4 questions with 1 stone

[brad hays]

Hey fellas I'm at the point where I need to finish out some of my turning tools and figured I should stop by before making the investment. I've got a Jet 1221 VS and am looking for both a bowl coring system and Longworth chuck appropriate for my lathe. Far as the coring system goes I'm almost settled on the One Way 12" mini system. If there's a better system out there for a beginner like myself please mention it, but I'm fairly sure this should be the best option for ease of use. I see they offer replacement cutter heads. If the kit doesn't come with a carbide cutter should I go ahead and order that as well?

As for the Longworth chuck, I already have a Nova G3 chuck and wondering what's the least expensive but capable option I should look at for a Longworth that's compatible with my Nova G3? Also, not being that studied up on these kind of chucks, since my lathe swing is 12" I assume any Longworth described as 12" is appropriate for my Jet.

Last tool question...need advice on a good sanding system, drill, pads and disks. I get emails from the Woodturners Wonders and they're advertising two of their systems. One angle drill driven and the other friction driven. I'm guessing the drill is the better option? Only issue I have with that kit is Reed Gray talks about how the softer backed pads don't do well with the lower grits, so I guess I'll have to get more parts than this kit offers. Are the Woodturners Wonders kits worth looking into or are there better options out there?

https://woodturnerswonders.com/colle...ng-bundle-sale

And last, I have absolutely lucked out and found 10 good sized Walnut trees that a guy needs cut down, so if it turns out I can get this very labor intensive job done I'll have wood for a good long time to come. Brings me to the question, what's the best way / procedures / time of year to fell a tree with the idea of keeping it's bark on through storage / drying and the turning process? Believe I've seen winter is the best time to fell but is say November weather in Kentucky good enough or should I wait more toward late Dec or Jan?

[tom lucas]

I like the WTW kit and pads. They are a good value. I bought a R/A drill off Amazon; cheapest I could find. Works good if you don't overheat the pads. But I prefer an air driven random orbital sander as it reduces the scratches the best for me. I do use both, usually starting with 120 on the drill (for rough pieces) and then going to 120 on the ROS and move up from there just using the ROS.

I don't have a longworth chuck, but I do have a Nova cole chuck. The nova nubs aren't so good. I replaced them with one-way nubs; much better. However, for just about everything that doesn't have holes in it, I prefer a vacuum chuck. I'm keeping the cole chuck for holey things that won't pull a vacuum. You can get by without any of these by turning between centers and/or using mortises instead of tenons where the mortise is left in the finished piece. The mortise also allows you to remount to fairly well centered at any time, now or later.

[Peter Blair]

I would like to add my two cents worth but for me Tom said it all. I do have the larger Oneway coreing tool and use a laser to 'see' the shape of the bowls as I set it up but for a beginner and or seldom user I think is works really well.

[Reed Gray]

Well, your lathe may be underpowered for any serious coring. 1 hp is kind of minimal for coring. For your lathe, I would go for the Woodcut coring system, one of the older 2 blade systems would be ideal. One problem you may run into is that your tool rest post size is generally 5/8 inch. Most systems do have 1 inch posts because most people don't core on a mini lathe. The Oneway system does have its own base to mount with. Many also have chosen to go with the coring tip from Hunter tools as it seems to cut much better than the standard one Oneway has, which I never liked.

As for abrasives, Vince's WoodNWonders is one business, and Woodturner's Wonders is another, with Ken Rizza being the owner. I get my abrasives from Vince.

robo hippy

[Richard Coers]

I agree with Reed, your lathe will be underpowered, seriously underpowered. Most coring tools have a fairly wide cutter to cut clearance for the blade. You will have to be extremely careful and move very slowly to not overheat the motor and the controller. The transition from the bowl side to the bottom is very difficult to cut and is always a place of stalling, even for my 2 hp Oneway 2436. Your DC motor will definitely have limited torque, especially at lower rpms when the controller chops the voltage. I wouldn't recommend that investment of a coring tool. I too prefer a vacuum chuck to a Longworth. You gain so much more diameter capacity since you don't need plates and buttons on the outside of the bowl.

[Prashun Patel]

I will also add that if you have access to a lot of wood, saving by coring may be overkill. If you are blessed with even a modest supply of green, I suspect you will quickly find you have too much.

For sanding I suggest the neiko 3/8” right angle drill and sanding discs by indasa. Imho they are better at all grits than the popular blue ones people suggest here (not saying they are wrong - just stating my experience).

[John K Jordan]

And last, I have absolutely lucked out and found 10 good sized Walnut trees that a guy needs cut down, so if it turns out I can get this very labor intensive job done I'll have wood for a good long time to come. Brings me to the question, what's the best way / procedures / time of year to fell a tree with the idea of keeping it's bark on through storage / drying and the turning process? Believe I've seen winter is the best time to fell but is say November weather in Kentucky good enough or should I wait more toward late Dec or Jan?

