Certainly not the best and not the worse but I'm proud of the bowls any ways. First time I tried it on my lathe and I have learned a thing or two. So I will keep these bowls to have to look back on as I progress on turning the bowls. After that I made some mini bird houses and some lidded boxes and the like and had a great time... Enjoy the pictures.. Oh yes, I have my new Wolverine all set up and the grinder bolted down so I now have some nice sharp tools.... I have been at my shop for a couple of weeks so I have not logged on since before I left. I had my kindle but could not get on with that but was able to log onto other forums I belong to.... I can't see or type worth beans on the kindle any way so maybe next time I will take my lap top with me when I go over there. My shop is located at my sister's place. Enjoy Fay
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My first two bowls I turned
- Thread starter Fay Prozora
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
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- Dalworthington Gardens, TX
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Great start. They certainly beat the socks off my first few attempts.
If you don't mind, tell us a bit about these bowls like what kind of wood and what lathe do you have.
If you don't mind, tell us a bit about these bowls like what kind of wood and what lathe do you have.
I have the Rockler Excelsior Mini lathe and these bowls are Rosewood Yucatan. I finished them with EEE Ultra Shine and Wood turners finish. I got a couple of deep catches on the first bowl and almost tossed it until I decided to try to work out the catches and I did pretty good on that. I went slow on it as I was so afraid the bowl might come flying off the lathe. I also have the Barracuda chucking system and I bought the "C" jaws for finishing up the bottoms of bowls and it works great. I was a bit skeptical as to whether the bowls would stay in place on the thing or not but gave it a shot and it worked out great. I'm happy with that tool. I gave myself a good pat on the back on these bowls. I will be turning more bowls in the future and in hopes one day I will be able to turn a perfect bowl, one as pretty as I have seen in the galleries.. Great job folks on all of your turnings... Fay
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
Well I agree with Bill. far better than my first ones. Learning to turn is a lot of fun and should always be. To really improve your bowls get Richard Raffen's book on bowl design. It is excellent. Most of us start out with bowls in the shape you did and then move on to more graceful shapes that just happen to be easier to turn as well. Steep sided bowls like your do hold food well but that transition between the steep side and the bottom make the bowls hard to turn without getting tearout in that area and it's also very hard to sand.
There are lots of methods for reverse turning the bowls to clean up the bottom. Here is an article I wrote for our club newletter that might help.
http://nebula.wsimg.com/7bf500f3fd5...EC0DC707F1FE36FCB&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
There are lots of methods for reverse turning the bowls to clean up the bottom. Here is an article I wrote for our club newletter that might help.
http://nebula.wsimg.com/7bf500f3fd5...EC0DC707F1FE36FCB&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
This is a good start, Fay......
This is a critical time in your learning process. Most here will suggest a club, or mentor.....but, I'm one who feels self-determination is the best way to progress. Frustration will be high that way......but, if you succeed, the results will be more "you", than if you follow the herd.
Books and professional videos are good, but until you have some experience, I'd suggest staying away from YouTube's free videos. Way too much bad and conflicting information on there to know who/what to trust.
ko
This is a critical time in your learning process. Most here will suggest a club, or mentor.....but, I'm one who feels self-determination is the best way to progress. Frustration will be high that way......but, if you succeed, the results will be more "you", than if you follow the herd.
Books and professional videos are good, but until you have some experience, I'd suggest staying away from YouTube's free videos. Way too much bad and conflicting information on there to know who/what to trust.
ko
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off to a great start!
Fay,
It does look like you are off to a great start! My first efforts filled several garbage cans before I made something resembling a bowl. I am going to recommend youtube, as I have recommended to others a good many times in the past. Lyle Jamieson has some excellent video's there. He also has a great article on how to avoid catches, search for his website. A handful of the posters on here have some excellent youtube video's too, hard to go wrong when watching the video's of some of the leading posters here. As already mentioned in this thread, some of the other video's on youtube show dangerous practices or are just plain wrong!
Not mentioned in your posts is safety equipment. If you aren't wearing a face shield, buy a good one now. Likewise, learn about the danger zone and learn to stay outside of it, particularly roughing. That won't keep you 100% safe but it will greatly reduce dangers of a major injury. Sharp tools, taking your time, asking questions when you aren't sure how to proceed, and yes seeking local mentoring, can all ease your journey.
As one of the leading experts on catches, self taught, I can tell you there is almost no reason to have major catches. Learning how to avoid them is pretty much the first thing to do, that way you don't have those "wuz a bowl"s flying across the shop!
Take care, have fun, post more pictures!
