Removing wood fast.....question for the day.

[Doug Rasmussen]

I could turn a bowl faster than any CNC programmer when all is said and done. Always loved that term "one of kind" and craftsmanship gentlemen. AI will put the CNC guys out of work soon by the way.

Interesting comments Norm, I bought my first CNC in 1988.

Faster, I don't know. But speed isn't the only issue. We both load the blank pretty much the same way. Standing in front of the machine I call up one of my my macro language bowl programs I wrote. it prompts me for bowl diameter, down feed rate (doing it on a vertical spindle machine), cutter nose diameter and a few other pieces of needed info. Set my cutter to top of part and press start. Then I go work on something else or go have a snack.

After that first bowl I might decide the next one will be oval, that'll take a couple keystrokes. While you're setting up your Vicmarc oval turning attachment I'll do 4 or 5 more bowls all with different appearance by changing scaling factors.

I forgot to mention while you're sanding your first bowl my oval bowl is almost done. Given razor sharp carbide tooling and fine feeds my sanding might only be fine grit off the machine after a spray of sanding sealer.

How exactly will AI put the CNC guys out of work?

 

[Brian Gustin]

Well, that is almost scary, Al.....

If AI can become better at being human than humans can be.....then we are in for a rough landing somewhere in the future!

-o-

Yeah , Discussion is getting way off track by now, but just to add a tidbit to the AI Thing, reading this gave me the idea last night to have a chat with Bing AI and I asked it to design me a turned wood box. Took multiple iterations of varying my request and finally it generated a set of images of pretty nice boxes, though heavily embellished, and try as I might I could not get the AI Bot to generate me a line drawing image of any of the boxes for purposes of setting a profile to turn something to match... So I think AI has a LONG way to go before it may start seeming human.

 

[Neil S]

That shape looks like it will work for bowl roughing and clear chips out of the flute well.

What diameter is the handle shaft?

Yes, Steve, that flute readily clears the shavings of any size that you can manage to make with it.

That replacement handle was made by fellow forum member Hughie for me. It's stainless steel (for strength) tubing encased in a foam sleeve. I'll check the handle diameter the next time I'm in the workshop.

 

[Steve Chaplin]

That replacement handle was made by fellow forum member Hughie for me. It's stainless steel (for strength) tubing encased in a foam sleeve. I'll check the handle diameter the next time I'm in the workshop.

Thanks much Neil. My guess is that it is 3/4" which would be great, have a handle with a 3/4" collett.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

but, what tools work best for you when a lot of wood needs to be removed?

Given that this whole thread is in regards to removing wood fast, I would challenge you to show me how your CNC could take a 12" x 12" x 6" blank of wood and turn it into a bowl faster than a traditional turner would on their lathe. (I would bet even I could make a given bowl faster on my cheap HF lathe than you could program & run your luxury CNC to do the same thing... Granted, once programming is set, you could then run off multiple copies of the same bowl faster than I could, but that is *NOT THE POINT OF THIS THREAD*)

Brian,

Notice Odie said "what tools work best for you". I said Forstner type bits for interior and sawing for exterior. Those are what work best for me. The sawing especially because it gives pieces of solid wood (some possibly useable) rather than knee deep shavings. It still surprises me nobody else mentioned sawing, seems to me that must be the most popular way to remove unwanted wood (like sawing a blank round).

I don't recall ever saying a CNC can turn a bowl faster than a hand turner.

Where did you get the idea I have luxury CNC's? Those were sold now my machines are old, so old the buyers of my business didn't want them. They have been upgraded control-wise, much the same as people used to update old PC's. But, they're still old and not able to compete speed-wise with newer CNC machines.

Please re-read Odie's quote above to see the point of this thread.

 

[odie]

Yeah , Discussion is getting way off track by now, but just to add a tidbit to the AI Thing, reading this gave me the idea last night to have a chat with Bing AI and I asked it to design me a turned wood box. Took multiple iterations of varying my request and finally it generated a set of images of pretty nice boxes, though heavily embellished, and try as I might I could not get the AI Bot to generate me a line drawing image of any of the boxes for purposes of setting a profile to turn something to match... So I think AI has a LONG way to go before it may start seeming human.

Just a note to say that I don't mind if this, or any thread gets off track.

This is like sitting around the poker table, and expecting the discussion to be controlled......just isn't going to happen!

-o-

 

[odie]

Notice Odie said "what tools work best for you"

Indeed, I did!

