Shopsmith Forums

I a having difficulty turning the inside of bowls that are about 4 or 5 inches deep and about 10 inches in diameter. The tool rest holder is angled and won't allow me to get below center of the bowl to shape the bottom. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Larry

I'm not exactly sure what problem you are having, but sometimes with the inside of bowls, the rim gets in the way of the gouge making it difficult to turn the bottom. Look at the grind of the finishing gouge on this page:

http://www.alstirt.com/Pages/Tools.html

The steep grind and secondary bevel make it easier to get in deep and finish the bottom. You could try regrinding your bowl gouge to that shape.

Mike

This videos might help, turning the inside starts around 7 min. in.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK7mwZvcgfc[/youtube]

lalkie01 wrote:I a having difficulty turning the inside of bowls that are about 4 or 5 inches deep and about 10 inches in diameter. The tool rest holder is angled and won't allow me to get below center of the bowl to shape the bottom. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Larry

If I understand you, the tool rest holder itself is physically interfering with getting below the center line. Is the bottom of the tool rest holder hitting the rim of the bowl? A photo of the situation would be helpful. If you have a 510/520/Mark 7, the tool rest holder has two mounting positions, and that may help resolve the problem.

You might like the specialty 'S' bowl tool rest. 555312 It's about $37.00
Couple it with a Tool Rest Upgrade Kit 521765 for 500 or 514264 for 505-520 They are about $30-$40 respectively and not having to tweak the allen screw when you need to is a big help for bowl turning where you are adjusting the tool rest as the profile changes. Everett

I probably did not explain myself very well. the picture that evert posted is showing the tool rest upgrade and it appears to be a lot like the one I have. The angled part of the tool rest holder is angled and hits the rim of the bowl not allowing me to reach below center of the bowl. I have the S tool rest and it will not allow me to shape the inside of the bottom of the bowl, again the angled bottom of the tool rest holder hits the rim. the bowl I just finished is about 5 inches deep. I am looking at building a tool rest holder that fits in the end were the end supports fits in the two holes for the band saw and other accessories. I think I can attack the bottom of the bowl with a short straight tool rest holder that will allow me to get below center and to the walls of the inside of the bowl. Thanks for the help. I appreciate any help I can get. Larry

Remove the tool rest support arm and turn it upside down.which hole is being used? Try the other one.

Are you attempting to place the end of the arm(and tool rest) into the bowl from a right angle to the bowl?

I am using both holes in the tool support depending on angles and depth I need. I am truing to put the tool holder and rest inside the bowl so I can finish the bottom inside of the bowl. I cant seem to get close enough to avoid chatter and get a good finish unless I am doing something wrong. If I build what I am thinking about it will allow me to attach the bottom of the bowl with the tool rest parallel to the bottom of the bowl. Any Ideas with pictures would be helpful. Thanks Larry

Can you take a picture of your setup and post it here?

A could of quick things that come to mind, are you using a bowl gouge at this point or perhaps scraping??? A tool can only go so far beyond the tool rest but tools are different, a bowl gouge is a pretty massive amount of steel and is much more stable then say a spindle gouge and that is with out the differences in the sharpening angles and such. It is actually dangerous to turn with the wrong tools so I have some concerns when I don't know how much the turners knows about such things...... not saying you don't but I've seen and heard enough to always want to ask. Safety comes pretty high on my list of important things in the shop.

Ed