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What I did during Thanksgiving break

Started by tyb525, December 01, 2008, 10:01:49 PM

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tyb525

During Thanksgiving break I finally got around to cutting down a cherry in a yard. It had been leaning more and more, every time we got a strong wind it would lean over farther. It forked about 5' up, and the left half was pretty much dead.

I decided to cut bowl blanks from the trunk and the bigger branches. I have only cut about 1/2 to 2/3 of it so far.
Obviously I didn't spend a lot of time getting the blanks/slabs perfectly square. I'll do that whenever I get time to turn them.
I also got a nice slab from the crotch. The other crotch slab I cut up into blanks.
The biggest blank is 14x3  . The thickest is 12x6 ;D, but it is basically a round cut in half.

Yes, I did seal them all with Anchorseal after I took the pics.

Freshly cut, and drug up with the tractor. 24" butt diameter.


First load



Second load


crotch slab- 4" thick


All in all I think it turned out good  8)
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

metalspinner

That looked like a productive day. :)  I bet you had a few wheel borrow loads of shavings, too. :D
I see a couple of pieces with the bark still on.  Do you think it will remain in tact for some natural edged bowls?
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

SwampDonkey

I was wondering how you were setting up those chunks on the lathe. I can't judge the size of the chunks. Are you putting the chuck on the wide side, which I assume is the flat side of the grain, and turning on the end grain? Never turned end grain except when shaving the open face of a bowl from side to side. Not rounding over the end grain. That the approach?

I've got to try a burl some time, I have a back yard full of burl cherry.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Dodgy Loner

Nice load of blanks!  Careful with the crotch blank.  Looks like it's got included bark all the way through it, so it won't be very stable.

SD, bowls are almost always turned so that you're cutting face grain, rather than end grain, when you hollow out the depression.  It would get very tiresome to hollow out that much end grain, and the bowl wouldn't be as strong.  For my bowl blanks, I usually cut a log in half and mount the flat side on the chuck.  The shape of the bark side of the log determines the shape of the bowl.  After the outside is shaped, I flip it around and hollow it out.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

SwampDonkey

Yeah Dodgy I know. I still can't imagine mounting on the flat face because one 1/4 rotation is bark edge, then the next is end grain, then bark, then end grain. Then when you do the hollowing I would suspect a lot of tear out as your crossing rings instead of peeling the wood. I mount mine on end grain. Then I'm cutting tangentially, then I swing my tool rest and hollow out the end grain, but you are actually peeling wood off like an onion as you work from centre to edge. I guess I can't envision it going so easy any other way.  ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

metalspinner

SD,
The tear out you mention switching from endgrain to long grain is very real.  Some woods behave better than others.  But sharp tools, proper grinding angles and technique can eliminate most tearout.  A little sanding should help with remaining blemishes.

I like the look of endgrain bowls, as well.  Sometimes, a piece of wood just wants to be an endgrain bowl. :)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Dodgy Loner

I have no problems with tearout on the outside of the bowl, where I can get the tool rest right up close to the wood.  Tearout on the inside of the bowl can be a problem, especially with larger bowls, but I find sanding the tearout to be much more enjoyable than hollowing out endgrain ;)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

SwampDonkey

Dodgy, hollowing out end grain isn't a chore at all. At least not what I have seen. My tools eat through faster than a blow torch. ;D  You don't actually know how it's shaving the wood do you? 

I'll speak no more of it. :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Dodgy Loner

If you find it easy, I'd love to know your secret.  What tool do you use, and what technique?
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

SwampDonkey

Depends on what you are creating.

For a regular bowl:

Skew Chisel or point scraper to start out toward the centre and go into the depth of the piece.

Round nosed scraper to scrape away from the centre toward the edge on the half where the rotation is downward. As your working from the centre toward the edge it's just like scraping the outside of the bowl. Your shaving off layers (only from the inside) and the point of contact is the tip toward the edge your pushing the tool. But, mostly the edge is doing the shaving if you took out the heart of the piece with the chisel.

If I want an inside lip on the bowl I use a radius scraper


If it's a Vase, goblet, egg cup type thing,

I get out my trusty Hollowing tool, with it I can go deep inside the piece. I can also use it in step one above as well, but usually don't. And again the contact on the tip is very small because it's rounded and very sharp all the way around the scraping edge. You sharpen it with a round stone on a router or maybe drill press.