The trees should be felled when dormant, usually any time during the winter. (In general, that's the best time for any tree, not only to keep the bark but to prevent fungal staining in light-colored wood)

It might be OK in Nov but to be safe I'd wait until the middle of the winter. If there is a significant amount of white sapwood turning it sooner rather than later might help keep the color contrast.

BTW, it's best to keep a log as long in length as possible instead of cutting it up into short pieces which should be used within a week or two. The ends of a log don't even have to be sealed, just cut off any checking/cracks on one end before cutting a blank to turn. The other John Jordan said he uses this method when possible even if he has to pay to have the log delivered. He recommends putting whole logs up off the ground and in the shade.

It can be impractical to dry a large green wood blank without it self destructing. A log (and even a large blank) will stay wet inside for years. To have the best chance of keeping the bark through turning you might want to turn as soon as possible, preferable before it gets warm in the spring. But I've waited longer to do some and the bark stayed on (it was elm, not walnut)

It will probably not be possible for one person to turn that much wood - might be good to give some to friends or donate to some turning clubs. I agree with the comment to forget the coring and just turn the wood - green walnut is so easy to hollow and turn. Some I know who core do so when they get wood with exceptional figure/color or when plenty of wood is otherwise difficult to find. I personally don't like turning cored bowl blanks that much for one big reason - by necessity the sides are all simple radius shapes! (I had a new McNaughton system and sold it.) If I had a lot of wood and wanted to core to save on turning time I'd make the walls quite thick so I could vary the shape more. Also, if you haven't used a coring system it can wear you out! There is a steep learning curve at least for some system and the process can stress a smaller lathe and require quite a bit of power.

I also agree with getting a vacuum system instead of messing with Cole jaws or building a longsworth chuck.

You don't say how big the "good sized" walnut trees are. If big enough, you might consider having some cut into planks or slabs at a sawmill. I have a Woodmizer and when sawing I often cut 8/4, 12/4, and 16/4 planks/slabs and air dry them for woodturning. After drying these sizes are fantastic for making platters and bowls. Thick stock can easily be cut up to make blanks for spindle turning. I also generally process some into 6x6 or larger blanks, seal, and put up to dry for making hollow forms, vases, and other end grain turnings. (a large blank may take years to dry) But even without milling, with a good chainsaw and a good bandsaw you can easily process a LOT of wood into useful turning blanks. A Jet 1221 is probably not the best lathe for larger green bowls or even for coring but it's perfect for smaller things, wet or dry.

If you have an excess of wood, you can probably sell blanks or planks/slabs to a wood dealer who specializes in turning blanks, best dry but perhaps even green. (I know one not too far from you.) Or if you belong to a turning club you might sell some blanks or donate them to the club. Our club in Knoxville has a wood auction every year and I always donate tubs full of dry or mostly dry turning blanks. We've brought in thousands of $ into the treasure this way and a lot of happy people go away with good turning wood!

JKJ

[brad hays]

Tom Lucas thanks for the drill advice. I'm not sure what a R/A drill is though. Is that a combination of the terms dual action DA and random orbital RO?

And a bit YES on the vacuum chuck. Before recently I thought these things were all in the $1000 range but I was just given a link to frugal vacuum chuck.com and looks like it can be done for just a smidge over $300. No brainer if you ask me.

Thanks for the input Peter. I'm sure I would go for the laser option no matter what coring system I get into.

Thanks again Reed for your input too. That's what I'm hearing elsewhere too, that 1HP just isn't gonna cut it. I might be getting ahead of myself on wanting some coring equipment considering how new I am to turning in general. Thanks for suggesting Vince too. Seems like he's well recommended. If I haven't said it before, kudos to you man for your video adapting the chain saw guide to our use. Building a setup something like yours is high up on my to do list.

Richard thanks for advising me against a coring setup. I'm sure I'll drop the idea until I get into a bigger lathe. And yes on the vacuum chuck ASAP.

Prashun is this the drill Neiko drill you're referring to?...

neiko drill.jpg

I've been going between that one and this Bauer at HF...

drill.jpg

The bauer has a dial for speed control while the Neiko is described as having speed control in the form of a feathered trigger. I'd bet either will do ok.

Thanks for the indasa suggestion, I'll check them out.

And lastly thanks John for all the wood processing advice. You say there's another John Jordan?

There's no way I can turn that much wood before it all degraded if I got it all down at once. Just had my first local turners club meeting a couple days ago so I'll be consulting with those guys to see if we can figure anything out insofar as making it a group effort. Unfortunately I've been given advice that Walnut has the most tendency of any wood to crack all the way through the log as it dries, compared to other species where the cracks might end a couple inches in. Oh well, at least I know now.

