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BowlSavers or Bowl Coring Systems

Joined
Sep 23, 2008
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The answer to your questions:

Horribly difficult to use? Yes. And some days no. I really can't figure out why or when, but it's the tool I dread the most in my arsenal, and I too would like to make 5 bowls from one blank, but I've only managed 3 2x. Usually, I ruin the biggest one by going through the bottom. When it works, I usually do a little dance to appease the turning gods.

You can turn as big of a bowl as you can swing, minus 1/4" give or take. I'd think you would want at least 1.5 HP to core, but then again, I don't core very well, so what do I know?

Steve
 

Bill Boehme

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Joined
Jan 27, 2005
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pbase.com
Unless you are making really huge bowls, three bowls is about the practical limit for the number of bowls out of one blank. A coring system does not make turning a bowl easier -- it is just a way to get more bowls out of a piece of wood. This would be important in cases where you are dealing with expensive wood or some other situation where it is really desirable to get the maximum yield uout of one piece of wood.

When you core a large blank, the end product is not a set of nested bowls -- it is a set of nested blanks -- you still need to turn the bowls in the normal manner. Some of the disadvantages of a coring system are:

  • cost
  • requires a large lathe -- no if's, and's, or but's
  • you are left with not much leeway from spherical on the shape of a bowl
  • One dust collector in a shop is enough
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2008
Messages
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Location
North Charleston, SC
coring

I have the McNaughton Center Saver and use it every week. I turn large bowls. The blank I start with is on average 16 to 22" in dia. I get 2 to 3 bowls out of each blank. The wood is very green and cuts easily. There is a learning curve and I have cut through a few blanks. The Mike Mahoney DVD on this system is a must. I have a VB36 lathe with a 3 hp motor. I think you would need at least 1 1/2 hp.
 
Joined
Jan 4, 2006
Messages
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Location
Goodland, Kansas
I have the oneway system and it is easy to use. I get 3 bowls out of a 16" blank. I could get 4 but noboby wants the really small ones.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2010
Messages
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Location
Ridgefield, WA
Website
www.cwwoodcraft.com
I have used the McNaughton Center Saver and Woodcut Bowl Saver and liked the McNaughton better. The key is to take your time during set up and it works great. I also found that Mike Mahoney's video on the McNaughton made using this tool easier then just reading the directions.

My 2 cents - McNaughton w/ Mike Mahoney's video and you can't go wrong.
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Messages
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Location
wetter washington
Website
www.ralphandellen.us
I have, and use often the McNaughton. I use it even on wood where I have no interest in the core. I use it because:
  • I can core a bowl faster then I can turn it into chips
  • I can then re-turn or burn that core

I also have been turning for 5 years and have a moderately large lathe. I would not let TLOML (ie SWMBO) try it right now, she has only made three things, all spindle
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
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Location
Eugene, OR
There are 3 bowl coring systems out there, the McNaughton, the Oneway, and the Woodcut. I have all 3 and prefer the McNaughton.

The Oneway is the most expensive. It is on a pivoting center, and the big blade I think is an 8 inch radius. Plus side, it is the most stable for coring big bowls. Down side, it sets up on a plate, which involves a wrench, not the banjo. There is a support finger that goes under the coring blade, which you have to advance for about every 2 inches deep you go. This means turning off the lathe, advance the finger, which involves a wrench, then turning the lathe back on again. Also, you have to remove the tip to sharpen it (you can buy a jig, or just hold it up to the grinder).

The Woodcut is a nice little unit, emphasis on little. The big blade is a 5 inch radius, so, you can core a 12 inch bowl fairly easily. It mounts in the banjo, and you move the tailstock up to the back end, and it attaches there as well. It is on a pivoting center and easy to use. Changing the blades out isn't too bad, but not simple as you have to move both blades. It will chatter a bit on dense woods like locust or osage.

The McNaughton is the only system that is free handed as in you do the aiming. You also have to keep it on track as it does tend to drift to the outside of the cut as you core, which can make it bind up in the cut, and you have to learn how to correct if it drifts off a bit. It has the widest selection of blade shapes, from a straight parting tool to a flat curve blade which is about a 20 or so inch radius. This blade is good for coring shallow platter type forms, or deeper vessel forms, which the other systems can't do. You can probably get by with only the standard set of blades. I use the medium curved blade for about 90% of the cores I take. Randy Privet of Monster tools makes an excellent laser pointer that will go on the McNaughton, and Kelton makes one as well. This really lets you know if you are off course, and need to correct your aim. McNaughton does make a micro set of blades, which are the only coring tools made specifically for the mini lathes. The McNaughton is by far the fastest and most efficient to use, but it does have a learning curve. Mike Mahoney has a DVD, and I do as well. He cores rough turned bowls and returns them later, I turn green to final thickness, and let my bowls dry and warp. Slightly different styles.

All of the coring tools cut as scrapers, and with the exception of the McNaughton micro set, the cutters are about 3/8 inch wide. So, if you can take a 3/8 or 1/2 inch scraper and take a full width shaving, you can core.... But... 1 hp motors are considered kind of minimal, 1.5 hp is better, and 2 hp 220 volt or more is best. Do core on slow speed range, and for first attempts, use some green wood that you don't really care about. Fruit woods have great texture/grain for easy coring, not too hard, not too soft. You don't want black locust for your first efforts.

I just did a 'Saw Dust' session for the Willamette Valley Woodturners in Salem, OR, with the bowl coring systems. The most interest was in the McNaughton, and the Woodcut.

I figure I get about 1 core per 1 1/2 inches thickness of wood. You can take that one last little bowl, but unless the wood is special as in very expensive, and/or sentimental, it isn't worth the effort.

If you sell, it is a necessary tool, you do save time and money. Or you may just need another excuse to but another tool for the shop.

robo hippy
 
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
126
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2
Location
Southern Wisconsin
I use the Woodcut

I use the Woodcut bowl saver and like it, but it is limited.

I get three bowls from a 16" blank that can all be used. I've taken as many as 5, but they tend to get too small in diameter or too thin to work with after drying.

Some day I am going to buy the McN setup and the Robo Hippy DVD for it. I've heard very good things about his DVD teaching you how to use it and some of the special things he conveys that make it easier to control.

I had a 2hp lathe made in China, I'm not sold that it was a true 2hp. I would stall that out all the time, 5 to 10 times in one coring job.

I now have an American made lathe and use the same tool and technique when coring and haven't even come close to stalling my new lathe. So a "real" 2hp lathe will take care of you when coring.
 
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