>I promised some photos to explain tool positions discussed in last nights chat. The first one I am posting is with the gouge held on the left side of the body, flute turned to 10 o'clock, handle low. Note the shavings are going away from me rather than in my face. Also note that I start the bowl at the corner of the blank and work my way back toward the bottom as the blank is rounded. All these roughing cuts are made in the direction of rotation or right to left. I start each pass a little more to the right and carry it a little more around the left side. Please post any questions regarding this.
>I also discussed turning from the backside of the lathe. Note again that the gouge is on the left side of my body but this time helf over the lathe while standing behind it. Again, the flute is at 10 o'clock and the handle is low and leading. To start the cut just start pushing the handle forward until it begins to cut and again, movement is right to left. You will be cutting with the bottom half of the tool which is important in eliminating catches. Questions?
Wasn't part of last night's chat, but in the interest of clarity, I'm assuming you are shaping the OUTSIDE of a side-grain bowl in this orientation. Thus, as the profile emerges, as in photo #2, you are cutting supported grain in a 'downhill' fashion. This will be important for beginners to understand.
I think this is also a process which helps beginners get away from cylindrical bowls with straight, vertical sides, as many beginners want to work the edge of the blank, with the rest across the edge of it, and make a big hockey puck bowl. By shaping the bottom of the bowl in this way, they can get very smooth cuts, and concentrte on a nice, flowing shape.
Once the blank is trued up by initial roughing with the nose of the tool, I find that the lower the handle, and the more shearing the cut, the more control I have, and the more pleasing the resulting forms. The nice thing about working with these shearing cuts is that catches are minimized greatly. If there's a sudden change in the direction of the bowl, like a wide rim, care must be taken when approaching this feature, as a catch can occur when the entire length of the cutting edge meets that wall of wood.
Thanks for posting -- do you have a photo sequence for catch-free turning of the inside ? Undercut rims are also a 'catch basin', and can be pretty tough to master.
>I see what you mean now about being behind or on the other side of the lathe. I'm still not sure about the term "pulling the tool toward you rather than pushing it away". I have been trying to use the same style of cutting by holding the tool against my right side, standing on the other side of the lathe and moving toward the headstock. The pictures also show what you mean about starting at the bottom and moving around to the top.
Thanks for taking the time to post them. I think I'll need to make a trip back to your part of the country for some lessons one day. Sometimes 3 minutes of seeing something done beats 3 hours of discussion.
>I do a demo on "Eliminating catches" and I cover the main 7 causes pretty thoroughly. You are right on with your comments about flowing curves. I might add that it is easier to see the curve forming when viewed from the back side of the lathe. All this may seem aukward but remember, I am used to turning on a bowl lathe and that is the view I always see as well as the natural position to stand. Another advantage is that I am never in "the line of fire" if something blows up; I just stand and watch the pieces go AWAY from me.
>That is why I ended the chat last night until I could post some pictures; it was obvious that words were not enough to explain what I was trying to show. A picture is worth a thousand words and a day of instruction will save you about 10 years of the learning curve. Too many of us think catches are going to happen when, in fact, almost all are preventable. We'll keep chipping away at it and maybe we can help solve this problem.
>I think you started to list these seven causes last night on the chat, but I got bogged down in all the interruptions. Is there an article or at least a list somewhere that is available? Thanks in advance, Shel
2. Moving tool in the wrong direction (we discussed this one last night)
3. Tool handle too high. If you drop the tool handle low enough that the tool is resting against the toolrest rather than being supported by the toolrest then the tool can slide back when it hits something that it cannot cut rather than digging in
4. Cutting with two points at once. Brad mentioned this above. You must not allow a part of the tool tip to hit a shoulder of wood while another part of the tip is cutting.
5. bumping the tool on the "backstroke". When bringing the tool back to start another cut if it bumps the workpiece that will be a catch.
6. Cutting with a part of the tip of the tool that is above the centerline (equator) of the tool. Any tough grain will cause the tool to rotate which throws the cutting edge deep into the wood.
7. The shape of the flute of the gouge. Some gouges are more prone to catches than others. A deep flute is much easier to use than a shallow flute. Included in this is the profile of the grind; some grinds are more prone to catches than other profiles.
>Good explanation of how a scary looking cut doesn`t catch in use.
I`ve used your closer to vertical that horizontal handle approach for roughing out and it`s more effective than a conventional approach like you show in the pics.It`s almost like the gouge pushes itself out of the cut and becomes self limiting.
It`s a shame the bed gets in the way on other than bowl lathes.I`m going to teach a bowlturning class and your approach seems both safer and quicker.
I`m practicing more on the Conover in preparation for the class and it sure is frustrating having the ways and tailstock in the way all the time after working on a bowl lathe for so long.
>i would normally start a bowl from the side in picture 2 but if I start one as in picture 1 the gouge goes on the left side of my body as shown. It is easier to get the handle low from the other side of the lathe though.
