1st Coring with the McNaughton

[Kathy Marshall]

I got the tool rest post cut today and shaved a little off my spare banjo and everything lined up just right. So I thought I'd take it for a test drive.
I wanted to start off with something not too hard and not too pretty (the sissoo probably would have cored great, but I didn't want to waste any on practice), so I got out the chainsaw and cut an 11" blank from a big green ash log.
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The coring went pretty well considering (lathe problems, but that's for another thread) and I got 2 bowls out of the center before I gave up. I probably could have gotten one more but the largest one had some cracking on the endgrain so I decided it would be easier to just turn it down to the next smaller size.
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Then next time should go much better once the lathe is back up to full speed. A few more practices pieces and I'll be ready to core some of the good stuff and eventually I'll give this Desert Ironwood blank a go. The plan is to just take out the center core, leaving me with a good sized bowl and a nice blank for a hollow form.
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Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques are welcome.

[Joe Watson]

Looks like you have it working, thats cool...

Ive never used, nor have any kind of coring system so you can take the following with a grain of salt.
Seen acouple videos where the turner would mount up the whole chunk of wood like you have, draw the pencil circle along with a center mark (or some cut a chucking recess). When they core out, they would core out the biggest bowl core first, finished the "main" bowl which is currently chucked up, then with the recess of the "core chunk" they would chuck that, finish the out-side of that bowl flip it over and chuck on that bowls tenon or recess and core out the next biggest core chuck... and then so on and so forth.

Not sure if that made senses or not, but though i would offer it.
I can try and search for the videos if you are interested.

Good luck with your new toy - im sure you will have fun and make some great looking stuff !

_

[Reed Gray]

Nice job on the coring. No rubbing spots on the outsides of the cores or bowl walls. The green ash is a good choice too, not too hard, and not too soft.

I take the biggest one first, recess drilled in top, expand into recess to turn the bottom, then reverse and core. I turn green to final thickness, let them dry and warp, then sand and finish.

Mike Mahoney usually takes the smaller ones first and he leaves them thick to dry and return later.

Don't know that it really makes any difference, except you do want to make sure you save the biggest (money) bowl.

robo hippy

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks Joe!
I got the Mahoney video with the McNaughton and Faust sent me his copy of Reed Gray's video and they show both methods of coring. I decided to core from the center out for a couple of reasons. 1. I thought it would be easier to get a feel for it with the smallest bowl 1st and see the path the blade was taking and 2. with the problems with my lathe, I didn't think I would get through coring the largest one 1st.
Once my lathe is running good again I'll be trying the other method.

[Dan Forman]

Congrats on your first --- looks like your first experience wasn't as exciting as mine. My second one went a little better, nothing jumped off the lathe, and I hope that each time gets a little smoother.

Dan

[Nate Davey]

Great job on your first core, Kathy. Wish my results were that good now.

[Bob Bergstrom]

NIce work there lady. Most have burn marks, or catches. One thing I used to do when I was coring on my old Delta 450 was to spray the belt with belt dressing. It is sticky stuff and helped prevent belt slippage.

[Barry Richardson]

Thats cool Cathy. Wish I had that system when I was turning some big desert ironwood. It was sad to see so much turned into dust...

[David E Keller]

Congrats on the system, Kathy! Looks like you did well with it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats Kathy. Looks like it is working well for you. I always go from small to big.

[Don Alexander]

Kathy;
i love how the stuff you don't mind practicing on is pretty dang good looking wood; definitely speaks to the quality of the stockpile

i never had any doubts you would do well with your new coring system, you are a natural at this turning game
and i always enjoy looking at what comes off your lathe