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Well I finally got into the shop today and finished up the lil bowl I started last night at the last minute right before the sun set. I rolled my lathe out to our patio because our garage is still full of our household kitchen contents from the flood we had over the summer. Even with the shop empty of foreign items, this is an outside process right now. So I just had about 15 minutes last night before it got to dicey to be turning in the dark. I was able to mount a chunk of walnut onto my Easy Wood Tools 3.5" Diameter Faceplate and get the outside of my lil 5" diameter bowl turned, then I shut it down. Woke up this morning ready to roll and finished up the bowl in about a half hour, it was so fun I went for another! I am finally getting a chance to get to know my Laguna 16-43 Lathe. I love it.

The first image is my bowl roughed out while mounted to the Easy Wood Tools Faceplate. In order for the Easy Chuck to work, I have to shape a bottom or base that will be the base of the bowl, and it has to be angled slightly in order for the jaws to grab. A by-product of this being the case is, it looks good too, I like the base the bowl ends up with.

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In order to be sure the Easy Chuck was going to be a good fit I did a test run before moving on to the next step. I mounted the Easy Chuck to the base just to make sure. I also hollowed out the bottom ever so slightly to ensure that it would sit flat.

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It took me about 15 minutes to sand through the grits to 600, basically burnishing the outside of the bowl to a nice sheen.

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Once I was satisfied with the outside of the bowl, and after the test fitting of the Easy Chuck at the base, I removed the bowl and flipped it and chucked it into the Easy Chuck, I love this chuck! We are ready for hollowing.

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After I hollowed out the bowl, I hit it through the grits again to 600, and brought it to a nice sheen. While it was still chucked up to my lathe, I applied BLO, I know there are better alternatives for a finish, but I am winging this right now, I don't have much knowledge yet in this skill, nor do I have the proper tooling, at the ready. But I am learning. My first bowl finished.

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My second bowl did not take as long, I am already feeling very comfy on my lathe and the tools I use, by the way I used the Easy Rougher and the Easy Finisher, two tools to complete these bowls. My second bowl below. I am starting out small guys, I am not confident with the big stuff yet, both these bowls are 5" +/- diameter.

Bottoms

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Top

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I really had a fun couple of hours with these guys, I can see myself coming home after work and gravitating to my shop for a quick bowl. I can see why this is do addicting now.

Also I am using the Easy Wood Lathe Tools, they are a joy to use, I have no frame of reference to compare them too, but for this newbie I experience only a couple digs and that was because I was rushing it, other then that they worked flawlessly, and for this knuckle head to be able to jump into this as easily as I had, that says a lot about those tools. The Laguna 16-43 Lathe is smooth and nice, I love the variable speed lever it comes with, the lathe is heavy, and solid, and I can't wait to get some big stuff on there, thanks for sharing my first bowl adventure guys.

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Now you will have a problem. One good turn, deserves another and it never ends!  Good looking bowls, good job

Thanks Ron, now that was smart, one good turn deserves another! And how fitting. I only hope my first experience turning these bowls was not beginners luck and my fun continues.

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Both bowls are absolutely fantastic, John! Super shape and proportions. 

 

Those Easy Wood Tools really cut cleanly so there is little to no grain tear out. Great finish, too. 

 

The second one has really delicate walls- Great Job!!!

Awww shucks thanks Lew! I am working on a third one right now and I am learning that oak is not a good medium to turn with. Or is it? I am having horrible luck, and I can only imagine because of the course grain in oak, but it's a PITA!

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Well I have been trying for years to get you to turn and looks like it has bit you know. It might be as bad as looking for old rusty tools! :lol:

It's definitely a hoot John, I have already taken a couple steps back with a busted or cracked bowl, and it's a tad frustrating to put in an hours work just to see it boogered up and in the firewood bin. But it's fun, and relaxing.

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  • 1 year later...

Bowls, that's how it started for me. Had owned a lathe for 30+ years and only used it if I just had to. One bowl and I was hooked. Fortunately, there are no pictures of my first attempt. Those are very nice and it took several tries before I got anything that looked that good.

 

Steve

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I like the shape of the first one best. Now we can work on your foot and maybe teach you how to embellish the bottom. Seems like we have all developed a trademark style , Steve has his Zentangle and I have my 3 rings. Or  you could just brand it. Point is to identify it as yours so your kids or the giftee can say "John made this for me".

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5 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis, Jr said:

You did good! Turned out quite nice (pun intended). When I hit the lottery I intend to get one of those chucks; guess I need to buy a ticket first!

Thanks Fred for the compliments, I hear ya on the price of those chucks, being a newbie in turning, I don't have much to compare them too, but the chuck reminds me of fine machinery, and gunsmithing in regards to the fit and finish, from what I have seen, EWT spares no expense in their products.

 

I did not purchase the chuck, nor the lathe for that matter, they both were given to us by two very special people, one a Marine Veteran Nate Meadows who suffers from TBI and PTSD, and his doctor who specializes in PTSD. They were inspired by a humanitarian project we had on here a couple years ago that The Patriot Woodworker's lead to benefit another disabled Marine's efforts to outfit his entire shop with machinery and tools at no cost to the Marine, and our community and sponsors came through in flying colors. Nate and his doctor wanted to demonstrate their appreciation of our efforts for the other Marine, and they sent the machine, and the chuck to my shop, it was a bitter sweet arrival of the lathe and chuck. I don't accept freebies from our sponsors accept to hand out to our members, and even at that the items are shipped from our sponsor to our members. But since Nate and his doctor surprised us with this, from the bottom of their hearts, I could not turn it down at the door. And there is no doubt, EWT and Laguna offered them a discount when they purchased this duo.

 

To make myself feel better about receiving such a gift I promised myself I would use the lathe and chuck to create art work for raffle, auction, and selling, and the proceeds would go to our veterans charities. That was two years ago, I have failed miserably in that regard, I have not become proficient at the lathe, and I have not put in the time to do so, and it haunts me to this day. Each day I walk by this machine, I am reminded of my Marine buddy Nate Meadows, and his doctor, and their generosity, and I am effected by it. I really need to get on this machine and honor their gift, and make it right, and fulfill my promise to myself, and ultimately our veterans.

 

Sorry for rambling, but you brought that back when you mentioned the cost of the chuck, my mind just drifted.

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5 hours ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

Bowls, that's how it started for me. Had owned a lathe for 30+ years and only used it if I just had to. One bowl and I was hooked. Fortunately, there are no pictures of my first attempt. Those are very nice and it took several tries before I got anything that looked that good.

 

Steve

Thanks for the kind remarks Steve, my dad always had a lathe in his shop, but funny, I never remember him using it!

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