Thread: First Practice Wood Turning Project with a Few Observations and Questions

Originally Posted by Gasman

Roy, The lathe is sitting just outside the garage. And if I was to cover her car she would never be able to drive it. Taking a cover off her car would be way more work than she would want to deal with.

Thanks, guys. As far as Harry Wally, I don't think we will be up to his level any time soon. But acrylics do sound like some fun. Aaron and I will do our best to fill in where the lathe work is needed. But, It's all just for fun. I can't wait until I have the comfort/Ability to make a large wooden bowl. That would make the wife happy. Right now I don't have much of a source for wood. Only what I can buy at Woodcraft. No firewood or any place to find rough wood. That is what I need to work on next. Finding wood. Well, Turn your dirty minds off and read that again. LOL.

Pete-I'm with Jerry on this one. No way we can compete with Harry Walley/Andrew or the late, great Pixelfixed/Bill Barber. In fact, I spent a couple of hours going back through the Brushmakers Alcove at their work for inspiration and tips, downloaded and printed some of their work, and put it in my shop notebook for inspiration. And I will definitely be turning other materials, making stacks, etc., when my skills progress. I'm putting the finishing touches on one I did today, may post pics later if I work up the courage.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Roy, The lathe is sitting just outside the garage. And if I was to cover her car she would never be able to drive it. Taking a cover off her car would be way more work than she would want to deal with.

Thanks, guys. As far as Harry Wally, I don't think we will be up to his level any time soon. But acrylics do sound like some fun. Aaron and I will do our best to fill in where the lathe work is needed. But, It's all just for fun. I can't wait until I have the comfort/Ability to make a large wooden bowl. That would make the wife happy. Right now I don't have much of a source for wood. Only what I can buy at Woodcraft. No firewood or any place to find rough wood. That is what I need to work on next. Finding wood. Well, Turn your dirty minds off and read that again. LOL.

Check out your local Tree Surgeons for some raw wood for bowls. As I told Aaron, I haven't turned since high school but I know that it's interesting to say the least--

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Pete-I'm with Jerry on this one. No way we can compete with Harry Walley/Andrew or the late, great Pixelfixed/Bill Barber.

Aaron and Jerry, The thing is that this isn't a competition. They both started up and had a learning curve just like you guys. They both made mistakes and learnt from them, I'm sure.
The important thing is that you're in the game and having fun.

Pete <:-}

Nice lathes gents.
Start8ng from a solid base only maximizes the pleasure, and chances for strong results.

Carbide tools are great, I own a few and they have a place on the rack. They scrape not cut so they aren’t the be all end from a finish, or traditional turning perspective, but last long, are easy to turn to a fresh edge and sharpen up easily on a diamond card.
My skew isn’t radiused, but isn’t straight either. Sort of a two angled face with the leading third on one angle, then the back two third on a different slant. Works for so many cuts.
Tool catches on those roughing gouges are usually the edge of the rad catching on fresh wood.
Always remember to cut downhill or into the centerline, not uphill, or away from the c/l when hogging out lots of shavings.
Adjust your tool rest in often and keep it close. Keep your tool on wood c/l, not the post itself. But become familiar with running tools slightly above or below that centerline as well.
Soft wood is cheaper to learn on but hardwood is better to learn on, and to use in general.
Faster is gooder for wood. Lathe speeds above 1800 rom unless you are hand sanding.
Unlike metal speed er up as the work takes shape, but be slower if it’s rough, early cuts and off balance..
Get a drill chuck for the tail stock! And a center finder jig, get a set of calipers, inside outside and a dead blow to set your live center in hard stock. And a digital caliper that offers fractions as well as decimals. Some Forstner bits to go with that drill chuck.
When you are ready for new gouges, buy them without handles and turn your own. Puts all the value in the steel.
Good practice and custom grips set to your hand size every time.
And most important, have fun and wear nothing dangly.

