Different Green Wood Turning Question

[Mike Minto]

I have some green wood, mostly cherry, and want to turn it into bowls. I have done a couple rough, and put them in brown paper bags to 'season'. As they are drying, they are going oval in shape, somewhat. Having turned a tenon onto them, which are becoming oval, as well, how do I chuck an oval tenon on my round 4 jaw scroll chuck? Also, in a rough turned green blank, I'm having parts of the surface remain VERY rough, rougher than the rest - I think it's end grain - is this normal, and will it smooth out as I think it will, after it dries and I finish turning it? Thanks for any help, Mike

[Bill Bolen]

Everything u describe is the norm. Seems the wetter it is the more it ovals. Once dry just put it between centers and re-turn the tennon. If the walls/bottom are to thin to use your drive spur center then just use a jam chuck so you can get it spinning till you have a good tennon again. It is a lot easier than it sounds...bill

[Steve Schlumpf]

Mike - so far everything sounds normal about the way your bowls are drying. When it comes time to finish turn the bowls - getting the tenon round again is fairly simple.

Use your 4 jaw chuck and open the jaws up. Place the bowl over the chuck jaws (tenon faces the tailstock) and use the tailstock to hold the bowl in place. Hopefully you still have a center divot on the tenon from when you roughed out the bowl blank - if so, use that same spot for the live center. If you don't have a divot - just center everything as best you can on the tenon.

The bowl is held in place by friction with the chuck jaws and also from pressure applied by the tailstock. With just a few cuts your tenon should be round again. I usually reshape the outside of the bowl during this setup also - saves time.

Hope that helps. If you have any more questions - feel free to ask!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Steve does it just like I do. Works very well with light cuts. I reshape the outside and the tenon then reverse and finish. Don't worry about the chuck being in direct contact with the inside of the bowl because when you reverse it all will be good when you finish the inside.

[Mike Minto]

thanks, guys, all great ideas. while i've got you here, I also have a set of the large Cole jaws Nova makes - they wobble some when they spin - is that normal? It makes it hard to finish the bottom of things evenly. thanks as always, Mike

[robert hainstock]

They shouldn't wobble. Is something loose? Maybe a puicture would help us help you. :eek::eek::)
Bob

[Allen Neighbors]

By "Wobbling", if you mean it turns "out of round" when you mount it on the Cole Jaws.... Try bringing your tailstock up to the center of the tenon, before tightening the jaws. See if that does the trick. Sometimes it will go out of round a little bit when you're finishing the inside, and that makes the alignment a little out of round when you mount it on the coles. HTH.
As a side note: I made a Longworth chuck, and it far surpasses the Cole Jaws. I finally gave the cole jaws to a friend that had a Nova Chuck.

[John Sheets]

Mike,
Get Bill Grumbine's instructional video. It will answer all your questions, and also ones you haven't even thought of yet.

[Frank Hasty]

I'm brand new to this great site, but I have done a little of that, and here is what I found. Yes the wood is going to move as long as there is a substantial difference in moisture between it and it's surroundings.
What I did was to cut a flat spot across one end of the green blank, and to it cemented a 2" thick scrap with "Gorilla Glue" and clamped it over night. That glue works very well with moist surfaces, it expands and fills voids very nicely and it isn't tough on tools.
I then screwed the scrap to a faceplate and rough turned the bowl leaving 2" dia. tennon on the work so that I could later hold that end with the chuck if I wished. After that it went into a paper bag to dry.
It is almost "dry" now and there is still a good bond between the scrap and the once "green" wood.

[Dennis Peacock]

First of all....Welcome Frank!!!!!!

Next.....Mike....everybody has you headed in the right direction. I'll not add to the confusion. ;)

[Mike Minto]

Again, thanks for all the ideas and comments, guys. I went to the Norfolk VA Woodcraft today, and took my SN2 chuck with the Cole jaws mounted. Upon inspection, discussion and comparison with another set of Cole jaws, we found mine to have 2 of the 4 'jaws' were warped somewhat. The WC owner gave me a new set of jaws and hardware, and they run true as an arrow. Excellent support on their part! Of course, I also left with 3 blocks of turning wood, a Sorby hollowing tool and the OneWay Bowl Steady. What a day! Mike