I am starting to understand why you guys have been saying pine can be awkward or challenging to turn....  none the less, oh and yep the chuck made this 50 times easier than messing with a face plate.

I don't do a lot of turning but the reason I don't use pine because it cloggs up sandpaper and the machines like drum sanders and spindle sanders and plain ole sandpaper has to be replaced more often and it takes one of my double drum sanders a half of a day just messing with replacing the 2 drums of the paper. Hardwood does not have the sap and does keep the paper in better shape much longer!

It’s a good practice wood. Not really very hard so catches aren’t disastrous. On the next one, try a few longer pieces glued up and the oriented so it is a spindle turning

You are gluing up the blanks on the short grain which results in turning a lot of end grain.  As you have seen the end grain chips out easily.  Glue some up on the long grain or find some 2X2s or 4X4s and turn them.  Your results should be much better.

EDIT:  Same as Lew is saying.  We must have been replying at the same time.

Edited June 20, 20205 yr by HandyDan

I'll have to give that one a go on the next time I order up some wood.  In July I plan on ordering some other wood types just can't do it this month.  How ever I would like the pine piece to be a working piece which hopefully will turn out decently but it will probably require a bunch of sanding to get it to work right.  I've got a set of candles being delivered today so I'm waiting on those to get here before I continue to carve out the hole for the candles.  But basically what you guys are saying more simply is to make sure the grain lines up rather than having mix matched stuff.  I've also haven't had too many problems with the wood catching as much though.  I've been mostly using the carbide tipped cutters. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words! I'm not very good at explaining stuff. This is what I had in mind as far as the glue-up/lathe orientation

 

Turnings will have really neat patterns-

AHH NOW I GET IT..... Most definately.  Makes much more sense on why I've been having some issues of course with gluing up and keeping things settled and straight while clamping.  That makes complete sense now.  Sheesh I've been gluing pieces together the wrong way LOL.   OOOOOOOOOOOOOOF talk about a total redo on everything.  Welp now I gotta glue up another project and see if that one works out a lot better.  I still plan on finishing off this candle stick holder.  Its not going to go to waste.

Image below.  

 

1.  Mark for center of blank, can be used for spur turning, or faceplate, or chuck.

 

2.  LONG GRAIN, less tearout and looks better for the type of projects you are making.

 

 

You can mix the two.  Below I have made a square blank just like you have, then glued a long grained blank to it.  Then turned it down.

 

Thank, @Gunny, for the better pictures!

1 hour ago, AndrewB said:

Sheesh I've been gluing pieces together the wrong way

 

That's not exactly the wrong way.  If you want a bowl that looks like this one, it would then be the way to do it.

 

 

 

Well now that I have a chuck proper chuck I may be staring on another bowl project  fresh with different wood and  I will probably be ordering a blank.  How ever while turning on the pine I happened to graze my skin a couple of times while moving the tool around  earlier this afternoon trying to hollow out the portion for the candle to sit in.  I've almost got it wide enough but its not that deep.  Still trying to work out which is best going to work for that using the carbides probably the diamond cutter.  Needless to say, I will say those things are S H A R P.  I didn't even feel it slicing through my skin LOL LOL LOL LOL.  Not deep fortunately but either way I'm quite impressed with the carbide.

To create the hole, I would start with the round finisher and work down to the depth you want then use the square rougher to square off the bottom/sides of the hole. The diamond detailer can sometimes grab if pushed too deep and both edges engage in the wood.

Yea I did notice that with the diamond detailer that it would just want to grab and almost catch but it barely caught the wood.  But then again I wasn't placing a lot of pressure into it to make the cuts either.  I also placed an order for a swan neck hollower that should be here tuesday.  I'm going to shop around for some small bowl blanks that aren't too expensive and that wont break the bank and I'll pick up a couple of those.  As well as some blanks for making candle sticks and what not.   But at least I'm getting used to the lathe and tools so hopefully moving in the right direction with things for the most part minus a few things LOL.

Bowl blanks can be expensive. If you are out and about, keep an eye out for tree guys doing trimming. You can probably pick up some stuff for free. They might even custom cut some blanks in exchange for a 6 pack

Making blanks is a simple process and much cheaper.  I started using short scraps of maple and mahogany from a cabinet place.  Cut them to 3/4 inch squares and glued them up.  In 20+ years I have yet to buy wood for turning blanks.  Plenty available from cabinet places, old furniture or some horse trading with someone who has access to it but doesn't turn.    

Now I just gotta get down cutting a tennon and I should be alright, as far as woods I'm not too sure I don't go out too much.  Especially now days so I mostly order stuff from online for  fairly in expensive.  Sometimes quite a bit.  But I also have a bunch of knife handle blanks that I've never used as well that I could easily turn into pen blanks.  Shouldn't be hard to do.  As far as a table saw I don't have one of those as of yet but that is on the TO buy list still.

Couple of thoughts . What Lew said about tree cutters and storm damage are great places for green wood which is easiest to turn. You might also go dumpster diving with permission at construction sites they discard lots of pieces the size you are using.

    When doing most of the turning you are doing bring up the tailstock for support. This will reduce vibration and make the cuts easier to do. This is a principle of spindle turning which is the turning you are doing except for the candle cup which is hollowing.

    Keep going it is one step at a time and perfecting your  cuts with spindle turning is the best way to practice .

Quote

 

 

AndrewB, are you 100% sure that you've got pine in your lathe? To me it looks like poplar wood, and I agree with Gerald.... use your tailstock for much better results.

Ha it probably is poplar I do often get the two confused

4 hours ago, AndrewB said:

Ha it probably is poplar I do often get the two confused

Buy a small piece of popular, oak, pine, ash, walnut and mahogany.  These are ones that can be found at the average box store, enough to get you started anyway.  Take a marker and write on each what it is.  Attach to a small board and use as visual reference.  Now when in doubt you need only look at your reference board.