Okay, I finished my 1st one I'm not embarrassed by after a few halting attempts with cheap wood. I liked this 3" square redheart spindle for starters, as I have some redheart scales I can match up with a blade and make a set out of. I've been going at this one literally since noon today. Hopefully I will speed up and relax into my procedures soon. I started out on this one trying to copy one of Pixelfixed's brushes, but after numerous "re-designs" (i.e. a couple of catches and run-backs lol), it has a somewhat different profile. Anyway, I sanded it up through 2k on wet-dry with the intention of doing a glossy CA finish. It took forever to chase out all the low-grit scratches, but I knew I'd regret it if they told on me at higher grits, right? I then put on about a dozen coats of CA, stopping to level out with 0000 steel wool and clean up after every 2nd or 3rd coat. I then went up to 12k with the micro-mesh pads used wet (which was super easy to do). A final buff with a couple of coats of Renaissance Wax burnished in with cheese-cloth on the buffer, and she was done! That's a 24mm Maggards 2-Band badger fan knot in it; not sure if that's the one I want to install, but it's what I had in the closet. A few pics in the evening sun to highlight the reds and pinks:





A few more observations/learning points:
-I keep having to go back and drill my holes deeper after re-profiling the front end to get it the way I like it. I'm gonna start drilling a few mm deep to compensate, then build up with coins if necesary.
-After getting to round with a roughing gouge, I can get a lot of my shaping and profiling done with a 3/4" skew, even around the ends. I've got one of Alan Lacer's big radiused skews ordered, and can't wait to use it. That long radius will make all the difference.
-I'm getting pretty good at chasing the lines out of my convex cuts, but those concave cuts require a lot more finesse (and a super-sharp spindle gouge!).
-I kept stopping to sharpen tools. Thinking about getting a few carbides for some cuts-we'll see after my beginner turning class on August 1st at Woodcraft.
-I still would like to hear what the experts do at different speeds. So far, I'm finding that I like the following:
*600-800 rpms for roughing out
*1200-1400 rpms for profiling, cleaning up with a skew, cutting in for cove cuts, etc.
*1400-1700 for micro-mesh sanding, CA application.
*2000 rpms for drying CA coats with the light down nearly on it seemed to work well.
I'd appreciate any further guidance on this. Alan Lacer says that "Speed kills," and that you don't need the 3500 rpm for anything.
-The 60 degree cone center works great for centering the drilled end after the Forstner bit.
-Like Jerry, I still need to set up the proper jaws in my Nova G3 chuck, or figure out some other system for flipping things around to finish the bottom after parting.

My next brush is probably going to be some super-hard ebony or similar. I felt like I had to "earn" the right to use it. Hopefully I'm ready. Now I get to go back out, clean up my mess and re-sharpen tools so my wife can have a turn tomorrow!

edit: Mike, I just read all your advice, including the different speeds. Still figuring out where to land on all that.

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I just finished watching the Video by Alan Lacer - Befriending the Skew. It was very informative. I really appreciated him demonstrating how to grind and hone the skew.
I also appreciated his comments on carbon steel vs high speed steel. The man knows his stuff.

Thanks for the comments Mike. I still need to get some calipers and a center finder jig but i need to hold off for a week or two. Speed for me was around 1700 for finishing but i really didnt know what to shoot for so i will turn it up.

I went just the opisite in speed from Aaron when it came to the CA aplication. Around 700 then 200 durring the drying. Drying while spinning is great and seems to go faster than just siting. I got lots to learn and some gouges and skew to buy but the carbides are working for now and i dont have to sharpen them.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Check out your local Tree Surgeons for some raw wood for bowls. As I told Aaron, I haven't turned since high school but I know that it's interesting to say the least--

I have a dead ash tree in the back yard that needs to come down one of these days. No idea what shape the trunk is in, but I'm hoping to be able to turn it into... something. When it cools off a bit I need to get the lathe set up again - thanks for the inspiration guys.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Thanks for the comments Mike. I still need to get some calipers and a center finder jig but i need to hold off for a week or two. Speed for me was around 1700 for finishing but i really didnt know what to shoot for so i will turn it up.

I went just the opisite in speed from Aaron when it came to the CA aplication. Around 700 then 200 durring the drying. Drying while spinning is great and seems to go faster than just siting. I got lots to learn and some gouges and skew to buy but the carbides are working for now and i dont have to sharpen them.

Speeds for different operations is one thing I'm still hearing a lot of different opinions on. Point is, being a babe in the woods at this, I am absolutely open to suggestions on speed and other aspects of the skill from guys like MikeB52 and others. Given a true and round, well-centered stock piece, and a sharp tool, things do seem to smooth out up towards 1800-2000 rpm for cutting and refining. I just have to get confident at those high speeds.

Funny, but turning is starting to remind me of honing razors and smoking barbecue in that, though there are some universal concepts, everyone seems to have different opinions about how to achieve them.

Isn't Northern Ash what they use for baseball bats? would be a fun project.