Shopsmith Forums

prmindartmouth wrote:Very nice. How did you mount it? Faceplate? Screw chuck? 3 jaw?

Standard screw plate with a pine sacrificial spacer.

dusty wrote:Great job, Martin. I turned my first bowl during a Traveling Academy session about two years ago. It was a memorable experience! I was nearing completion when the whole thing exploded on me.

It is obvious that you are the turner and I am the wannabe. Again, great job.

I am not happy with the inside, but I was very worried that it would crumble to dust, so I stopped. I think I could have spent more time sanding also. But, on the bright side, I did make a very large pile of chips and several gallons of dust.

myoung44708 wrote: I did make a very large pile of chips and several gallons of dust.

Now that's what we want pics of!

Not really, great job!

Addicting - YES - Shopsmith as a lathe - Maybe. I joined the local TN Assoc. of Woodturners, and now have access one morning a month to dedicated Jet and OneWay Lathes, and they can turn larger objects safely. The SS slow speed is too high for unbalanced preforms of any size larger than about 6" diameter. I've turned up to 13.5" platters on JET and had no problems other than fear factor.

BTW - great job on that 1st bowl. What type of gouges are you using? I hope you have a bowl gouge, and not trying to use spindle gouges for hollowing out. That could be catastrophic in more ways than one. Bowl gouges have a solid shank of substantial diameter so as to not break off and become projectiles.

Is that really your first bowl - or just first on a Shopsmith?

dusty wrote:Great job, Martin. I turned my first bowl during a Traveling Academy session about two years ago. It was a memorable experience! I was nearing completion when the whole thing exploded on me.

It is obvious that you are the turner and I am the wannabe. Again, great job.

My first was a very dry walnut bowl of about 8" diameter, and I caught the inside and it exploded on me also. I salvaged almost all of the pieces and glued back together as a reminder of what not to do. It makes a great catch-all on the dresser.

mgdesigns wrote:
BTW - great job on that 1st bowl. What type of gouges are you using? I hope you have a bowl gouge, and not trying to use spindle gouges for hollowing out. That could be catastrophic in more ways than one. Bowl gouges have a solid shank of substantial diameter so as to not break off and become projectiles.

Is that really your first bowl - or just first on a Shopsmith?

First bowl...ever!

Used a standard set of chisels. No carbide tips.

Beautiful work!

Nicely turned, that padauk blank sure turned into a beauty.

As mgdesigns stated above the spindle gouges just aren't substantial enough for the distance from the tool rest you end up working. Another problem with spindle gouges is the grind of the chisel which is determined by the shape of the shank. The wings are flatter than a bowl gouge and can catch the end grain really quickly making them rather "grabby".

So, a word of caution and advice. If all you have for chisels is the standard set of shopsmith chisels (which are very decent chisels IMHO), then please use the round scraper for the inside of a bowl. It is more substantail and the scraping action is much less grabby. Bowl gouges are not carbide tipped. Bowl gouges are made from stock is much rounder and has either a "U" channel or "V" flute down the center of the stock and then the tip is ground with one of various grind patterns, "fingernail", "Ellsworth", regular, etc. The rounder stock and deeper flute makes for a much more substantial tool with "wings" that come up higher than a spindle gouge and meet the bowl's inside at a better cutting angle for shearing cuts. Bowl gouges also typically have longer shanks and handles as well, this makes for better control when working the inside of a hollow form and the cutting edge is inches away from the tool rest.

mgdesigns is also correct regarding the speed of the SS. If you wish to make larger bowls with unbalanced blanks on your SS then look around for a speed reducer. You may want to add some ballast to your lathe as well, for a lathe, the SS is quite light. Sandbags across the bench tubes is one option, I mounted a cabinet for all of my SS accessories under the bench tubes this added about 100 pounds or so and my SS has not danced around since.

Again, very nice bowl, GREAT Job!!

P.S. Don't get discouraged if you experience a blow up, these are quite common for turners. Safety gear (full face shield as a minimum, some people use padded smocks and helmets for large or fragile turnings) is essential. Never stand in the line of fire (especially when starting with an unbalanced piece), and always use sharp tools as they are intended and an abundance of caution (Expect the piece to blow up and be thrilled when it doesn't).

terrydowning wrote: Sandbags across the bench tubes is one option, I mounted a cabinet for all of my SS accessories under the bench tubes this added about 100 pounds or so and my SS has not danced around since.

Another option is packing both the way tubes and bench tubes full of used lead wheel weights.

that's absolutely beautiful. I just tried my lathe for the first time today and now , because of you, I'm starting a bowl tomorrow. That really is a nice piece of work.