Turning inside a vase.

[Roger Davis TN]

I have a Harrison Specialitys boring system with swan neck bar and round carbide cutter. The inside is very ruff and I can not make it smooth. The vase is twelve inches long and the hole is three inches in diameter. The wood is spalted and a little punky, tear out is terrible. I get a lot of chatter this deep. How can I make it presentable? Shear cutting worked on the outside. Thanks Roger Davis.

[James Tibbetts]

I would think the only way to get a clean will be to stabilize the interior surface.
Whether that is best done with epoxy or crazy glue or some other method will need to be answered by someone with more experience than me.

[Jack Lilley]

I have a Jamieson hollowing rig and use a teardrop scraper when doing finishing cuts on the inside of a vessel, it works pretty well most of the time. I have used 2 part epoxy colored black on the inside of a vase, might work for you if the tear out is to bad. I coat the inside and leave it on the lathe at about 50 rpm's for a few hours until it sets up.

[Peter Blair]

In addition to the above suggestions I would try a Neg Rake scraper with VERY light cuts.

[Chris A Lawrence]

I have turned a couple small spalted hollow forms and have had good success with sanding sealer. Just pour a little inside and rotate the puddle around until it all soaks into the wood. It stiffens the fibers enough to get clean cuts.

[Mike Nathal]

I have a Jamieson hollowing rig and use a teardrop scraper when doing finishing cuts on the inside of a vessel, it works pretty well most of the time. I have used 2 part epoxy colored black on the inside of a vase, might work for you if the tear out is to bad. I coat the inside and leave it on the lathe at about 50 rpm's for a few hours until it sets up.

The teardrop scraper works pretty good for me also. But punky wood will be a problem. I would also stiffen the fibers with shellac or sanding sealer.
I saw Charles Farrar demonstrate and he ground his teardrop with a negative rake.

[Ron Borowicz]

I have used lacquer thinned with lacquer thinner with success. I have also used Minwax wood hardener with success. Both options smell bad. Do it in a well ventilated space. More than likely you will need to do it more than once till you get the thickness your after. Apply the thinner/hardener, let it dry, turn it down till you get tearout, re-apply the thinner/hardener...etc.

Also, are you using a round carbide cutter or a round carbide scraper? A cutter will work much better, especially on spalted punky wood.

[Roger Davis TN]

Thanks, I have the Minwax hardener. I will pour it in. This stuff is expensive. What is it made of, It smells toxic? My cutter is a scraper. The other is like a cup I think. Is this right, Like in sheer cutting? Roger Davis

[Ron Borowicz]

Yes, the cutters I am talking about are like cups...made by Hunter.

[John K Jordan]

I have had zero luck with Minwax hardener with several tries. I used two bottles on one piece. Perhaps my wood was too soft.

I have had good luck with shellac sanding sealer. I thin some with DNA and soak the wood, let it dry a day, then repeat with several applications of unthinned sanding sealer.

I have also stabilized very punky wood with thin CA glue. Some of this wood was so far gone my fingernail would take out soft chunks. I apply a little all over the surface, wait for it to harden, then repeat and repeat.

Advantages:
This REALLY works well; I've used it several times.
It leaves a glass-like surface that takes finish well.

Some disadvantages:
- It takes a lot of glue. I used several bottles on one piece.
- The fumes are horribly toxic. Use with good ventilation.
- CA reacts with wood exothermically - too much at once and the wood will get smoking hot. Haven't started a fire yet...
Besides tests to prove it works, I only use this method on special wood that has enough personal meaning to keep me from throwing it away.

For smoothing inside I use a long Hunter tool, a NRS, and/or a Sorby multi tip tool with a teardrop scraper.

JKJ

[JohnC Lucas]

Scrapers make a bad surface. Negative rake scrapers with a really light touch will do a decent job. The best tools by far are the Hunter carbide tools. I use the #5 phoenix for the bottoms. Use it like a bevel rubbing tool. Then for the sides I use it as a shear scraper. Mike also makes what I think he calls a back hollower. This tools has the carbide cutter tilted down and angled toward the back toward the handle. This allows you to do bevel rubbing cuts up the side of vases. It won't go very deep however. I have been using the Hunter Hercules to down the inside but it's still a scraping cut. It does however leave a better finish than some scrapers

[Roger Davis TN]

Thanks for helping me. I had over half a bottle of the Minwax hardener and poured it in. This stuff dissolved some of the outside finish. I now recognize the smell...finger nail polish remover..ugh. I will let you all know if the inside cuts better. Thanks for your time, Roger.