how to turn a bead on a platter?

You should ask Wally *LINK*

Mike Schwing from Md.

>I hear he has a secret weapon not yet ready for worldwide exposure.

Till then, it is quite different than spindle beading, as you noticed. There are beading tools that have the profile predefined, but they do not cut cleanly (for me anyway) all the way around the work, and then you have to sand enough that the profile is altered.

I use a small 3/16" bowl gouge ground almost like a half bead on top. I start with a bevel cut at the top of the bead, gouge facing across the workpiece and a push cut, then as I work towards the center of the bowl I rotate the flutes upward and rotate the gouge so it winds up pointing directly at the workpiece/perpendicular to the face. I do the same thing in reverse for the other side, often reversing lathe direction and working on the other side of the work. That way I can use the same body and tool rotation for both sides of the bead.

I am SURE there are better ways to do this, but it works for me and is a continuous bevel cut so it is clean enough that little sanding is required. Here's a bit of proof.

Hope that made sense.


bead example

Re: how to turn a bead on a platter?

John Lucas

>David

I'll tell you 2 ways. One thing I always do when turning beads on platters or in my case mirrors is to raise the tool rest. I raise it way above the middle. What this doesn is let me turn the bead at about 10:30 or 11 on the clock dial. This make is easier to roll the gouge over and control the cut. It can be done with the tool rest on the center line but I always have trouble with the inside of the bead.

I start with the gouge flat, bevel rubbing flute facing away from the platter. Then I lift the handle until it starts to cut and rotate the flute to the left as I roll the gouge over to make the outside cut on the flute. Then I go back and do the same rotating the flute toward the inside as I roll the gouge. You have to exagerate the handle movement when turning the inside of the bead. For me this is far harder than the outside.

The other method I use to turn the inside of the bead is to stick the nose of the gouge into the corner of the outside of the bead with the flute facing to the left. you want to cut with the lower lip of the gouge. This is a scraping cut. Pull the handle around shaping the bead with the lower lip of the gouge. You can do the same thing for the left side or outside of the bead.

Now, don't laugh! .

Fred in NC

>Beading tool. Used as a scraper, tip pointing down, of course.

Re: how to turn a bead on a platter?

Richard Allen

>Hi Dave

Beads on a platter are fairly simple. It is a good idea to have enough relief to make a bead. This is to say that cutting the rim down up to the bead will get that material out of the way. Removing the wood to the inside of the bead is also helpful. At that point you will have a protrusion of wood which will become the bead.

Then it's just a matter of nibbling away at the wood until you have a bead.

I typically will use a detail gouge for this. I hold the tool low so I can start with the gouge fully open on the top of the bead, while rubbing the bevel. I then rotated the tool left or right as I close the flute so that by the time I am at the base of the bead the flute has turned 90 degrees and the tool is paralell with the floor.

I read Mike's method and found it curious that he dose exactly the opposite. Just goes to show that there are many ways to make that bead.

If I am doing more than one bead then I will use a beading tool (the bead formed scrapers) to define the beads. I find that these tools tend to tearout the tops of the beads so I switch to the detail gouge as describe above to blend in the tops of the beads. I also like to use a narrow parting tool to make the slot between the beads deep. That depth tends to give more visual "punch" to the bead. Sorby has a tool (scraper) that is used to make two half beads at a time. I like the narrow point on these tools and I will often use a large size to make the deep slot between two beads.

The best way to learn how to make beads on a platter is to find someone who does this sort of thing and spend an hour with them. You can find this person by attending woodturning club meetings and looking at the work on display at the show and tell table.

BTW the DVD woodworking magazine "Woodworking at Home" has articles with Dick Sing about woodturning. He often puts beads on the bottoms of his turnings and displays doing this in his segments.

Good Luck