Hu
Fay,
It does look like you are off to a great start! My first efforts filled several garbage cans before I made something resembling a bowl. I am going to recommend youtube, as I have recommended to others a good many times in the past. Lyle Jamieson has some excellent video's there. He also has a great article on how to avoid catches, search for his website. A handful of the posters on here have some excellent youtube video's too, hard to go wrong when watching the video's of some of the leading posters here. As already mentioned in this thread, some of the other video's on youtube show dangerous practices or are just plain wrong!
Not mentioned in your posts is safety equipment. If you aren't wearing a face shield, buy a good one now. Likewise, learn about the danger zone and learn to stay outside of it, particularly roughing. That won't keep you 100% safe but it will greatly reduce dangers of a major injury. Sharp tools, taking your time, asking questions when you aren't sure how to proceed, and yes seeking local mentoring, can all ease your journey.
As one of the leading experts on catches, self taught, I can tell you there is almost no reason to have major catches. Learning how to avoid them is pretty much the first thing to do, that way you don't have those "wuz a bowl"s flying across the shop!
Take care, have fun, post more pictures!
Hu
Fay
Very good for 1st bowls. Joining AAW is good too, but would also suggest that you join a local woodturning club (unless you already have). Lets you see other peoples ideas and obtain some constructive criticism on your work. I am always amased at the imagination that you find along with some good advice. I would suggest that you read as many books as you can, watch videos, take classes and attend any demos that you can. I have seen turners go from a beginner to one having advanced skills in only a couple of years, by learning from others. Turning is like any other endeavor, why not learn from those who have gone before you and not try to invent the wheel yourself. All good turners have there own way of doing things, but most agree on basic fundamentals. Learning requires that you watch as wide a variety of "experts" as possible then take what you have learned and create your own style and techniques.
You have chosen a very addictive hobby which should bring you hours of enjoyment.
Good luck and happy turnings
Tom
Very good for 1st bowls. Joining AAW is good too, but would also suggest that you join a local woodturning club (unless you already have). Lets you see other peoples ideas and obtain some constructive criticism on your work. I am always amased at the imagination that you find along with some good advice. I would suggest that you read as many books as you can, watch videos, take classes and attend any demos that you can. I have seen turners go from a beginner to one having advanced skills in only a couple of years, by learning from others. Turning is like any other endeavor, why not learn from those who have gone before you and not try to invent the wheel yourself. All good turners have there own way of doing things, but most agree on basic fundamentals. Learning requires that you watch as wide a variety of "experts" as possible then take what you have learned and create your own style and techniques.
You have chosen a very addictive hobby which should bring you hours of enjoyment.
Good luck and happy turnings
Tom
Thank you every one. I do wear a face shield and I wear a mask also. The first bowl did fly off the lathe when I got that nasty catch and almost tossed that one. Later I decided to have another go at it and got a few more catches and I found I was holding the tool wrong. So now I go much slower and try to watch what I'm doing and such. This wood was green when I bought it and I let it dry out for about a month or so before I put them back on the lathe and finished them. Yes, I have more to learn and yes it is fun to try new things. I have some lidded boxes that I made and even a ball and cup game that was going to be a bird house and for some reason it did not work out so instead of tossing it, I made a ball and cup game out of it. It is a small one but I play with it for fun. Now, where can I find a good sander thing for sanding bowls? I looked and found one a bit expensive.. but will look some more.. Fay
Fay,
Take a look at this close quarters drill from HF. Quite a few of us use this inexpensive drill for power sanding. http://t.harborfreight.com/38-in-variable-speed-reversible-close-quarters-drill-60610.html
Take a look at this close quarters drill from HF. Quite a few of us use this inexpensive drill for power sanding. http://t.harborfreight.com/38-in-variable-speed-reversible-close-quarters-drill-60610.html
If expense is a great concern, this is a great suggestion by Dwight. You'll find that an angle-head drill is more controllable than a regular drill. Most drills are intended for making holes and driving screws, and a standard configuration is good for that. When you are using it for disc sanding, it's a whole 'nuther ball game! Most of us here probably started sanding with their household drill, and it will do the job......just not as well as an angle head drill.
At this point, I will not have anything but an industrial grade close quarters drill, and have been using nothing but Sioux and Milwaukee offerings since the mid 1980's. This is not to say some of the other brands aren't as good, but I do trust the performance I have been getting from Sioux and Milwaukee.
ko
Thanks Odie. I went to Sears today and they had that same type of drill for around $75 dollars and I says no way to that price. Amazon has one a little cheaper around $29 to 30 dollar bracket but I will look in my shop for that other little one that I have and try to sand some thing and see if it works. Its just a little rechargeable one but it doesn't have much power. It rained cats and dogs today so I did not walk all the way to Swains. I also wanted to go to the habitat store to look for some wood too much water out there. LOL! It's a bit chilly too so spent most of the day in bed where it is warmer... Turned the heat way down as it was a bit expensive last month... Again thanks all for all of the ideas and advice... Fay