Bowl Savers

treeturner123 · 19 Feb 2017

Hi All

I know that a number of you use these. I have some nice timber which I think it will be worth processing like this. However, I have an old 1hp Coronet Major with a single bed, so the question is, will I be able to use any of the various bowl savers? All the videos etc that I have seen show them being used on twin bed machines and frankly, I do not have enough in the bank (or an understanding wife) to look to upgrade my lathe!

Any advice is welcome. Incidentally, I do have Sorby Slicer. However, it is difficult, especially on shallow blanks as it will only cut what is in effect a cone. It also is very inclined to bind as it has such a thick shaft.

Phil

woodfarmer · 19 Feb 2017

I have one, it works fine but has real limitations,
I can't use it when the blank is more than over the bed size.. even though I have outboard turning facility.

Very annoying as I can't use it on the big blanks only small ones below 40cm Unless I make my lathe into a gap bed lathe.
also there isn't enough adjustment to allow it to be used for starting on the outside of a new bowl.

Where it works it is good, as I don't like to waste good wood.

paulm · 20 Feb 2017

I think you'll find the motor size is a limiting factor with 1hp not being powerful enough.

I've used the Kel McNaughton system for a few years and the tools do take a sizeable width of cut and it's easy for the shafts to bind in the cut (usually take a couple or more cuts side by side to reduce binding), either or both of which can stall the motor quite easily. With my 2hp motor it's not much of a problem but I could see it being pretty tedious with a less powerful one.

Other systems might be different though I guess, and if you don't mind taking it very slowly it might still work okay.

SVB · 20 Feb 2017

I also have The Kel McN. system. A great and very flexible system but does have more of a learning curve to it than the more fixed system like woodcut / one way make.

As Paul says, they do need a bit of grunt as take approx 4 - 5 mm in a cut continuously and, even if you cut reliefs as you go, the shavings produced in the kerf do generate quite a bit of drag even if cleared regularly. You could do it on 1hp but it would just be quite a bit slower.

Other thing is rigidity. These do place quite a bit of demand on the headstock / tool banjo - I'm not familiar with your lathe but does it have the rigidity to cope with these forces?

Final factor is cost - all the systems are not cheap. Clearly it's your call on this one, but unless you expect to do this fairly often, it would be a very expensive extra couple of bowl blanks.

Hope this helps

Simon

Inspector · 20 Feb 2017

A couple weeks ago our club (Hub City Turners) had a turning weekend where members brought lathes to turn and learn from each other. One member showed a lady that had bought the small Oneway coring tool how to set it up on her bench top sized General lathe. Even though the lathe has a 12" diameter swing and about a 1 hp motor it could handle cutting a 10" bowl core out of the 12" bowl. It was green wood and the chips were cleared often, a reposition for a clearance cut was needed and the tool wasn't pushed to prevent stalling but it does work.

That being said if you only have a few pieces of material to core maybe you should seek out a local turner with a coring system and see if you could work out something with them to core your wood in their shop.

Pete

Robbo3 · 23 Feb 2017

I used the McNaughton system on my old Draper lathe which was 2/3 HP.

As Paul said, you have to make a wider kerf with a second cut & take it gently so that the motor doesn't stall.

Peter at the Toolpost recommends a slightly higher speed than normal of 800 RPM.