bowl turning question

Re: bowl turning question

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Welcome to bowl turning. What you are turning are beginner bowls, and you're probably right where you should be. Your problem is technique related. When we're really new at this, we concentrate on the wall thickness on the way down from the rim, and instead of making it curve to match the exterior profile, we pretty much go straight down. Then suddenly, we remember that we have to make a bottom, and the transition winds up abrupt, as you have described.

This tendancy will go away on its own with practice as you get more comfortable with your tool handling. I teach new guys to begin thinking about the bottom way earlier than they would have otherwise. We generally work down the rim about half way, then we start hollowing out from the center, creating a sweeping curve toward the center that gets longer and longer with each pass. If we've done it correctly it eventually meets the part on the wall we took down to finished thickness just as we reach the bottom of the bowl.

On larger bowls I/we work the rim down to final thickness a little way and then ride the bevel all the way down to the center, instead of starting from center out, but riding that bevel can be a bit daunting with some bowl gouges, so I don't usually have new guys doing that, but I show them it is something to work towards.

Other methods exist - lots of them. It isn't your tool, it is your experience. Don't worry about it, keep practicing and it'll come around pretty quickly.

Re: bowl turning question

Barry Turner

>Been there done that! (Still do, if I'm not careful!) One thing that might help is to stick with smaller bowls until you get the hang of this smooth-curve-from-rim-to-bottom-thing. Bowls 6" about six (6") inches in diameter or smaller are easier to work with.

Try not to think of bowl sidewalls and bottoms as separate components of a bowl. Establish a smooth and pleasing shape on the outside, then just maintain a uniform wall thickness all the way.

Re: Chuck Advice *LINK*

Fred Holder

>A bowl gouge with a nose bevel of about 65 to 70 degrees and swept back wings will take you all of the way down the side and across the bottom on most bowls. Start cutting from the center and as you turn always turn all of the way to the bottom of the diameter that you have. As you get toward the side, you will still be going all of the way down and clear to the center of the recess that you've cut. If you do it this way, you should get to the bottom by the time you have the wall thickness to the desired thinness. Like Mike says also, a little experience will help a great deal.


Fred Holder's Domain Site

Re: bowl turning question

Keith Tompkins

>Hi Jay, a couple of suggestions: try practicing on scrap first, just to get the feel of things.

Practice the hollowing cut, starting in the center, gradually enlarging the opening with each successive cut. Try to swing the same arc with the tool each time, eventually you will be able to do it with one long, consistant cut from rim to center.

Try not to focus so much on your arms....use your hips to create the arc...you will have more stability and power. I like to think of my upper torso as being "locked", my hips and legs doing most of the work.

Re: bowl turning question

n2wood

>I can see now I need more lessons. You say to keep you lower torso locked and not to worry so much about your hand movement but when I start to hollow out my tool handle is pointing away from me and I start to bring it back while rotating it until I get back to center and at that time the tool handle is back to my side. Am I doing something wrong????

Re: bowl turning question

Jim Pugh, Ohio

>Nope, sounds like everything is fine. When making the final sizing cuts is when you want the most tool support. Cutting the inside of a bowl on standard lathes is tougher than on lathes where the head rotates out and allows you to use less arm motion and more body motion. Even so, both get the job done.

Re: bowl turning question

Jay Dunham

>Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Guess practice makes perfect, so I'll just have to keep at it.

Re: bowl turning question

Keith Tompkins

>I can't say you are doing something wrong, I was explaining my turning style.

In spindle turning, I brace the tool against my body, and use my whole body for support. In bowl turning I do something similar. I think if you rely only on your arms and hands to guide the bowl gouge, it is more difficult to create a flowing curve.

Very similar to swinging a baseball bat, I pivot at the hips, my feet at a comfortable stance, I try to swing the tool with one, big fluid motion.This isn't something I came up with, it's the method taught by David Ellsworth and others.

This way, you are reproducing the same curve, cut after cut, no corrections needed as you progress. Of course, this is not the only way to turn!