or whatever method you're most comfortable with.

[Reed Gray]

James,
There is no place that you can put a lathe and not track chips into the house, and that includes a detaches shop. Maybe if you wore a sterile suit???
robo hippy

[Dick Strauss]

James,
Please don't try to spin your rough piece at 1600 rpms as Alex suggested. 1600 rpms is fine if you have a narrow spindle but has no place with a rough wet piece as big as you've shown.

With EVS you have the option to go as slow as you need to go to keep the lathe from walking. There is no excuse for making your lathe walk with EVS for more than a few seconds while you choose the right speed (unless you want to kill your lathe in a hurry).

Rich and others make good suggestions! Don't be in too big of a hurry!

Good luck,
Dick

[Alex Cam]

James,
Please don't try to spin your rough piece at 1600 rpms as Alex suggested. 1600 rpms is fine if you have a narrow spindle but has no place with a rough wet piece as big as you've shown.

James,
Dick makes a good point, and you'd never be able to spin an out-of-balance blank that fast anyway. Your lathe would start walking and unplug itself from the wall in short order. And, you should never do something with a lathe (or any other power tool) that you're not comfortable with.

It's a common misconception that an out-of-round blank can never be balanced for fast turning. Most folks here use faceplates to rough their blanks, and you might get a blank perfectly balanced about the center of rotation 1 out of 1000 times like that since you generally don't adjust the position of the faceplate once it's screwed on. You round the blank in relation to the axis that the faceplate is screwed to, turn your tenon (or whatever) and drive on. It's the method I used when I started turning -- there's nothing wrong with it. I've been introduced to a different method that I'm more comfortable with now, and use that one (i.e. balancing between centers and spinning the blank fast). Someday I might find something else that I like better. That's part of what makes it fun!

Alex

[Bob Hampton]

Hi james
I would suggest if u can order the CD that Bill Grumbine sells about turning bowels ...I had the chance to see this video and he teaches a very easy way to learn how to turn bowels in my opinion a very good CD to invest in.

I do both the chainsaw method ..knocking the corners off and making an octogon or use the bandsaw.
When i use the bandsaw i make sure that i have a flat bottom to work with and take a disc the size I want for the bowl and draw a circle on the face side..then take it to the bandsaw and freehand cut around the circle ...I use a 1/2"x 3tpi blade and take my time ...i works well

Bob