I have a nice piece of dried cherry on the lathe right now. Its about 7 inches thick and 9 inches in diameter. I'm presently shaping the outside but the bowl doesn't seem to be "settling" on the lathe allowing me to make nice easy cuts. I've got about half the diameter gone on the base of the bowl as I work my way up the sides but I still feel like I'm fighting to keep the tool steady even on areas that are obviously round already. The top of the bowl blank which will eventually be turned away is a bit lopsided as one side is maybe half an inch higher than the other. I'm guessing I'm getting movement of the lathe as a whole due to the out of round area at the top but I can't seem to stop it and I can't go any slower. I'm running this in a midi lathe mounted to a heavy wood stand with a weight rack underneath. I've tried adjusting the speed up but this just causes the whole thing to shake even more. On the weighted bench I have a 60 pound bag of cement mix along with about 6 large bowl blanks and a few cans of paint. I am getting close to having the outside shaped how I would like but the blank is really fighting me. Any suggestions on how to get rid of this? More weight?
Thanks!