>This might be a How high is up question, but I am nearly blind in one eye and the as a result the other one is totally dominant. I have very little stereoscopic vision and little or no depth perception. (and yes there is a sign on the front of my car thats says "get out of the way")
My question is about "fairing" the curves inside bowls. I hate lumpy bowls. It is clear to me that my son can see them better than I can. The little lumps and ridges. I have to touch them, either with the tool or with my fingers. I can feel irregularities I have a very hard time seeing. I use a small but very bright halogen light.
Is this normal for you folks with two good eyes? Have I not trained myself as well as I trained my son?
Is there a lighting technique that would work better? Polarized light or the new laser lights?
>Despite having pretty good vision and youngish eyes (32yrs old), I have a much easier time seeing imperfections with a strong light at a shallow angle to highlite the ridges, and I use touch. (And I still have to work really hard to get a finish that satisfies me.)
>Barry I have similar problem. Right eye is terrible. What gouge profile do you use? I find that if I use the "Ellsworth" type gouge the way he teaches for finishing I can get a tolerable finish. However, as others have said "braile" is best for me too.. :>)) Darryl
>Even when I was younger my fingers could feel what my eyes didn't see. I believe this is typical of all people, the fingers can pick up irregularities that the eyes miss.
>As everyone has said, it's easier to "see" lumps with your fingers than with your eyes. I find that the way to locate and get rid of them is to find the lump with your fingers with the lathe turning, then highlight it with a pencil. Unless you know exactly where the lump is, it's far too easy to make two lumps out of one.
>Thanks to all of you, I think. I guess I feel better, but I'm not sure. Was hoping someone was going to show me the magic. I use the Ellsworth gouge and it would be one of the last tools I gave up. Like it a lot.
Barry, I told the woman I'm dating I was just check for curves I could use on turnings. Important to do research, you know. Glad it was a Chevy, unless John figures out you were driving a Ford when you met your wife.
Wally's suggestion about "marking the lump" is great advise, it works. That's the same thing that I do all of the time. He's right, it's so easy to create more "lumps" while trying to remove one. Marking both sides of it gives you an aiming point and the lump is usually gone when the pencil marks just begin to disappear.
>I have normal vision (after Lasik) but I use my fingers to tell me if the surface is smooth. Always have. I can easily feel what my eyes don't/can't see.
I wanted to point out that there are times when "good" bright, even lighting can interfere with seeing minute details of form. I can usually feel things I can't easily see, but I also turn out all the lights except a drop light with an unfrosted bulb, and wave it around looking at the light and shadows falling on the wood. If you concentrate on the boundry between light and shadow, you may see more 3-D detail in this way. Sometimes my crummy "shop" with bad lighting has its advantages...
You can always convince the neighbors or other onlookers that you are performing some ancient woodturning ritual -- they'll never know the truth !
>Barry, although the jocularity is fun to read, you have also gotten some good feedback. I'll share a bit of my experience with you. I was always known for my eyesight, could read road signs before most others could see them, but as I aged, I found reading glasses were the supplement I needed, and my work took on a tremendous improvement when I got them. (sob)
Your reliance on your fingers and hands, however, is entirely justified. I used to do a lot of creative sculpting with auto bodies and motorcycle frames, and quickly realized I should close my eyes and feel the surface to obtain a fair curve. I always found that my hands revealed a lot of defects I simply couldn't see, even with superlative vision. I'd bet Michelangelo and other famous scupltors used the same technique.
On another note, after working on machinery for most of my life, using only my fingers I could judge the thickness of a piece of material, and usually be within a 32nd, oftentimes closer. Familiarity, and all that, I suppose. I found relatively quickly, however, when I started doing a lot of Hollow Vesels, that my fingers were deluding me. I would feel the wall between my thumb and forefinger, and it would feel like a quarter inch thickness, yet one small cut later and I would cut the top out of the vessel, realizing it was closer to a sixteenth. Finally had to develop, and more importantly, use a series of calipers to ensure the wall thickness was correct. It's hard to accept when one of the abilities we have always prided ourselves on begins to fade, huh?
Keep using those fingers, for whatever purpose you need them, but keep them out of harm's way, so you have something to use later!
>I have used all the techniques described above and usually manage to fair the curves quite nicely. I suppose I was wondering if there was something the people with two good eyes were seeing that I was not. Probably like trying to ex pain "blue" to a person born totally blind. Since we can't trade eye site for a hour or two I suppose neither of really knows what the other sees.
You mentioned auto body work. Did you know that in the old days in Detroit there were people on the assembly line that stood and felt the car bodies all day and marked where the were high and low for correction. After a while their fingers became flattened and wider (spatulate) on the tips. An occupational adaptation. I think they do it with lasers now, reflecting off the metal.