Another thing is that my tools are hefty with big handles. Not super hefty, but probably medium. Forget about the small handled tools, those are even frustrating when turning outside of a piece.  :D


Not too hard. ;)

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

tyb525

SD, those are all face grain blanks. I'll mount them with a faceplate to shape the outside and the tenon on the bottom, then flip them around and put the tenon in a chuck and hollow the inside, then let them dry.

Some of the pieces should work for natural edge bowls, because one face is bark  :). Most of them only have bark on one edge, which might get cut off, depending on how they look when I turn them.

Dodgy, I figured the crotch piece probably wouldn't be too stable. I thought when it dries I could resaw it, and maybe put in some butterfly keys (I think that's the name) across the crack. If all else fails I can just cut it in half and use the halves.

What is the best method of drying roughed bowls in your opinion? Boiling, soaking in de-natured alcohol, dish soap, or plain old air drying?

I can't wait to get to turning these   ;D

LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Dodgy Loner

SD - Well, there's my problem!  I use gouges for everything except the fine finish work, for which I use scrapers.  I don't even own a skew chisel!  Well, actually I did own a skew chisel, but I never used it, so I turned it into a scraper :)

Tyb - I have a small building packed ceiling to floor with air-drying bowl blanks, so you know which method I prefer :).  Some of them have been drying for 2 or 3 years, so I never have any trouble trying to find something to turn!  I know some turners who swear by the dish soap solution, but I've never tried it myself.

Here's my drying shed:


And a few of my bowls:



"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

pigman

Dodgy, real nice bowls, but will you tell us how you were able to turn the square box with the dovetails. ;D
Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

Dodgy Loner

Trade secret.  I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you ;D.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

VTLogSlayer

Those bowls are great looking!  ;D  Wish i could do something that cool  ;)  What type of lathe would you use to do something like this? and where would you find a chunck of wood like that to turn on the lathe?  :P Thanks :)
ms361 20" 
044 20"
Polaris xcsp 600
97' Land Rover Discovery

Dodgy Loner

You can turn bowls on just about any lathe.  I have a Jet 1442.  The 14 is the "swing" or the maximum diameter of the object that you can turn, and the 42 is the maximum length of the spindle than can be turned on the lathe.  I also use a Oneway chuck to hold the bowls as I'm turning them.  Bowls can be turned using a faceplate, but if you're going to be doing many of them, getting a suitable chuck is far more efficient.  Most of the bowls in those pictures came from my firewood pile, but WDH gave me the walnut for some of the bowls, and I got the oak burl in the top bowl from metalspinner.  You can turn a bowl from any kind of wood you can get your hands on - experimenting is the fun part :)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

tyb525

I have a Rockwell from the '70s - 3/4 hp, 14" swing, 36" max length. It doesn't vibrate at all, cause it's mounted on a heavy steel frame with drawers in it. VT you can also buy bowl blanks, but it is a lot cheaper to cut them yourself with a chainsaw.

Here is a link that shows how to do it:
http://www.nestlerode.org/Fun_with_Chainsaw/turning_blanks.html

There are other article on it as well as videos that go from start to finish in the bowl turning process.

Like Dodgy said, experimenting with different species is a lot of fun.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Dodgy Loner

I cut my blanks a little differently than that.  I'll have to get some pics and post the method I use on here sometime.  In short, I don't usually cut a slice off the back side - the blanks retains the bark edge unless it's a really big one.  I don't rough them into a round shape on my bandsaw, either.  I do all of that work with the chainsaw.  I usually use smaller logs (14" and under) for bowls, though.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

VTLogSlayer

Cool thanks for the website... :)  This would make a cool christmas present for my mom....maybe next year  ;D
ms361 20" 
044 20"
Polaris xcsp 600
97' Land Rover Discovery

tyb525

Dodgy, I use my chainsaw to round them also. I don't have a bandsaw big enough to handle that. I cut a few with the bark on, but as you mentioned, the log was too big to do that with most of them. I haven't made any natural-edge bowls yet, I can't wait to try it.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Dodgy Loner

People love natural-edge bowls, as long as they don't have to sand them ;D.  I haven't made one in over a year.  Some people love making them, though :)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

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