Wednesday's Wisdom For Woodturners June 3, 2020

[lew]

What a week! Hope this Wednesday finds you all safe and healthy.

 

June 1st  started our annual site fundraiser/raffle. Our generous sponsors have kicked in some fantastic prizes. Please check the announceent-

 

 

Our Patriot Turners-

@Ron Altier used some spalted Maple to make another fantastic ornament! Ron continues to use this UV finish and it really looks like it does a fantastic job.

 

 

Check Ron's post for his description of a "happy little accident"

 

 

@Ron Altier also started a great discussion based on something that @Lissa Hall posted. Lissa showed us her first bowl, Ron wondered what our first turnings were. This sparked a bunch of comments from our turners. Why not join in and post a picture or tell us what your first turning was-

 

 

@Ron Altier is this week's winner with the most posts! He asked us if/how we lubricated our scroll checks. He received several responses. How do you keep your scroll chuck running smooth?

 

 

One of our new turners, @AndrewB considered a new lathe. He asked use for input. Although Andrew has purchased a lathe, you might be able provide advice on using the one he bought-

 

 

@AndrewB Also purchased some carbide turning tools. Check out the ones he bought and the pictures of the project he turned-

 

 

What’s Coming Up-

Looks like all of the live, in-person symposiums are cancelled through the summer. However, Cindy Drozda is doing live remote learning demonstrations. Her next one is Saturday June 6. Here's her video with more details-

 

 

For The Newbies-

Turners make things round from stuff that is square. Often there is a need to cut the the round turning to remove the part we want. If the diameter is small, a hand saw works well. But on larger pieces, the bandsaw is often the tool we use. Cutting round pieces, perpendicular to the length can be dangerous if not held securely. Mike Peace has a short video showing how to make a jig to safely make this cut-

 

 

@AndrewB mentioned he is interested in turning bowls. I found this video, from BB turning, that covers the basics of rough turning a bowl. Although he uses traditional turning tools, the process is basically the same for carbide tools.

 

 

 

Expand Your Horizons-

I don't think I would ever have the patience to do this but Carl Jacobson makes it look easy. The basket weave illusion has been around for a bit- Carl shows us how he does it. I was particularly taken with the jig/platform he uses to draw his straight lines.

 

 

 

Tim Yoder is always fun to watch. He shows us that not every turning needs to be proportioned by the golden ratio, have a flawlessly sanded surface, inlaid with colored acrylics or finished with 2000 layers of CA. At about 2 minutes and 40 seconds into the video, Tim uses a really neat way to secure lose pieces of the blank he will turn. I think this might come in handy for securing bowls to Big Easy Jaws and Longworth chucks.

 

 

 

New Turning Items-

If you are a pen turner, you know the importance of trimming the blank to the exact length of the tube insert. Some turners sand the blank while others use a barrel trimmer. Some of the barrel trimmers don't do an outstanding job and need to be sharpened. This set uses carbide inserts so it will cut cleanly for a long time. Although a little more expensive, it comes with virutally every size pilot reamer. Each piece is available for individual purchase.

 

Click on the image for the link to the website and more information.

 

 

Everything Else-

Rick Turns' weekly video listing is available-

 

 

 

I had every intention of sanding my elm bowl this week. But you know about "the best laid plans of mice and men..."-  Sunday evening Mimi asked me to go to the basement and start the laundry. Getting things ready, I noticed some water on the floor. Not Good! In the back of my mind, I have been half expecting the 15 year old water heater (the one with the 6 year warranty) to be about at its end of life. Sure enough it had sprung a leak. So, Monday it was a trip to Lowe's. Got the new one plumbed in by the end of the day- fortunately we have the electric type. Got the mess cleaned up yesterday. The problem was how to get the old one up the basement steps. Gravity was a great help taking the new one down; not so much bringing the old one up. Luckily a friend was available and the carcass is now in the bed of the pickup. 

 

So the bowl sets for a bit longer-

 

 

Safe turning and stay well

[AndrewB]

@lew it’s a decent lathe it is variable speed.  Only about 400 bucks in cost.  On the lower end for lathes on variable speed.  Especially for budget... so far I’m enjoying.  Draw back is it’s only a 12 by 18 so you’d have to buy the bench extension for the lathe. I plan on doing that eventually.  Just picked up a jaw chuck for it as well should be here tomorrow.  Would I recommend it for noobs like myself.  Price and ease of set up yes.  Basically a plug and play lathe.  Make sure yo7 clean the grease off the bench when you get it and put paste wax on it.  Other than that it’s a good budget buy.

[Gunny]

Nifty jig for cutting on the bandsaw.  Just added to my winter list of stuff to make.  You know the 3 lifetimes I already had.  

 

Carbide pen trimmers, oh yeah where were these when I first started???  

 

 

[Gerald]

Lew nice post. Like the jig Mike made but the older one is my fav. Too much trouble to cut a round in the new one. The old one costs nothing and will make life easier. I have a longer V jig That I used when making a stool..

 

The grain in the elm looks great

 

Almost forgot this. there are several turners doing these independent IRDs including Trent Bosch, Lyle Jamieson, and several others. Fee is mostly $10. Check the websites of your favorites to see if they are doing it. Also one more thing AAW is going to have a Virtual Symposium with a fee for $20.22 for the three days. See announcement: AAW Virtual Symposium

Edited June 4, 2020 by Gerald

[HandyDan]

More good videos to watch.  Thanks Lew.

[FlGatorwood]

Thanks, Lew.  I enjoyed Mike as usual.  And, I liked Yoder.  He's always a hoot.  