As with any discussion here, I didn't expect to hear anything but opinions of those who state them. All are welcome to give their own POVs.

Personally, I enjoy the interaction, whether I agree or not.....it all adds to the stimulus, and I can privately decide if it influences me in any meaningful way.

-o-

 

[Norm Marentette]

Sorry for getting off track today guys. One last thought, sketch a drawing on a piece of paper any shape you like, scan it into computer. As for the CNC guy not necessary, AI will read the shape and automatically generate the code necessary to process the part given a few variables. Programming will change significantly and that Technology already exists. How about 2 years away for home use? I once told my students you actually had to get up off the couch and go to tv and turn the channel. They thought I was full of it.

Ps.
Roughed out 5 spalted hackberry bowls today. Took 5 hours including 4 bags of shaving and dusting the shop and walking the dog. That's a record for me. Used the bowl gouge, skewer and always like to finish with the scraper. Have a good weekend everyone.

 

[hughie]

Yes, Steve, that flute readily clears the shavings of any size that you can manage to make with it.

That replacement handle was made by fellow forum member Hughie for me. It's stainless steel (for strength) tubing encased in a foam sleeve. I'll check the handle diameter the next time I'm in the workshop.

I thought it looked familiar, from memory that one would be a 32mm or an 1-1/4" 600mm long ?

 

[Russ Braun]

Well, that is almost scary, Al.....

If AI can become better at being human than humans can be.....then we are in for a rough landing somewhere in the future!

-o-

If AI can clean up my shop, I might be interested. I’m betting it can’t replace the feeling I get when my gouge is cutting just right!!

Since media outlets continually want us scared (for some reason), I take AI reporting with a grain of salt. Can anyone say Y2K? If I’m wrong, I’m getting close to the end of my life cycle soooo…….back to the lathe, woohoo!!

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

@odie & @hockenbery To make a statement not related to this topic . Over the years I have seen Al and Odie go at each others statements like fire & water but how amazing it is to see them actually agree on many things lately.

 

[Mike Novak]

Since media outlets continually want us scared (for some reason), I take AI reporting with a grain of salt. Can anyone say Y2K? If I’m wrong, I’m getting close to the end of my life cycle soooo…….back to the lathe, woohoo!!

Ai really scares me. Not because of how the media portrays it, but because business leaders believe it’s the greatest thing since electricity. Because of this, there is VAST amounts of investment being made in a technology and companies rushing to implement it before it’s ready. Then the people who spent the money or created the program try to hide any problems so they don’t get fired. I bet even Elon doesn’t know how many accidents the Tesla self drive Ai has caused.

 

[Steve Chaplin]

Neil, found a bigger gouge. I think it is made by Crown for Oneway but not sure about that. Is 1 1/8" diameter. That is going to remove wood very fast.

1-1/8" Pro - PM bowl gouge with 16" beech handle

oneway.ca

 

[Neil S]

Neil, found a bigger gouge. I think it is made by Crown for Oneway but not sure about that. Is 1 1/8" diameter. That is going to remove wood very fast.

1-1/8" Pro - PM bowl gouge with 16" beech handle

oneway.ca

Yeah, Steve, that 1-1/8" is a big bowl gouge. My biggest Crown is only 1".

I do have one larger gouge that is 1-1/4", but I only use that for facing off blanks, which it does very quickly, but it is getting too large for me to go anywhere near end grain with it...

​

 

[Russ Braun]

Ai really scares me. Not because of how the media portrays it, but because business leaders believe it’s the greatest thing since electricity. Because of this, there is VAST amounts of investment being made in a technology and companies rushing to implement it before it’s ready. Then the people who spent the money or created the program try to hide any problems so they don’t get fired. I bet even Elon doesn’t know how many accidents the Tesla self drive Ai has caused.

I learned a while ago that things out of my control should be kept there. Scared and fearful are polar opposites of my current daily goal, peace of mind!!

 

[hockenbery]

Ai really scares me. Not because of how the media portrays it, but because business leaders believe it’s the greatest thing since electricity. Because of this, there is VAST amounts of investment being made in a technology and companies rushing to implement it before it’s ready. Then the people who spent the money or created the program try to hide any problems so they don’t get fired. I bet even Elon doesn’t know how many accidents the Tesla self drive Ai has caused.

Driverless vehicles are not ready for prime time. However, I’d rather share the road with one of them than a drunk cowboy in his “driverless”truck.