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What’s on your lathe?
- Thread starter Rusty Nesmith
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It's a deal! Love to meet you. Our oldest son is a photographer/videographer in Greenville SC and so get over that way at times.
I have seen that exact figuring a few times, and yes, I believe it's accurately described as quilted.
=o=
This is my first try at turning Purple Heart. I started out with my gouge, only to find it was blueing the metal. Not wanting to damage my new gouge I pulled out my Hunter carbide. I must say, that cut a lot easier for me, though I just learning the traditional tools.
The Purple Heart sure finished up beautifully.
The Purple Heart sure finished up beautifully.
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Am I understanding this correctly?
The act of turning Purpleheart is heating your gouge so hot that it's turning it blue?
Without more information to confirm it, the sharpness of the tool edge does cure a lot of problems.
Taking too big of a bite creates more heat too....and that could be compounded by an edge that could be sharper as well.
Make no mistake though....Purpleheart isn't an easy wood to turn well.
The gouge in question is a brand new, sharp out of the box, Mahoney series from Carter and Sons. Yes, the heat generated by the cut blued the metal, though my research says not enough to damage it. Perhaps it was not as sharp as it should be, but it wasn’t dull either. It cut nicely, just heated up. It is the parabolic woodbeater, which has less metal on the tip, which may have affected things.
I’m just learning to use the traditional tools, so wasn’t overly aggressive in my cut, either.
Bottom line, I wasn’t going to push it trying to turn the Purple Heart. I’m more familiar with carbide tipped cutters, and had a new one from Hunters which preformed well with that wood. And, I was more confident knowing that the tips are easily replaced.
I understand! Purple heart can be "fun", I've found it varies a lot, perhaps depending on where it grows. I got some supposedly from mexico once that, unlike most, has stayed purple for years. I think the type of finish used helps reduce the effects of oxygen. And keep it out of strong light! That piece is a spindle with multiple applications of shellac (Mylands friction polish). A quick shot on the dining table.
I usually use traditional gouges but have gone to some Hunter tools for many things. I especially like the tools with the small diameter #1 cutter. I'm turning some African Blackwood now and the small Hunter Hercules is perfect - can leave a nearly polished surface off the tool if I'm careful with the presentation. I also use the same tool and others in a scraping mode for initial smoothing on the insides of things, followed with a NRS and hand scrapers..
I examine the edge under a low power microscope to look for signs of abrasion on the sharp edge. (never let it touch steel, even gently!) A strong hand lens works too. Rotating the bit often helps even out the wear. Mike used to say rotate it randomly a bit every day. I think the last recommendation was a bit different.
I haven't tried a bowl but have a block waiting. You may have inspired me to give it a go.
JKJ
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You haven't resharpened your gouge.......yet?
If the heat was enough to blue the metal, wouldn’t it burn the wood? Perhaps the bluing was pitch left on the tool? Could the bluing be removed without grinding the steel?
Just curious and want to learn.
Just curious and want to learn.
The tool was brand new.
And I quote “
- Shipped sharp with the grind found at Mahoney’s lathe (easily duplicated using a Wolverine jig)
Imho, never trust the sharpness of a new tool and sharpen often. There are times, especially when using nrs' that I just leave the grinder on while I work (not often but it happens).
Well, I have turned a lot of different woods, some a LOT harder than purple heart. I just can't wrap my mind around turning any wood that could blue the metal just from heat generated by turning only. "Totally and in all ways inconceivable!" and yes, that word means what I think it means. If the wood blued the metal, other than maybe resin build up, I would call the manufacturer. The Carter tools are made from M42 HSS, and you should not be able to blue them with turning only.
robo hippy
robo hippy
You appear to be correct. The blueing, was actually purpled, it was apparently resin build up. Lacquer thinner, a bit of 600 grit, and most telling, scraping with my knife and it’s gone.
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Chunk of white wenge for a retirement gift.
Found a kit online. All you cigar puffers will like this.
Has an end cutter concealed in the bottom long piece. Also comes with rubber gaskets to retain moisture.
Found a kit online. All you cigar puffers will like this.
Has an end cutter concealed in the bottom long piece. Also comes with rubber gaskets to retain moisture.
What color was the wood? Walnut can stain.
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No such thing as Sharp out of the box. (Depends on how you define sharp - most experienced turners would call what comes out of the box "a bit dull" - Same experience I have had with many other top tier tools such as Lie-Nielsen, Narex, and even Thompson gouges- they can always use a touch up to get 'em sharper) Might have been perfectly sharpened at the factory but by the time they are done with packaging and shipping, that edge is likely not gonna be fresh-off-the-wheel sharp. Might still cut but not as efficiently as it would have had it been sharpened first.
Well, my hands have looked like that after turning walnut, but generally blacker than that, but I do turn a lot of them at once. Oak can do the same.
robo hippy
robo hippy
Softer woods can leave build up on cutting edges. Some recent Ash left build up, constantly which effectively causes the gouge to act dull. Tool cleaner, the stuff made for saw blades and router bits cleans the residue in short order. Spray on, give it a few seconds and wipe clean.
Definitely oak -- especially white oak. I've spent several hundred hours turning oak spindles, and lesser amounts making oak hollow forms and platters.
For me, I’ve had that when turning wet cherry - black/purple stain on the hands
All good guesses. It was about 30 bowl blanks of black walnut. It tends to stain me the worst, but white oak and black cherry make it happen too. I was mainly curious as to if this was unique to my body chemistry or more common.
From my experience I'd go with your weird body chemistry on the cherry. Or may it's my chemistry - never once had hand stains from green black cherry.
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Summertime would be a great time to test - when you get all sweaty, take a piece of scrap of whatever species, make sure it has a nice clean (planed/sanded) surface and ten lean an arm on it for a few seconds... forget about it for a day or so, then check the board and likely find a nice black streak of discoloration where you leaned on it... If that'll stain that way it'll probably also stain your hands given the right conditions... I believe it is the salts in the sweat reacting with the tannins in the wood... But then I've had "sweat stains" happen in Maple too (Though not black) so given different folks have different body chemistry, I wouldn't be surprised if some people get stains and others don't.