And yes on the vacuum chuck.

Are there any opinions on the equipment sold on the frugal vacuum chuck.com website? If it's decent then it's the best option for an economical vac chuck I've seen.

[tom lucas]

Adjustable speed independent of the trigger would be better. I have the Neiko. I like it, but it isn't always so easy to hold it at a constant speed.

[John K Jordan]

...
And lastly thanks John for all the wood processing advice. You say there's another John Jordan?

THE SAGA OF THE TWO JOHN JORDAN WOODTURNERS
Similarities and differences

Yes, the other one is the famous one. We are both the same age within a few months. We both live in TN.

At a symposium in North Carolina I overheard someone mentioned they were headed to TN to see John Jordan. His companion said "Remember, there are TWO John Jordans in TN. Maybe you could stop and visit both!"

I've been confused with him often. The first Knoxville club meeting I attended as a visitor I was asked to stand up and give my name. A woman seated just in front of me turned around and said "Are you THE John Jordan? Do you live in Nashville?" When I said no, she said "Are you sure?"
We've been confused online many times so I always go by John K Jordan. This doesn't always work. I've had people send me tools and invite me to be their Facebook friend. When I told Cindy Drozda I was not that John Jordan she said, that's ok, you can still be my friend. Once I sent some wood to a carver in Cattannogga since he had trouble finding the wood he needed - months later the other John called me up and said he received a package with some carvings from someone he didn't recognize! They guy must have looked up his name and found his web site.

I've seen his pieces priceed at $8000.
When I started woodturning a friend told me if I simply signed my pieces with my name and kept my mouth shut I could sell turnings for a huge amounts.
I have accidentally made a few thousand dollars from woodturnings but for the most part I make stuff to give away.

He has work in museums and in the hands of collectors all over the country.
I have pieces in the hands of friends and family.

This is his web site: https://www.johnjordanwoodturning.com/
I have no web site.
BTW, I do have three pages of woodturning photos here on SMC if you want to take a look and see the kind of things I like to make:
https://sawmillcreek.org/album.php?u=32367

He demos at symposiums and clubs all over.
I attend a few symposiums and demo at clubs in TN and a few surrounding states.

He sells tools.
I buy tools (even some of his).

He gives classes and charges money (nice gig!)
My fee for teaching is a good story or a good joke.

I do know the "other" John quite well, see him in classes and symposiums. Once I had a turned and carved bowl in the instant gallery at the TAW and he wasn't demonstrating but had his tool booth set up in the vendor area. He said he got so many complements on my piece he finally gave up explaining and just nodded and said "Thanks." )

Once at an instant gallery I saw someone pick up a very fragile piece of mine to examine it. When I reminded him the signs said "don't touch" he said that was OK, he knew John Jordan. When I told him that display was mine he didn't believe me until I showed him my badge! Fortunately, no feelings or woodturnings were harmed in the incident.

He says "turn wet wood".
I say "turn dry wood".

These are at TAW sysmpoiums and my house. The last photo has Doug Thompson (Thompson Tools), John Jordan, John Lucas, and me, John K Jordan.

Jordans_IMG_0686_crop.jpg Jordans_Two_IMG_20170920_121712_011.jpg Jordans_TAW_2010_cs.jpg

OK, there, now you know!!

On other matters...

DRILL FOR POWER SANDING
As for the close-quarters electric drill, I have one identical to the Neiko you pictured, but a different brand (Milwaukee I think). One thing about most of these drills they are prone to failure from ingesting fine dust when used for power sanding. Life can be extended by periodically blowing the dust out. I personally stopped power sanding with rotating disks years ago and reserve mine for, gasp, drilling in close quarters. Power sanding with rotating disks has too many disadvantages for me so I work a different way which is usually quicker and in my opinion, a far better method for perfect surfaces.

VACUUM
I have two vacuum systems but never used what Frugal sells. However, I know and have read reports by many people who are happy with what he sales. Far than precision custom adapter route and buying a pump from most other places.

...
...Unfortunately I've been given advice that Walnut has the most tendency of any wood to crack all the way through the log as it dries, compared to other species where the cracks might end a couple inches in. Oh well, at least I know now.
...

WALNUT
In my experience, walnut is quite stable compared to many other species such as cherry and other fruitwoods. It's true that if kept in short rounds it will, like almost everything, turn to firewood. (It does make nice firewood) However, as I mentioned, if processed into blanks and dried properly (even with bark left on) it will almost never catastrophically fail. If you have big chunks of log cut into short pieces then yes, process or at least rough turn as soon as possible, seal the rest carefully and keep cool and out of the sun (easier this time of the year), or best, submerge in clean water until ready to use.