Coring on the G0800

[Roger Chandler]

Thanks- fine coring tools

I just wanted to take a minute to give some kudos to WoodCut tools, out of New Zealand for their coring rig, the Bowlsaver Max 3. I've had this coring setup nearly two years, and have used it on about a dozen or so pieces that I thought were worth the effort to core. This past week, I got a load of cherry, honey locust, and what you see in this picture, which I do not exactly know what wood it is.

It was delivered to me by a friend, and he told me the trimmers who were taking down this and a few other trees said it was walnut.....nope! The workers were from El Salvidor, and worked for Asplundt, and in my opinion do not know American woods. One said this was Ash.....nope! It almost seems like some variety of elm to me, or something that has some porous growth rings......your input on the wood would be appreciated to identify it!

Related to the Bowlsaver Max 3...this thing really does a fine job of coring. It was actually a pleasure, and went easy with a little clearing of the chips. The system is stable, and even though the post is 6" long, it fits in both my G0766 22" swing lathe and my 24" swing G0800. This is the first time I've used it on my G0800, and man what a stable platform, and with the morse taper in the tailstock quill and the post in the banjo hole, it really works well. The large bowl is 16-1/2" diameter, the medium is a smidgen over 13" diameter and the little one is 10" diameter.

I don't know if Terry Scott had any hand in testing, perfecting, or design of this unit, but this turner is really happy with the WoodCut Bowl Saver Max 3!

IMG_Max3Coring1341.jpg

[Roger Chandler]

I heard from Terry Scott. He did a lot of testing on the prototypes of the Max 3, and has put it through its paces with several hundred hours and design improvements. He said, “if I can’t break it, nobody can!”

[Reed Gray]

Hmm, I might have to accept that unbreakable challenge.... "Honest mom, all I did was touch it..."

robo hippy

[Steve Mawson]

Does look like Elm to me as well. Wish I could describe the smell because it is unique.

[Roger Chandler]

Does look like Elm to me as well. Wish I could describe the smell because it is unique.

Yep........pretty distinct odor...somewhat of a combination of wet dog and outhouse! This was pretty wet, and because it was pretty warm outside, I had the doors open in my little shop. The flies really came in and were attracted to the shavings and the cutoffs where I sawed the blanks out of the logs. I had to wash those clothes I had on that evening, as my wife was offended by the odor!

[William C Rogers]

Roger

Based on odor I think it might be the same as I had. It stunk really bad when wet. It was from trees on my property and best I could determine from the leaves it is in the boxelder family.The first picture (birdhouse) the top is made from it. The bottom house part is elm. This piece has a lacquer finish. The second piece is unfinished.

birdhouse.jpg urn.jpg

[Roger Chandler]

Roger

Based on odor I think it might be the same as I had. It stunk really bad when wet. It was from trees on my property and best I could determine from the leaves it is in the boxelder family.The first picture (birdhouse) the top is made from it. The bottom house part is elm. This piece has a lacquer finish. The second piece is unfinished.

birdhouse.jpg urn.jpg

Definitely NOT box elder. I've turned lots of box elder, and am very familar with it! No, the grain structure in this wood is very different from box elder [acer nagundo] and I actually looked up some references in Hoadly's book "Understanding Wood"
and it appeared very similar in grain structure to some pics of elm he has in his book. I've turned a few pieces of elm, and that is what made me think this was elm also, but the trimmers [from South America, said it was ash or walnut......I knew better than either of those!

[William C Rogers]

Roger

That is definitely not elm. Elm does not smell as you described. Elm is easy to identify using the wood database grain structure. I said it was in the boxelder "family". I still have several of the trees that the wood from my pieces came from. I'll get some pictures of the trees if it ever stops raining.

[William C Rogers]

Roger

Here are the pictures of the tree that is the same we had to take down last year. I am not sure of the species. I believe it is a likely source of the wood.

fullsizeoutput_92a.jpg fullsizeoutput_927.jpg fullsizeoutput_92d.jpg

[Pat Scott]

That vase looks like Cottonwood (which stinks when wet).

[Roger Chandler]

That case looks like Cottonwood (which stinks when wet).

That is entirely possible...thanks Pat! Thanks also to you William. I’m certain it is not box elder, or maple of any kind, which box elder is in the maple family. The growth rings are too porous for maple.

Here is a pic of eastern cottonwood, and the wood in my coring pics sure look like the grain in this board...

[William C Rogers]

Roger

Can't see your pictures. Yes I'm singed in contributor.

It may well be cottonwood.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger

Can't see your pictures. Yes I'm singed in contributor.

It may well be cottonwood.

I had to get two new images....hope they show up now, as one is a leaf from an eastern cottonwood.

[William C Rogers]

The pictures do show now. And that is the same as I have. Someone else told me it was in the boxelder family and leaves are similar, but not the same. I just didn't think to look at cottonwood. I'll have another one in a year or two as the base seems to be prone to rot. They do stink when wet, but fine when dry. They are also somewhat resistant to cracking and turn nice.

[Robert Marshall]

Roger,

I too have used a WoodCut Bowl Saver Max 3 on a Griz G0766, and enjoyed the combination.

One of the things that I've done, that saves me a some effort, is to work from outside-to-inside, on the coring. The photo you put up suggested inside-to-outside was the way it was done.

What I do is true up the flat area, then put a recess or a tenon on it, within the area that will ultimately be part of the inside bowl blank. Then I start cutting the middle bowl from the outside bowl. When the middle bowl is cut out (which also contains the inside bowl, of course), I use the flat-area tenon/recess that remains, to put a tenon on the bottom of the middle bowl. Then I use that tenon to core out the inside bowl, from the middle. Again, once the inside bowl is cored out, I use the same flat-area tenon/recess to put a tenon on the bottom of the inside bowl. If more than 3 bowls are being cored, the process is the same, just more repetitions.

So, the flat-area tenon/recess is used repeatedly to put tenons on the bottoms of the next inside bowl, working from outside to inside. That way, you are never left with a blank that has only a coring stub on the bottom. The flat-area tenon/recess stays with you to the end, always providing a way to put a tenon on the bottom of the remaining portion left to core.