Total turning newbie here!

[alanjparsons]

Good Afternoon to all,

I have been somewhat of a lurker on these forums until now! :mrgreen:

a little bit of info on me, I have always been interested in woodwork, and I can turn my hand to most things (pardon the pun )

Wood turning is a new hobby of mine, be gentle with me though! only started 2 days ago..... started off building my work bench last week and now its all complete, I have started off with a rather old/not so good Clarke CWL6B (I can hear the groans from here ) but rahter than spend a big wedge of money to find out I didn't like wood turning this seemed like a good solution

its taken me 2 days to get the whole turning bug though!! I only get a few hours in the evening (I have 2 small children aged 5 & 6)

I have started off practising with various tools on some blanks I bought, I have watched various youtube demonstrations on bowl gouges, my question is simple to you guys

Can you give me some pointers? I keep getting very small catches when using my bowl gouge (bought a new one)

Anyhoo thats enough about me, and I am looking forward to hearing some pointers

 

[nev]

...
Can you give me some pointers? I keep getting very small catches when using my bowl gouge (bought a new one)
...

Hello and welcome
First thoughts would be possibly the angle of contact of the gouge against the wood?
have a read of the following - Mr Arnull explains it a lot better than I can...

http://www.woodworkersinstitute.com/page.asp?p=1047

you should be able to place the bevel of the gouge on the wood without it cutting and as you slowly lift the handle of the gouge the cutting begins, with the flute of the gouge facing the direction of travel (of the cut)

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

Hard to say, but being a relative noob myself I will hazard a guess at trying to take too much off at a time. Start by presenting the tool to the wood with the back end of the handle well down, and the tool rest just below centre. Let the bevel of the tool ride on the workpiece then very slowly raise the back end of the handle until it starts to cut.
It's all a matter of practice.
Also make sure your tools are as sharp as you can get them. Straight from new they tend not to be very sharp. If you don't have a grinder yet, give them a tickle with the belt sander.

Hope this helps

Tom

edit: oops, beaten to it.....

 

[stuart c]

hi from a fellow newbie
if its any comfort i have a faithful lathe as a starter so proberly same dodgy quality as yours but it turns wood so as for now it will do im sure there are many on here that started this way so good luck. not enough experience to give advice other than when it all goes wrong dont throw half a broken bowl at the wall it bounces back and hurts

 

[Spindle]

Hi

The advice above regarding the bevel contact is good and something you will need to master.

Also:

Try to minimise the overhang of the tool cutting edge from the tool rest by keeping the tool rest as close as possible to the work.

Ensure you are cutting on or just above the work centre line when using bowl and spindle gouges.

Regards Mick

 

[finneyb]

Take a class if you can.
It saves a lot of time and then you can develop your own style and way of working

Brian

 

[Silverbirch]

Hello Alan and welcome
You didn`t say exactly what you were attempting with your practice blanks, but if hollowing a bowl you would normally work inwards towards the centre, a little at a time, and from the foot to the rim on the outside of the bowl, again a little at a time. You tube can be a a useful means of learning, but there are plenty of examples of bad practice there. As a beginner, it can be difficult to tell the good from the bad. Having someone show you would be better, or, failing that, there are plenty of good DVD`s by reputable turners around. Bob Chapman does one called "Bowled Over", for example. (Look up www.ktmp.co.uk for this and other examples.)

Ian

 

[alanjparsons]

wow thanks for the responses guys!!!


totally agree about YouTube, sometimes it looks good but turns out to be a bad one!


I am practising on the blanks to make a simple bowl nothing fancy

 

[stuart c]

wow thanks for the responses guys!!!


totally agree about YouTube, sometimes it looks good but turns out to be a bad one!


I am practising on the blanks to make a simple bowl nothing fancy

we like pictures hint hint