Some new pieces - style pointers welcomed

[PeterSk]

So after the excitement of the new lathe thread, here's a few photos of the first three real pieces I've turned on it.

First is this in sycamore

Mostly an attempt to turn something sensible out of a small starting blank. As you can see I found out that I drilled the hole for the screw chuck a little bit too deeply, so when I was making one of many correcting passes on the base I found the bottom of the hole, so I decided to turn it into a feature and finish the piece off anyway. The wife suggested that it might make a good lid for something.

Second is this in oak

This was inspired by a comment from miles about not going thin on bought blanks, so was an attempt to go very thin from the off on a bought blank.

Too thin in fact! :lol: I went through it when I was working from the top side, and it only stopped short of taking a ring off the edge as the dovetail wasn't cut accurately enough to present a parallel work face when tightened in my chuck.

I wouldn't have been happy with this anyway, I've made it too high waisted so that all the curve happens too far up the piece, I did have it right at one point but a slightly over-eager cut left a chisel mark somewhere that was impossible to get out without redefining the entire curve.

Finally is this, a deeper bowl style in ash. Excuse the naff photos, my camera is having trouble focusing on the piece.

This turned into an experiment in chisel sharpening really, I ended up trying a lot of different grind angles on my bowl gouge, and I think I started to get the hang of working a shape inside of a deeper bowl like this. Haven't cracked it yet by any means, but the only marks left on the inside are the ones that I couldn't be bothered to stand there sanding out.

Everything's been finished with Chestnut cellulose sanding sealer followed by a coat of microcrystalline wax. Once I've got my cole jaws set up, I'll take the ash bowl and re-wax it using the lathe to buff it up.

 

[big soft moose]

Considering how new you are to turning they arent half bad - however in my opinion the biggest thing that lets these down is the points where you can see circles caused by a change in direction.

you need to practice getting one smooth cut from the top to the bottom of the bowl - no one does it all the time but it gets easier with practice (and sharp tools - and that comes with practice too)

 

[PeterSk]

Whereabouts are you looking moose? I know I've still got some turning rings in them all but I'd like to know which ones you're particularly picking up

 

[big soft moose]

For example on this one you can see the change of direction lines every inch or so - you cant sand these out or at least not easily (unlike torn grain) so you need to get it from the tool

by the way how are you sanding - I use an arbor in a power drill on the coarser grits and it makes a big difference to the speed of sanding

 

[PeterSk]

That's my dreadful pictures I think, it is actually intentionally done and there are distinct different depths to the inside, it's not meant to be one smooth cut rather its meant to step to somewhat mimic the shape of the outside

 

[big soft moose]

Okay fairy snuff

I think in that case you should make the depth change more pronounced, or maybe burn a line os something to make it clear its not accidental

 

[PeterSk]

I'll try and take some better photos tomorrow when the sun is still out

 

[wizer]

Peter, you've just shown examples of mistakes every turner makes when they are starting out (and some of us still make them ). So don't get down hearted. You can solve the screw chuck problem by using a piece of ply screwed onto it before screwing the thin blank on. This means the screw doesn't need so much depth.

Going too thin is solved by a set of figure eight calipers and checking your thickness often. Also, when turning thin, you need to keep lots of mass in the middle. If you hollow it out then try to finish the rim, it will flex and at best you won't get a nice finish, at worse it will explode.

Have you seen any DVDs on woodturning? Or had any tuition? For bowl turning, I really like Mike Mahoney's DVD and also Jimmy Clewes 'Back to Basics'.

Also you might like to study Phillip Streetings work on forms and design

 

[PeterSk]

Hi wizer

The screw chuck hole was avoidable, the problem came when one too many slips with the gouge resulted in me taking a big chunk out of the bottom rim which needed turning out, which resulted in about 1/4" too much being taken off.

I hadn't heard the trick of using a plywood slice to space it out, I'll do that from now on!

 

[Wood spoiler]

As a new self taught turner I started off with Barry goss and Richard raffans books on turning.
But the thing that made the penny drop and produced the most constructive help in my learning curve was the aforementioned Jimmy clewse's"back to basics"
Really useful with in close good filming really shows in detail how to do it.

 

[wizer]

That Jimmy Clewes DVD is very well produced and his bowl turning section was a light bulb moment for me. Good clear advice with lots of visual indicators. This is how a turning DVD should be produced.