 

The other day when I started cleaning up the pen blanks, I had misplaced my trimming bit, so had to go get another one which came in a kit for a nice price tag of $40+.  I set it up for the grandson and he loved cleaning up the ends.  And, he loved band sawing the blanks.  There will be a separate thread for that.  I learned some stuff from the videos especially from Mike making a jig to band saw round objects.  I have tried free-handing and it is dangerous.  Than you, @lew.

[AndrewB]

So the Savannah Carbide tip tools I recently purchased was definitely a good buy especially if you can't afford the Easy Wood Cutting tools.  I would recommends buying all three at once the square cutter the round and diamond tip.  Either way they are extremely sharp simple to use and very robust.  I spent maybe a good 4 to 5 hours yesterday turning a square rectangle spindle into a round using mainly the round tipped carbide tool.  Worked great it just little rally hogged off material better than the HSS tools.  How ever I do have a good set of HSS tools on the way which I do plan on using when I eventually get into doing finer detail work.  The last bit of walnut I have I do plan on turning into a bowl using the carbides.  They run right around 200 bucks off amazon I am including the taxes in that cost.  If you can afford the easy wood tools I would just get those but if you can't afford them I would go this route.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GQIYUZA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Link for replacement carbide tips as well...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NF4B413/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

So would I recommend these tools for a beginner at beginner costs with a low budget, yes.  Hopefully I'll be able to go further in depth further down the road.

 

[Gerald]

2 hours ago, AndrewB said:

So the Savannah Carbide tip tools I recently purchased was definitely a good buy especially if you can't afford the Easy Wood Cutting tools.  I would recommends buying all three at once the square cutter the round and diamond tip.  Either way they are extremely sharp simple to use and very robust.  I spent maybe a good 4 to 5 hours yesterday turning a square rectangle spindle into a round using mainly the round tipped carbide tool.  Worked great it just little rally hogged off material better than the HSS tools.  How ever I do have a good set of HSS tools on the way which I do plan on using when I eventually get into doing finer detail work. 

 

Andrew HSS will remove more material faster than carbide. Advantages for carbide are in the hollowing process. The thing most turners do not try to understand is that frequent sharpening and proper technique will deliver a superior finish as compared to any carbide tool and yes that means even the premier Hunter tools I use .

[AndrewB]

Yea I kind of figured that, from what I saaw the carbide removed quite a bit of material in a short amount of time.  How ever  I do plan on using both carbide and HSS tools swapping back and forth of course in the long run which should hopefully yield better results with better cuts.  I'm comfortable with getting the cutting angles with the HSS tools though how ever I just needed to order a better set of HSS tools rather than the cheap amazon 25 dollar set I originally ordered.  But the main plan is using both sets of tools to accomplish what I want to accomplish.

[AndrewB]

3 hours ago, Gerald said:

Andrew HSS will remove more material faster than carbide. Advantages for carbide are in the hollowing process. The thing most turners do not try to understand is that frequent sharpening and proper technique will deliver a superior finish as compared to any carbide tool and yes that means even the premier Hunter tools I use .

That's why I also had pre ordered a good set of HSS tools which are on the way.

[Gunny]

6 hours ago, AndrewB said:

That's why I also had pre ordered a good set of HSS tools which are on the way.

What @Gerald said is very true.  While I do like the carbide tips I still keep all my lathe tools sharp and ready to go.  My HSS are inexpensive ones as well.  Turned 1000 or more pens with them and they are still with me today.  In Iraq I had to make something that required turning.  Sharpened a heavy duty screwdriver and used a drill for a lathe.  Worked but certainly not my best work.  We made do with what we had available.  

[lew]

@AndrewB Thank you for the update on the lathe and the Savannah tools. I know we all appreciate learning from the experiences of our turners. Thanks, also, for your continued input, questions and comments. They keep us on our toes and continually learning.

 

@Gunny Thanks! I made a "V" shaped cradle to help support round turnings when using the bandsaw. I think it's the same thing @Gerald was referring to. It is a little less expensive as there really isn't any hardware involved.

 

@Gerald Thanks You! I've recently discovered that my Easy Wood Tools "Rougher", with a Ci2 R2 Carbide Cutter - 2" Radius, leave bowl surfaces as smooth as any of my HSS gouges or scrapers. I run the lathe about 1500 rpm and take a very light cut. So far, for a wooden bowl (elm), this cutter works better than the negative rake version.

 

@HandyDan Thanks!

 

@FlGatorwood Thank You! What wonderful memories you are making with you grandson. I can remember grandfather showing me how to make stuff. Especially getting bent nails from an old, enameled basin and straightening them to use on the next project.

 

 

[FlGatorwood]

Lew, I also have memories of my grandfather doing things like that.  I learned from him by observing, but I got better at straightening nails than him.  He did not like it, but often would tell me to straighten that nail.  And, he could then drive it.  I have his brace and bent bit.  I hope to make a box for it this summer.  We'll see.  The first time I remember seeing him use it was to replace a mail box that a driver had knocked off the post.  He drilled a new hole in 1952 and put the board back on top and then nailed on the mailbox.  Thanks, Lew, for all you do.  

[lew]

9 hours ago, FlGatorwood said:

Lew, I also have memories of my grandfather doing things like that.  I learned from him by observing, but I got better at straightening nails than him.  He did not like it, but often would tell me to straighten that nail.  And, he could then drive it.  I have his brace and bent bit.  I hope to make a box for it this summer.  We'll see.  The first time I remember seeing him use it was to replace a mail box that a driver had knocked off the post.  He drilled a new hole in 1952 and put the board back on top and then nailed on the mailbox.  Thanks, Lew, for all you do.  

@FlGatorwood Thanks!