Is there any difference in using brown paper bag or brown packing paper?

[Jesse Tutterrow]

I am wanting to learn inside-out turning. Usually the wood is glued together with brown paper bag material in the joint. I don't have many brown bags but I have a lot of the brown paper used in packing for shipment. It seems to be thinner and smoother than paper bags. Will it work just as well or should I get the next load of groceries in brown paper bag?

 

[hockenbery]

Probably,
I’ve used the brown paper from a roll.
Can’t be waxed

the paper has to glue to wood and rip apart to separate the pieces

easy to test - glue two boards together with your paper between them, I use Titebond 2
Let dry over night split them with a chisel
If you have paper on the face of each board it works.

 

[JeffSmith]

Be aware that the thickness of the paper effects the glue’s holding power. When doing some split turnings a while back (relatively small, 2” or so spindles) I got in a hurry and used heavy weight paper bag kraft - the bags with handles. Even well dried, the spindles all split when the cup center point went into the wood. The kraft split virtually right down the middle. I usually use either 24 pound or lighter paper (like the smaller paper bags, even using newspaper at times - never had one split when put between centers. I believe it may have toto do with how much glue the paper absorbs
As long as the paper doesn’t have a coating on it - like the light kraft they sell for package wrapping that has a shiny side - I’d think it should work.

 

[john lucas]

Use any paper. I use mostly newspaper. One day I did a.test on all.kinds of paper a d the only one that gave.me any problem was water.color.paper. so feel.free to use whatever you want.
Depending on how you plan it you may not have to use a paper joint at all. I often just use medium CA with accelerator. It makes.an easily fractured glue joint so its.easy to separate. For testing g new designs I will.sometimes.just use nylon strapping tape. That way i can turn the inside remove.it from.the lathe and flip everything to check and see if my design works.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

For the problem Jeff experienced just remove the center point from the live center and it will not drive into the joint. I have had that same problem and that was the solution I found to work.

Also you can use hot glue or no glue at all just large rubber bands. If you do this do not turn thr RPM too high.

 

[Bill Boehme]

From the perspective of a frugal woodturner the brown paper bags are superior because they are free. Also, I think that being thicker and more absorbent is an advantage. I've heard that newspaper also works, ,

 

[john lucas]

I guess I didn't read his whole question. I often carve a slight knick off the inside corner of each piece before I glue them together. This gives me a center depression so my live center and drive center point won't split it apart. I use a cup center on the tailstock and either a 4 prong drive center with the teeth oriented 45 degrees to each glue joint, or preferrably a Steb center. I used to center drill the ends with short center drill but it's much easier to just use your pocket knife to cut a little slice off each corner.

 

[John Torchick]

From the perspective of a frugal woodturner the brown paper bags are superior because they are free. Also, I think that being thicker and more absorbent is an advantage. I've heard that newspaper also works,

Except Aldi's charges for paper and plastic bags. They are "bag it yourself." What glue joints I have seen use newspaper. One edition furnishes a lot of paper.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

skip the glue joint, then tape or band the two ends together. The drive end can be held with a OneWay chuck with profile jaws and the tailstock end can use a large female cone tip or you can make a square socket for the live center. Another tip is to make a small groove using a carving gouge near the edge between the square and the turned area so that there will not be any squeeze out during the final glue up

 

[Jesse Tutterrow]

I watched a YouTube video from Wood Magazine this morning, on flowers. they used double sided tape to hold the wood together. Will that be strong enough? I expect each individual piece to be no more that 1.5 inches wide.

 

[Richard Coers]

Except Aldi's charges for paper and plastic bags.

Aren't the paper bags 3 cents? I bought plastic bags for a while at 7 cents each. Now just take that collection back to use each time. Hard to imagine that price as a problem for woodturners.

 

[R Henrickson]

I've used various thicknesses of brown paper bags. I think the amount of glue you use may have as much impact as the thickness of paper. I've had no problems with brown paper, whatever its thickness, even when joining relatively large pieces. The only problem I have had is when I forget to put the paper into the joint! That has proven the glue is far stronger than the wood.
I haven't used newspaper, although many skilled turners recommend it. In the last couple years, our local so-called newspaper has used ever thinner newsprint, often feeling thinner than copier paper, until the last couple weeks when it suddenly was a little thicker feeling. Today the chain which owns the paper declared bankruptcy and said that this would hasten their move to digital media, so perhaps our local paper will soon be going paperless.
Some recommend CA for some temporary glue-ups, but I really don't like the fumes and their effects, so I avoid it.

 

[Dean Center]

I watched a YouTube video from Wood Magazine this morning, on flowers. they used double sided tape to hold the wood together. Will that be strong enough? I expect each individual piece to be no more that 1.5 inches wide.

I don't believe that would be secure with a center point in the joint. Without a center point, it might work but wear a reliable face shield.

 

[john lucas]

Cloth backed double sided tape works well. You bbn do need to clamp.it for a little.bit to make it hold really well. It actually holds so good it can be hard to separate. I use a very thin knife to split the joints. Some good.advice above. One tip.if you do the paper joint. Dont use a.lot.of glue. It really takes.very little.