 

[big soft moose]

Have you seen any DVDs on woodturning? Or had any tuition? For bowl turning, I really like Mike Mahoney's DVD and also Jimmy Clewes 'Back to Basics'.

he got sangar'd and cornucopia'd at the YOLB

 

[gasmansteve]

Also you might like to study Phillip Streetings work on forms and design

Cheers for that site Tom. Philips site seems full of interesting stuff!
Steve

 

[Jonzjob]

Peter, the thing that you must always remember is that we all started from scratch. One of my other hobbies is radio controlled gliders and there are 2 main sayings for that. The first is that if you have never broken anything then that's because you have never flown anything. The second is that is anyone tells you that they are a born flier then they are a born liar!

Nowt to do with turning as such, but everything to do with learning.

The finish on the ash bowl looks good although I am not keen on the inner shape. For me it would either follow a continuous curve with a slight bowl in the base or it would follow the first external curve and leave a heavier, but flat internal base.

As for the sycamore bowl. Bin there, done that and have finished up turning a cone shaped hole in the base where I went through and turned a wedged shape disk in a contrasting wood to plug it. With a bit of fiddling I turned it so as to be flush with the chuck recess and then turned it, very carefully, to be flush with the inside.

Keep going mate, it's contagious!

 

[Bodrighy]

Style and design are very subjective and so you will always get people who love your work and people who hate it. As far as the quality is concerned, you know where you went wrong which is great. Holes in the bottom are design opportunities by the way, hang on to them as later you can add feet, pedestals infills etc. Keep posting your work and hang on to the early ones so that you can see your own progress. My sister has a little bowl I did when I started and every time I visit I want to take it and bin it but she won't let me.

pete

 

[bobham]

If you turn a slightly tapering peg and glue it into the hole on the first one you will have a ring holder....

Bob

 

[Blister]

Hi PeterSk

Please don't take my comments the wrong way

But I would suggest you learn to walk before you try and run

I always suggest to a new or relatively new turner to NOT try and make anything .

But to spend time on practice pieces

Lear the basic tool control , do some between centers spindle work , turning square section stock to round then marking out beads and coves
Then move on to a bowl blank and have a go at forming a outer shape a inner shape , try and get a continual cut in one go from the rim to the bottom of the bowl

All good practice and learning the use of different tools

You will be surprised at how quickly it all starts to fall into place :lol:

Have you a local Club near you ?

What you have tried so far looks promising :lol:

 

[guyandzoe]

All this sort of stuff is proper beginners mistakes that we all made. The most important thing is to practice practice practice. Then remember all the silly mistakes you make. Then GO SIMPLE.

Beginners often try to be too clever from the get go and try to make all sorts of fancy shapes (by design or otherwise). But the most effective turnings are simple shapes that are deceptively difficult to do.

We who have done a bit in our time can recognise the beginner bowl because we understand the mistakes that led to the shapes before us.

Just make shavings. Dont let mistakes put you off although they can be real shock to the system when you've spent hours on something thats going well and then destroy it in a second. Thats really deflating.

Aim for a continuous curve from base to rim. try to get the inside of a bowl to follow the (simple) outside curve - but dont go through the chuck hole at the bottom!!).

Read as much as poss, watch as much as poss, practice. BE SAFE!!

 

[Bodrighy]

I would advise anyone just starting turning to begin with spindle work. Things like dibbers, etc are great to get a bit of tool control. Bowls are prone to catches, etc and are not the easiest things to do. Priests, mallets, dibbers, all give you a chance to get used to sticking a sharp tool at a fast revolving lump of wood and seeing what happens.

Pete

 

[PeterSk]

Thanks for the comments guys, they are all appreciated! I'm pretty thick skinned and fully recognise my place as a beginner turner, so I'm looking to pull myself forwards with this stuff as well as I can

My biggest problem with doing spindle work at the moment is a source of suitable blanks to work on, what I've done so far has been done on cheap bits I've bought myself, however bowl blanks are relatively a lot cheaper than spindle blanks, I'm currently on the search for a source of spindly bits that are cheap enough to make shavings from, until then I'm practicing with what I have (the sycamore and oak shown above cost a sum total of £1.20, I've yet to find anywhere that'll sell a foot of sensible spindle material for that price)

I'm fully aware that I'm diving in at the deeper end of turning, but it's certainly been fun so far, and I'm definitely coming back for more