Shopsmith Forums

Nice work Fred! Welcome back. A few questions if you don't mind.

What was it like when the bowls blew out? At what speed are you running your 10ER lathe? Do you wish you were on a Mark V/VII with variable speed?

Tom

tomsalwasser wrote:Nice work Fred! Welcome back. A few questions if you don't mind.

What was it like when the bowls blew out? At what speed are you running your 10ER lathe? Do you wish you were on a Mark V/VII with variable speed?

Tom

Tom,
I have a PowerPro V as well as a 10ER. As I have stated in great detail in previous posts in this thread I prefer the 10ER with a speed changer for turning bowls, of which I have turned over 100 on the 10ER alone. The problem is I didn't remove all the pith from some of my prepared blocks thus causing cracks to form while they were drying even though I sealed them with sealer. I used a slow speed on the 10ER.

oldiron wrote:Fred, That is a beautiful bowl!!!

How long did it take?

Mike

Mike, It took about 3 hours total time since it's a small bowl. I already had the blanks rounded out so all I had to do was mount the block and start turning. Since I use carbide cutting tools I didn't require any down time sharping them. Using dry wood takes about twice as long to turn as green wood since the tools get hotter and the wood is harder. I spent about 30 minutes sanding and polishing the finished bowl.
Fred

Hell of a pencil cup! Great start! Sometime you just have to chuck up wood and see what comes out of it. You'd think after making a bunch of bowls or whatever, you'd lose interest but it doesn't happen! Each one is different (or at least mine are!) and the wood will guide you.

Biggest thing I learned as a beginner turner is learn how to sharpen your tools and do it often!

Turning is a Zen exercise, you can just shut out the world and watch the shavings fly!

I did not read all the post in this thread, however I have been turning bowls on my Mark V for several years. I thought all you turners might appreciate a really nice source for Air Dried sealed bowl blanks of many native hard woods.

I found this place 20+ years ago when I was wandering around the back country roads around Strawberry Point Iowa. I met the father and the son. They had recently been written up in Wood Magazine. I went out to find them. Well worth the trip.

http://johnsonwoodproducts.com

Give Randy a call, they are nice folks to deal with. They ship all over.

Mee also want to thank you for sahring this link..It help me a lot

well it's been over a year since I have done any bowl turning, I guess after producing 90 bowls in one year I got burned out. Now I'm getting into the mood again and I have some wood that has been drying for two years now and I'm interested in how they will be like to turn instead of the wet wood I used originally. And several new folks at work who were not around when I passed out all the bowls for Christmas two years ago are wanting some for themselves after seeing all the bowls on their coworker's desks.

Glad to see you back, Fred, and looking forward to seeing what you make.

Mike

Fred, you've been gone way too long! But while you were missing in action, I did my best to fill your size 16 shoes. I turned my first bowl, and my oldest daughter went to a Jimmy Buffet concert!

Dennis,

Great job on your first bowl. I hope you keep at it, you have talent.
Fred