Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
End Grain or Side Grain
Sean Troy
>Hey all, when turning a hollow vessel, do you prefer turning end or side grain? I have always done end grain turning of hollow vessels and can sometimes have a rough go at it with the woods we use here in Arizona. I would imagine with side grain turning, the pith would come into play and was wondering how you manage to avoid problems. Thanks, Sean
Re: End Grain or Side Grain
TDaniel
>Sean, I try to keep the pith away from the bottom or top of a vessel, usually putting it in the middle, side to side. Some wood works well this way and some doesn't. You'll learn pretty quickly which works and which doesn't.
TD
Re: End Grain or Side Grain
Sean Troy
>thanks for the help, sean
Re: End Grain or Side Grain
Brad Vietje
>Sean,
I prefer turning hollow forms in end-grain (spindle) orientation, as there is a little less vibration, since there is no alternation between end- and side-grain.
Side grain hollow forms are not very much different, except there's a little more vibration and tear out, and a few woods, like Butternut, just never seem to give good, clean cuts off the tools. I've had some softer woods that were pretty difficult to hollow this way, and they got real fuzzy and shreaded inside. This is not a problem with harder, fine grained woods.
Safe spinning,
Brad Vietje
Thetford, VT