What’s on your lathe?

[George Speed]

Welcome to comment on this…
I’ll drop by the auto store.. I think 205 is one step finer

 

[Ted Pelfrey]

Ah, finial finesse is a first-class function!
I don't remember seeing the Lucas method demonstrated but then my brain cell count is constantly decreasing. I think he told me once he turned a longer taper than I do. Probably holds better, but not needed for how I use one.

Hey, I did a demo on my 2MT holding in the Crossville club in June of 2016. I didn't see you there. WHAT, you missed that one???

And showed/taught it in nine other clubs, private sessions, and workshops. Missed those too??? I have another one scheduled for a club in Charlotte NC in a couple of months. I always show that holding method when I demo thin spindles since it has several advantages. The way I make and used them is also in my Thin Spindle doc posted on this site too (Appendix 1, page 20).

JKJ

The wooden block in the pic is to size the two ends of the taper and the length is 2”.

 

[Mark Fairchild]

While clearing the roads of ice storm damage at my place in north Mississippi with my daughter this Honey Locust limb caught my eye. Took a piece from it and turned Father Daughter bowls. Saw a big red oak, a Sycamore and a large water oak for future stock.

 

[Tom Rice]

Speaking of putting things on your lathe,,,
What is the best orientation for crotches? I mean, i know laying it flat on my mill gets me the best figure but whats the best when poking it on the lathe?

 

[Dave Landers]

Speaking of putting things on your lathe,,,
What is the best orientation for crotches? I mean, i know laying it flat on my mill gets me the best figure but whats the best when poking it on the lathe?

"Best" depends on what you are making, how you want to capture the figure, and a lot on the individual log. Lots of compromises.
The best figure in a crotch is usually right between the branches.
So if you want to capture that figure in what you're making, try to avoid turning it into shavings.
That starts at the chainsaw/bandsaw but obviously also on the lathe.

If you're making a bowl, you might want to get the crotch figure in the bottom of the bowl, because at the rim it usually doesn't show well (and most of it ends up on the floor). But having the crotch at the bottom means the rim is around the outer edge of the wood (the bark) and that may limit the size of the bowl. A natural-edge bowl is often a good choice as the figure is in the bottom and the branches sorta give the bowl a heart shape. You might also need to include some of the pith(s) to capture more figure (bandsaw/chainsaw cut offset from center), which (besides dealing with pith in your bowl) means you get one figured piece rather than two.

Similar sort of tradeoffs apply if you're making a platter, but it's probably easier to capture more figure across more of a shallow platter.

If you're doing a hollow form, you can orient the form side-grain so the figure is around the outside of the vessel (but so are the piths possibly). If the log is large enough, you might go side-grain with the top of the vessel in the figure (and maybe avoid the piths). Or you can orient the form so that the mouth of the vessel is pointing between the branches, which will probably get more figure across the top of the vessel. But you still may have pith to deal with (depending on relative size of the vessel and crotch).

 

[Tom Rice]

"Best" depends on what you are making, how you want to capture the figure, and a lot on the individual log. Lots of compromises.
The best figure in a crotch is usually right between the branches.
So if you want to capture that figure in what you're making, try to avoid turning it into shavings.
That starts at the chainsaw/bandsaw but obviously also on the lathe.

If you're making a bowl, you might want to get the crotch figure in the bottom of the bowl, because at the rim it usually doesn't show well (and most of it ends up on the floor). But having the crotch at the bottom means the rim is around the outer edge of the wood (the bark) and that may limit the size of the bowl. A natural-edge bowl is often a good choice as the figure is in the bottom and the branches sorta give the bowl a heart shape. You might also need to include some of the pith(s) to capture more figure (bandsaw/chainsaw cut offset from center), which (besides dealing with pith in your bowl) means you get one figured piece rather than two.

Similar sort of tradeoffs apply if you're making a platter, but it's probably easier to capture more figure across more of a shallow platter.

