Little form help please?

Re: Little form help please?

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>Hi Carole,

I do agree that the bottom needs to be smaller in diameter. Being able to do that is going to depend on how long your faceplace screws are. I'm going to assume that the pencil line is where your screws end? If it were mine....I might think about making the diameter of the body smaller and then taper it down to a smaller base/foot? It wouldn't need to be that much smaller in diameter, but just enough to get everything to flow down into the foot above the pencil line. The shape looks pleasing as it is, but I do agree that the base/foot would be much too wide if left like it is.

Just my measley .02 cents worth :)

Good luck! Give us a follow up, okay.

Jennifer

How are you liking your Air Shield?

Re: Little form help please?

Philip Duffy

>Howdy, Carole, It sounds to me that you need to ask the question; "what's it for?" The function drives the form, at least in this case. Learning how to "make things happen" is more important in the beginning than design. If you drive it down to a penny size and learn a ton of stuff about your tools and how to use them then I would call it a big success. I try to spend a portion of each and every session at he lathe just doing practice. Even the very best violinists practice every day! Turning it round in James City Co. Phil

Re: Little form help please?

Wally Dickerman in Az.

>Carole, you have the makings of a very good, classic form here. Judging from the size of your faceplate, I'd say that the bowl will be about 5 1/2 or 6 inches wide. This means that the base should be about 2 inches. This form doesn't need a foot. The top 1/3rd is just right. I suggest that with your parting tool, you cut the shoulder at the base a little wider. Then, starting at the widest part of the vessel. cut the curve to the bottom a bit steeper, right to the inside corner of that shoulder. Then imagine that that curve continues on to a 2 inch base. (it will later) That final cut to the base, will come after the bowl is finished inside and out, giving you thicker wood to help as you hollow the bowl. Finally, part it off at the glue line.

I hope that this is clear. If not, let me know.

Wally

Re: Little form help please?

Carole in VA

>Thanks guys and gals! Unfortunately after reading Jenn's message I went back to the lathe, had a catch, and now the whole form has changed ... a good size chunk of the mahogany came flying out of the base (round part) so the whole thing is a different profile now. It is more squat and the top has been closed in more. Guess I am going to learn how to undercut the rim when I get to the hollowing part! LOL Wally I think I like the idea of no foot, or maybe just a very slight rim to make it appear to float a little off the table. Philip, I have no real function in mind...just something that pleases my hands and my eyes and to try and learn a little about proportions. EVen if I end up with a nub, I am having fun! LOL

Re: Little form help please?

Doug Trembath

>Carole, this isn't disagreement, just another alternative. One of the loveliest bowls I have ever turned was of the shape you have in the pic, with a slight improvement in the curve toward the bottom, to fair it. No foot, but as you said, just a suggestion of a rise to elevate the form. I know that this is moot, now, because of the "unfortunate incident", but I have found many customers just love that shape. It feels good in their hands, and is extremely functional, as well. The wider bottom many times displays figure better.

We as a group can get a little tunnel vision, and as a result our pieces tend to look a lot alike , when we follow conventional wisdom and "rules" for design. Since you are fairly new, just experiment, a lot, and find your own shapes, the ones that appeal to you, then refine them each time you recreate them. Good form doesn't come from an equation, it comes from the understanding and appreciation as you view it on the shelf, or hold it in your hand. Truly, experience is the best teacher.

Doug Trembath

Studio in the Woods

Re: Little form help please?

keith tompkins

>Hi Carole, My suggestion would be...no matter what form you settle on, don't let the faceplate (or chuck) influence the size of the foot. Give yourself enough room to maneuver around the foot without the risk of hitting screws, etc.

In a fine fix now! LOL

Carole in VA

>Thanks, Doug. I now have turned myself into a corner, so to speak. The piece is shaped more like a fat inner tube (I like the shape) and I guess it is what is refered to as an enclosed form. I have run into problems hollowing - getting under the rim and following the curve down to the base. This is my first experience with this. Can't seem to make the gouge work. I have a Sorby Hollowmaster so I decided to try that. Boy was that a disaster! LOL Don't know what I am doing wrong. I have the tool rest set to center and the flat of the tool on the rest as the instructions indicate, but the second the tip comes into contact with the wood, it digs in. I need help!

Re: In a fine fix now! LOL

Jerry-Huntsville, AL

>Carole

On the inside of the bowl you should be cutting slightly above center so that if the cutter tends to catch it will be draged down and away from the bowl. Cutting below centerline causes the cutter to dig in too aggressivly. If you have the toolrest set at CL the cutting end may be a little low.

It took me a while to remember that outside the bowl scrapers should be below CL and inside the bowl above CL.

Hope this helps.

Jerry

Re: In a fine fix now! LOL

Carole in VA

>Thanks for the help, Jerry. I did not know that and was setting my tool rest so the tool tip was at center, which was what I thought the instructions meant. Tomorrow I will try setting it a little higher. Maybe after being left alone over night in a cold, dark shop to contemplate it's misdeeds, that bowl will be a little kinder to me in the morning! LOL

Re: In a fine fix now! LOL

Jim in Michigan

>Carol,

If you go to the WoodCraft web site, you can find an instructional video showing how to use the hollowing tools from Sorby.

Jim

Re: In a fine fix now! LOL

Mac

>Hi, When using the hollowmaster, you have to move the tool rest far enough away from the bowl,so that the curved part of the tool is not on the toolrest.Usually about 3 to 4 inches away.The straight shank should always be on the rest.Looks awkward, but thats the way it works. The other way, the cutting edge is not on the centerline of the tool shank and is off center and unbalanced.Tricky, but works well when you get onto it....

Re: In a fine fix now! LOL

Arch

>Hi Carole, Just keep following all of our good advice. You will pretty soon own a very good compression chuck.... and a very elegant toothpick! The mulch pile is a bonus.:)

You probably know the old dodge of using a large faceplate and turning the foot between and beneath the screws to help save wood and correct design errors. Short screws and lots of them is better than a few long ones. The plate's face drives the blank, not the screws.

Consider practice turning (and returning again & again) many different solid shapes from roadkill timber. Remember, It's the outside of a vessel that you see. Keep them all for a while, to help you better decide on shapes that appeal to _YOU_. "To thy ownself be true" and all that.

Regards, Arch