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"Rest near"

C

Charlie Harley

Joined
Jun 20, 2006
Messages
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Location
Cincinnati, OH
I learned a lesson last night that I thought I'd pass on...

One of the frequent posters on this forum has a tag line that reads in part "rest near". How true that is!

Last night was my first time working a fairly large bowl. 15" diameter x 5" deep. Everything was going fine 'till I got near the bottom. My straight tool rest wouldn't let me get closer than about 1.5" and there was a hard swirly spot in the grain that was catching each time it went by the gouge. The vibrations were getting frustrating.

I switched to a french curve tool rest that put me within 1/2" of the wood. Without changing any other variable, the vibrations instantly went away. Ta Da!!!

I've learned a boat load from this forum and just wanted to pass on a lesson learned last night.

Y'all have a good weekend.

GO ARMY!! BEAT NAVY!!
Saturday, December 2, 1430hrs, Philadelphia, PA.
 
You got it Charlie. More stuff has been ruined by overextention than anything else. Broken tools, broken rests, broken fingers, broken pieces. Once you give up that leverage advantage, you're flirtin with dissaster.

Dietrich
 
S. Clark said:
What type of tool were you using? I find I like very heavy gouges and thick scrapers for these larger bowls because they limit vibration also.
Click to expand...

Thick cuts down flex, not not force, so keep the rest up close and get full benefit, reaching only when you have to. Leverage is where it's at. Never give an ignorant chunk of metal (or) wood the advantage over you. You're made of softer stuff.

Not to belabor, but it's the swordsman, not the sword. Smaller section gouges tend to take smaller bites, negating the advantage of the larger section.
 
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