My First Attempt at Bowl Making

[dgale]

Also, reduce the temptation to put them in a plastic bag to slow the drying...once upon a time I thought this was a good idea and would limit checking but all it did was encourage mold, which left a smell I never could get rid of...

[fredsheldon]

My second bowl attempt, first using green wood. Lots easier to turn and not so much dust My glue joint failed holding my work to the 3 1/2" faceplate. I used heavy brown paper that was used to bundle brown paper bags and I think it was too thick. I used thin brown bag paper this time and will see if it will hold long enough to finish turning.

[ATTACH]20115[/ATTACH]
I still have so much to learn. I have no idea what the heck I'm doing but I'm having fun doing it:D

[ATTACH]20116[/ATTACH]
I used thick paper and monster wood glue and I don't know what went wrong. I hope thiner paper and carpenters wood glue will work better. Anybody see what I'm doing wrong? It looks like the paper separated leaving 1/2 of the bag on each mounting point.

[JPG]

My second bowl attempt, first using green wood. Lots easier to turn and not so much dust My glue joint failed holding my work to the 3 1/2" faceplate. I used heavy brown paper that was used to bundle brown paper bags and I think it was too thick. I used thin brown bag paper this time and will see if it will hold long enough to finish turning.

[ATTACH]20115[/ATTACH]
I still have so much to learn. I have no idea what the heck I'm doing but I'm having fun doing it:D

[ATTACH]20116[/ATTACH]
I used thick paper and monster wood glue and I don't know what went wrong. I hope thiner paper and carpenters wood glue will work better. Anybody see what I'm doing wrong? It looks like the paper separated leaving 1/2 of the bag on each mounting point.

A larger face plate is indicated.

That is a very large heavy hunk of wood to be supported with a paper connection.

[skou]

OK, I'm sitting here reading this, and wondering?

Wouldn't an ER be a better lathe, than the MkWhatever? Just the weight of the cast iron would be better, let's not bring up the THICK way tubes.

Now, if we don't have an ER, that would be a different question.

steve

[skou]

I just looked at your "shorty" er, and an idea I've been thinking about might work.

Imagine, you had a full-length ER, and your short-base ER. Machine some (could be oak) plugs, 6 or 8 inches long, that would fit in the tail end of the long ER, and the top end of your shorty. Drop the shorty into Hz mode, and slide the 2 together. Instant 5 foot lathe ways.

Yes, you'd need to get a second tailstock, and a second carriage. You'd also want to drill and tap the new tailstock, to fit those carriage knobs. (So you can lock it in place on the upper end of the way tubes.)

Here's how it goes together, drop the headstock down as far as it will go. Slip on the second headstock, slip on the second carriage, and set it horizontally. Join the head end to the tail end of the long-bed ER. The height (bench tops) need to be close to exactly the same.

Now, you've got a real long bed lathe, with adjustable head and tail ends.

Yes, I've got all the parts to do this, just no room anymore.

steve

[beeg]

I think I'd have used a screw center. Then turned the outside of the bowl, with a tenon to mount it in a chuck after I was done with the outside.

[charlese]

Hi, Fred! I'm with beeg, with turning a tenon, then reversing the piece to hollow the inside, however if you don't have a 4 jaw chuck your method looks like it should be sufficient.

Since I've never used craft paper to hold a turning, I can't testify on its ripping strength, but I have used bond paper and it held beautifully using titebond yellow wood glue. The thicker paper of craft paper plus the not so tight paper fibers should give a weaker bond than a better bond (white)writing paper. Another consideration - kraft (brown) paper is made from softwood fibers, while most white paper is made from hardwood fiber. One exception is Western Larch (long fibers) is often shipped to the Midwest to add strength to white paper fiber which is mainly poppels.

Western larch is only sparsely allowed - or not used in kraft paper.

This is information from my memory was learned in the 1960s when I was practicing. But you can check on the internet - I didn't.

[RobertTaylor]

Rather than try to explain how to turn a "bowl without a chuck" I reccomend that you watch this group of videos. Bob Hamilton does a better job than I could. It is much easier than most would imagine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPUwl1tpAao

[fredsheldon]

Hi, Fred! I'm with beeg, with turning a tenon, then reversing the piece to hollow the inside, however if you don't have a 4 jaw chuck your method looks like it should be sufficient.

Since I've never used craft paper to hold a turning, I can't testify on its ripping strength, but I have used bond paper and it held beautifully using titebond yellow wood glue. The thicker paper of craft paper plus the not so tight paper fibers should give a weaker bond than a better bond (white)writing paper. Another consideration - kraft (brown) paper is made from softwood fibers, while most white paper is made from hardwood fiber. One exception is Western Larch (long fibers) is often shipped to the Midwest to add strength to white paper fiber which is mainly poppels.

Western larch is only sparsely allowed - or not used in kraft paper.

This is information from my memory was learned in the 1960s when I was practicing. But you can check on the internet - I didn't.

I did start out with a tenon mounted in my Nova chuck but the tenon broke off flush with the base of the work. The wood was wet and soft so I assume this was the cause of the failure. I did not know about the differences in the type of paper to use, that's probably where my problem is. If the thinner brown paper doesn't hold I will try white paper next. Thanks everybody with the pointers, that's why I post here, to gain knowledge from knowlegeable people.

[terrydowning]

OK, now we're getting more info.

Is the paper joint being supported by the tail stock? Was the tenon mounted piece being supported with a tailstock?

Green wood can be soft and it can break especially when turning cross grain.

For initial turning always support with the tailstock until you start hollowing, it's just a big spindle.

When you start hollowing, keep the tailstock in place and hollow between the live center and edge creating a pillar down the center. Once you have moved sufficient material you can take down the pillar. Most catches happen when working on the edge, not so much in the center.

I'm guessing that the tenon broke as the result of a catch. Sharp tools are still required even with green wood. What tool are you using for hollowing? I recommend a round nose scraper for just starting out. It's more forgiving than a bowl gouge. Bowl gouges are great but they are a lot like a skew and can catch easily if you aren't paying attention. They do require practice to use effectively. Do not use spindle gouges for hollowing, they just catch and they are not nearly strong enough. The shaft and edge geometries are all wrong at minimum you'll bend a spindle gouge if you try hollowing with one.

Keep up the effort Fred, you're first one was a beauty. It's all a learning experience.