I have a maple blank that doesn’t seem to want to be a bowl. It is difficult to get a clean cut. The wood is very dry, and aged. Will dampening the surface some aid in a better cut?
[OP]
Contributor
I have a maple blank that doesn’t seem to want to be a bowl. It is difficult to get a clean cut. The wood is very dry, and aged. Will dampening the surface some aid in a better cut?
Contributor
What kind of tooling? Carbide scraper? A damp surface won't help them.
[OP]
Contributor
I am using a very sharp 3/8' Dway and/or Thompsons' 3/8' bowl gouges. It is difficult to get the end grain on the turning to cut without some porosity.
Contributor
Yes, dampening with a spray bottle can sometimes help.
Contributor
You can try, super light shearing cuts, sharpening the gouges right before the finish cut, a wash coat of shellac before each finish cut, applying shaving cream that swells up the fibers and adds a lubrication factor, or just water.
Member
I have had some success by saturating the problem area with mineral spirits. It works like spraying water, but also has a lubricating factor. Never heard of the shaving cream method, but I will definitely have to keep that one in mind for the future when nothing else is working.
Brian
Sawdust Formation Engineer
in charge of Blade Dulling
Contributor
In the usual order I try things: "wicked shaap" (as we say in Boston) tools and _very_ light cut -- hone your gouge after sharpening, both inside and out; shear scraping or a negative rake scraper honed and with a freshly burnished small burr; vary your speed, faster can be better; the "80 grit gouge" (AKA sandpaper). I've used shellac on punky wood with modest success.
Contributor
"wicked shaap" is not as interesting as the pretty young lady at the Logan airport car rental booth trying to tell me to take the "fork" in the road.
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