A video of a skilled turner doing some very strange things...

[Wade Lippman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4aMqCbqVmA

He hollows out a vase using
1) A spindle gouge
2) A parting tool
3) A spade bit
4) A pointed carbide tool
5) And finally a bowl gouge
I've used 3 & 5, but the rest seem odd.

He then finishes the outside by putting a disk in the vase throat and treating it as a spindle.
Never seen this before, but it looks like a good idea.

As a finish, he used a 50/50 mix of BLO and cedar oil. What is cedar oil and why would one use it.

Comments would be interesting.

[Richard Coers]

He's using a spindle gouge like a scraper. And often cuts on the wrong side of the flute. The worst was using the right angle grinder with a heavy carving head with no goggles or face shield. I wouldn't take a lot of advice from him. How did you decide he was a skilled turner? That's one clunky looking vessel!

[Jason Edwards]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4aMqCbqVmA

He hollows out a vase using
1) A spindle gouge
2) A parting tool
3) A spade bit
4) A pointed carbide tool
5) And finally a bowl gouge
I've used 3 & 5, but the rest seem odd.

He then finishes the outside by putting a disk in the vase throat and treating it as a spindle.
Never seen this before, but it looks like a good idea.

As a finish, he used a 50/50 mix of BLO and cedar oil. What is cedar oil and why would one use it.

Comments would be interesting.

I've watched this guy briefly before. I think he's a hack, and does things in a dangerous way. Work isn't much to look at either.

[Tom Levy]

That whole video is a horror show, everything is wrong/bad. I'm still new, but it's clear he has never bothered learning how to turn and is just attacking randomly with whatever tools he could find. Did you see him sanding with a full sized sanding belt at the end? And that finish just stains everything mud colored. I've stayed away from all youtube turning videos for fear of things like this, I think I'll stick to that plan.

That guy should buy the keith rowley book and start with the safety lessons.

Tom

[John K Jordan]

...
He hollows out a vase using
...
2) A parting tool
...

I didn't watch the video, but in case it is of any interest I will say I use a parting tool often for quickly removing wood on certain things, such as these small end-grain handbell ornaments. This works well on end grain, I haven't tried cross grain/face orientation or on larger pieces.

bells_PC244161es.jpg acrylic_ornament_green_bell.jpg

The second picture shows one cut from cast acrylic the same way.

I turn the outside first, drill a 1/4" hole for depth, then push a parting tool straight into the end grain starting towards the center. Working my way to the outside edge I can sight down from the top to position the tool, defining the section near the rim first then repositioning for the internal convex curve. This is extremely fast and accurate.

After the rough shaping I use either the left side of a spindle gouge in a scraping mode or a Hunter carbide tool, drawing the tool from the bottom to the rim. Then sand a bit. This picture of one I cut in half shows the profile:

bells_cutaway_IMG_5169.jpg

The upper right sketch on this process drawing shows the parting tool orientation.

handbell_ornament_diagram-3.jpg

With Christmas coming perhaps someone would want to make some. I have notes.

JKJ

[Reed Gray]

Well, he did get the job done. However, his choice of tools and turning technique made it far more of a job than it should have been.

robo hippy

[David Walser]

Shhh! My favorite hollowing tool for small items is a skew, used as a negative rake scraper. It works very well up to about 4" deep. Quick and very clean cut. Just don't tell anyone I'm not using a real hollowing tool. That would be embarrassing.

John -- I'll have to try a parting tool as you describe. In the video, he used a diamond parting tool, which won't fit in smaller items. But, my 3/8" beading/parting tool would most likely work very well. Since it has a greater cross-section than my 1/2" skew (when laid on its side), a 3/8" beading/parting tool might allow a little greater reach over the tool rest.

[John K Jordan]

John -- I'll have to try a parting tool as you describe. In the video, he used a diamond parting tool, which won't fit in smaller items. But, my 3/8" beading/parting tool would most likely work very well. Since it has a greater cross-section than my 1/2" skew (when laid on its side), a 3/8" beading/parting tool might allow a little greater reach over the tool rest.

I use an old Craftsman 1/2" HSS diamond parting tool with about 1/8" cutting edge, I think. (I really like that tool - I have acquired three of them!) The diamond shape is just right for cutting inside while clearing the curvature above and below the cut.

It functions as a scraper, exactly as you are using the skew but perhaps with a larger included angle. I think it works so well because of the small cut it makes. I suspect a similar, stouter, version could be constructed by welding one to a longer and heavier shaft and using a long handle, similar in principle to the hollowing tools made by the other J. Jordan and others. This would allow working much further over the tool rest. Or grind a diamond (or curve) on the side of a heavier square stock such as a from a bedan. I have a box scraper made this way and it works well. I probably won't make one for deeper hollowing since I prefer to turn small.

From a demo I did in 2014:

bell_demo_small_IMG_0416.jpg

JKJ

[Wade Lippman]

I've read that juries believe expert witnesses who are confident, even when they aren't really experts. i guess I fell for that.
I didn't like his finished product either, but figured I wasn't creative enough.

Cedar oil nonsense also?

[Reed Gray]

Well, I remember seeing Jimmie of D Way tools using a NRS as a hollowing end grain tool. For beginners, it is very safe. For a production worker, it is painfully slow. A NRS, in the shape of a skew, and using a grinder burr will require too many trips to the grinder. A NRS, with a 60/20 grind, and a burnished burr will require far less trips to the grinder.

robo hippy

[David Walser]

Reed -- When I use my skew as a NRS (or as a skew), I use a honed edge -- without a burr. The edge lasts a long time and I can hone it several times before needing to go back to the grinder. I know it isn't the typical approach, but it works well for me.

I learned this technique watching a VHS video of a British TV programme that did a bio on a turner who was in his 80's and still worked every day. One of the items he made was a gentleman's collar box. It was a box about 8" in diameter and 2" deep. He hollowed the box and lid entirely with his skew. The hollowing went very fast and the surface required virtually no sanding. Start to finish, the entire box probably took less than 15 minutes. It was obvious he'd made more than a few of them.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

"skilled" turner?

Just because he's got a youtube channel and calls himself "skilled" - doesn't make it so.

Bonjour!