I'm about ready to give up!!

[wildcard]

You also might look for a semi local/local woodcraft store, they have turning classes, one is bowl turning and one is spindle, after that you should have a good enough basis that you can handle anything else on your own with a bit of research. And you might also want to bring your tools if you take the class, when i took it the teacher said he would sharpen our tools for free.

Another thing, if you dont have the equipment to sharpen your tools yourself, you can take them to woodcraft, if yours is anything like mine they will charge $1 per tool to sharpen it. This isnt something you want to continue to do forever, but starting out it can be very benifitial as all your tools will be good and sharp.

As others have said, sharp tools are a must and even with the high dollar sorby tools your still going to have to sharpen them no less then 1-2 times per bowl, even for small bowls. After i had my tools good and sharp, i got into the habbit of sharpening them every time i finish turning something so i know they are ready to go next time i want to. And i broke down and got a wolverine jig, you can build one just as good, but at the time i had a birthday so figured what the heck.

[Stitch]

Giving up is the absolute surest way I know to not develop this capability. Hang in there.

[shipwright]

No offence taken Ivan. I was trying to help a specific person with a specific problem. Of course you won't always get catches when turning cross mounted stock but for a beginner scraping will almost completely eliminate the twice a revolution end grain problem. Point I was trying to make is that turning cross mounted stock poses different problems than parallel mounted stock and that is why bowl gouges and spindle gouges differ. In the oak stool seat in my example the flat scraper was a much faster easier way to get the shape and I know I would have had trouble with tearout if I had turned the edge with a spindle gouge. Not to say It can't be done, I just prefer to do it the simplest way. Bowl gouges usually have a steeper bevel than spindle gouges and that helps keep the edge from orienting into the grain while still allowing a "riding" bevel but that is something that should be learned with supervision IMHO. Scrapers are so steep that you really can't orient into the grain.

Paul M

[beeg]

Hope ya enjoy the Lacer skew class. I did a couple weeks ago. If ya have a skew, round over the short point shank. It'll ride on the tool rest much better.

[johnmccrossen]

There is also a lot of basic information available from Shopsmith. Hands-on instruction and practice of course is best along with your other references.

Good luck, keep practicing (carefully), and have fun. John McCrossen


http://www.shopsmith.com/academy/latheturning/index.htm

[basaltboy]

Thanks again for all your help. I have been in touch with several of the guys from the AAW chapter in Kennewick 80 miles from me. They have been as helpful as all of you. I am going to their next meeting in November and they have several members here in Yakima! Woodworkers sure are a class act. I am not giving up. I am attaching a picture of a little bowl I just finished this afternoon from a piece of Acacia Koa I sent back from Maui in September. Obviously this was not from the piece that was causing me such grief. Thanks again for all the help and encouragement.
--pat

[beeg]

Very NICE looking piece ya turned.

[shipwright]

Good on Ya for not giving up and I'll add my compliments to Beeg's. Good job! There'll be no stopping you now.

Paul M

[roy_okc]

In addition to what has been said above, I highly recommend Bill Grumbine's videos, at least "Turned Bowls Made Easy" http://www.wonderfulwood.com/video.html. I've picked up several things things in the video that helped me drastically, especially with roughing the bowl.

Roy

[iclark]

Paul,
thanks. we were both after the same goal and I understand that. I definitely agree that learning to use cutting chisels are easier with someone to show you how.
Ivan