If you're doing a hollow form, you can orient the form side-grain so the figure is around the outside of the vessel (but so are the piths possibly). If the log is large enough, you might go side-grain with the top of the vessel in the figure (and maybe avoid the piths). Or you can orient the form so that the mouth of the vessel is pointing between the branches, which will probably get more figure across the top of the vessel. But you still may have pith to deal with (depending on relative size of the vessel and crotch).

Its been a conundrum, stand there looking at the damn things for hours thinking through the variations, i have a pretty sizable pile of logs that i stuck on the side recently from doing some clearing on my place just to turn into blanks, huge number of crotches of all different sizes, am contemplating my next move with them as i want to maximize the yield, nice material can be hard to come by. Is mostly koa but also have a bunch of jacaranda and Monterey cypress in there, at the moment all in logs end coated to minimize checking, but know full well i need to do something with it all soon. They range from stuff in the 30” range to 8”, Some of the big ones i want to saw down on my mill and turn platters, think those would be nice.
Want to give my coring setup a workout too rather than just having a huge pile of very valuable shavings.
If thats not confusing enough i have a couple pretty big root balls, those have me stumped! Pun intended. But seriously they are all over the place grain wise.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Famous last words.......

"I'll just clean this up inside just a little bit more and let it dry"

I think it might have caught in that big worm trail. Too slow of rpm maybe. What's a good average rpm for inside hollow forms roughly 5-6 inch diameter?

 

[Sam Force]

We have a club member that turns a lot of crotch pieces, he did this demo at 1 of our meeting. Very informative as to different results on turning them. His demo starts about the 58 minute mark

View: https://www.youtube.com/live/cxNDpWS7cy8?si=vZMx2E5-MIBr_7Mm

 

[Mark Fairchild]

Famous last words.......

"I'll just clean this up inside just a little bit more and let it dry"

I think it might have caught in that big worm trail. Too slow of rpm maybe. What's a good average rpm for inside hollow forms roughly 5-6 inch diameter?

Sam, I’m usually around 800 to 1000 rpm. I’m sure everyone has a preference.

 

[John K Jordan]

Too slow of rpm maybe. What's a good average rpm for inside hollow forms roughly 5-6 inch diameter?

I think the speed depends on things like the wood type, quality, strengh/weakness, defects, balance, mounting method, tools used, skill of turner. My favorite wood for hollowing is eastern red cedar - fine grain, smooths like glass.

For turning in general, a commonly quoted "rule of thumb" is to divide 6000 by the diameter of the piece. Then divide 9000 by the diameter. Somewhere between those two numbers is a possibly useful lathe speed. I haven't seen a similar formula for hollowing.

That said, with good wood, well secured to the lathe and turned round for balance I tend to crank the speed up. A higher speed can cut more smoothly with the caveats given even with the narrow scraper bits usually used in hollowing tools. At a slow speed the tool bit can catch on defects (if you let it) rather then skip over them and catch the high spots. I prefer to use one of the Hunter tools for hollowing which, I think, makes things easier.

On the inside an issue is chips that can build up - stop and clear constantly. Chips cleared, back to higher speed.

However, if the opening is large enough to see or feel inside, after hollowing I slow WAY down to a crawl and smooth the wood with curved scrapers. Here are some. The round and teardrop are Sorby. I made the one on the right and some others, often use them on Sorby handles. (all must be sharpened properly.) Then sand to a fine grit. If a finger can fit inside the piece, the wood will be as smooth as a baby's cheek or no one will ever touch it.



But I've always hollowed dry wood, never green. I've watched the late great John Jordan hollow green and seems like he was turning at a good clip, inside and out. Clearing chips often.

If new to hollowing, an experienced mentor can be huge help. Many clubs have lists of people willing to help.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Sam, I’m usually around 800 to 1000 rpm. I’m sure everyone has a preference.

I was pretty slow around 550. I don't know if that contributed or not. Kept hitting a spot where it was grabbing, figured it was that hole that's visible.