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Help...turning with a face plate

Joined
Nov 6, 2019
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So I am just getting into turning again some 15 years after the last time I turned. I have had a little success doing small things on the spindle, such as a honey dipper. I decided to try something a bit bigger and with a face plate. I am using a piece of a eucalyptus, from a massive tree that was blown over so it is really green. I am not overly worried about it cracking because I am just practicing and getting the techniques down. My problem came after I got the piece rounded out, and I was trying to start cutting down to a smaller size but I wasn't getting all the way over to my marked point to not hit the screws on the face plate. When I went back to try and bring that area down I kept getting really bad catches that ended with a broken tool rest and chisel, not at the same time. The tool was also my fault, I made a super stupid mistake and used a small fluted gouge. What was I doing wrong with the wood and other chisels?
honey dipper.jpg wood.jpg
 
Joined
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I second Dwight's suggestion about hooking up with a club and a coach. You'll make more progress in 3 hours with a coach than you will in 6 months of working on your own.

I don't generally see things well in pictures, but from your photo, my best guess is a) you tried to cut INTO the slope (toward the left in the picture), rather than down the slope and b) you may not be keeping the orientation of the grain in mind as you cut.
 
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Looks like you are getting bad catches. Formula to avoid is first use sharp tools so you will not be pushing too hard.
Then make sure to use ABC- anchor tool on toolrest
rub the bevel on the workpiece
Cut by rotating the tool into the piece carefully
I would say your problem was most likely not rubbing the bevel before contact. I am sure some of the teaching pros will be along soon.
 
Joined
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There’s the BAW (Bay Area Woodturners) that meet in Pleasanton and my club Nor-Cal Woodturners, we meet in Folsom. Look us up and get more info. Both clubs offer free mentoring for all turners.
Best investment you can make!
 

hockenbery

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I can’t tell what you are doing wrong from the photo.

Catches happen when the wood can drive into the tool.
too low a tool rest is common cause. Not riding the bevel, turning the flute above 45 degrees.
Also grain orientation. Try to make all cuts across the grain like you would cross cut with a saw.

best way to learn is with a bowl class or at a mentor. Local clubs often have classes and mentors. @Dwight R Rutherford listed a couple clubs to check out.

It may help to see a method that works.
this is video from a demonstration I do on turning bowl from wet wood for drying. This is the way I do it. It is a good solid repeatable method. There are other safe methods that work too.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo0bGSafZq4


This is video clip from a hollow form demo that shows how I mount a faceplate.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o4l092k8qk


T
his is a thread in the tips section in working with green wood.
http://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?threads/working-with-green-wood.11626/
 
Last edited:
Joined
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Every tool has a learning curve, a few hours spent with a skilled turner will get you the basics you need to overcome the common tool catches. Watching videos can help but it only takes a few degrees of angle or presenting the tool in the wrong direction (up hill) to get a nasty catch. There are several videos on YouTube that cover the common mistakes leading to tool catches you might try watching these videos you will most likely identify the error you were making in the tool presentation to the work piece. Once you get past the tool catch phase the turning gets easier and more enjoyable. If you were using an adjustable chuck you would have had a bad day forcing the wood blank out of the chuck with those bad catches, you were lucky to be using a face plate and screws to hold the wood blank solid.
 
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Well, it looks like a 'presentation' issue, which to me is how you stick a piece of sharp metal into a piece of spinning wood so that it cuts and doesn't catch... I have a bunch of bowl turning videos up on You Tube, under the alias of robo hippy.... If you ever head up to Oregon, let me know.

robo hippy
 
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I am not near as experienced as these guys but just wanted to add my little 2 cents. One thing I learned that going from turning small items to larger items, I have to remember to get close to my work. That means having to move my tool rest around a lot to turn the specific area I'm working on. I would find myself getting in a hurry and thinking I could just extend my tool out further and get the same effects as when I'm close. Didn't work very well. Just a thought.
 

Bill Boehme

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I can't tell from the picture what you are trying to make, but I can see that it is end-grain oriented (the grain runs lengthwise so that the faceplate is screwed into end grain). This is not really a very good way to hold a long stick of wood. Rather than using a faceplate, a much better way to hold the wood is to turn it between centers ... in other words using a spur drive, Steb drive, or safe drive in the headstock and a live center in the tailstock. I would recommend using a safe drive because a catch only results in the wood stopping rather than a violent unnerving catch.
 

odie

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I am not near as experienced as these guys but just wanted to add my little 2 cents. One thing I learned that going from turning small items to larger items, I have to remember to get close to my work. That means having to move my tool rest around a lot to turn the specific area I'm working on. I would find myself getting in a hurry and thinking I could just extend my tool out further and get the same effects as when I'm close. Didn't work very well. Just a thought.

I wouldn't cut yourself short, there Bobby......:D......because that's an observation that's worthy of the more experienced turners! Take your time and don't cut corners.....o_O.....and take advantage of all the best choices you can make, when it's within the realm of what's possible.

Turning tools are always easier to maximize the control, when the tool rest is close in.......about 1/4" is optimum, and it can be too close, as well as too far!

Remember this:
View: https://youtu.be/0ppaiQ6mhbE


-----odie-----
 
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