Wednesday's Wisdom For Woodturners September 27, 2023

[lew]

Last Wednesday in September but at least we had a sunny day here, for a change.

 

 

Our Patriot Turners-

@Roy showed us a really neat segmented turning that will be used a traveling trophy at his wife's work.

 

He asked our turners several questions including their opinions on carbide tools. Please check out his post and see if your can provide any insights from your experiences.

 

 

@nevinc posed a question about a turning blank he purchased.  Seems the blank was quite wet and he was wondering about the turning options.

Please check out his post, the comments and add your ideas.

 

Nevin also showed us another cool bowl turning he made. 

 

In his post, there are more images and comments from our turners-

 

 

@HandyDan needs to get a couple of "barn cats" to take care of his problem. Seems he has mice!!

 

As usual, Dan has gotten ahead of us all with this years batch of Christmas ornaments. Check out his post for more images-

 

 

@forty_caliber completed another one of his beautiful pecan bowls-

 

He received lots of positive comments in his post-

 

 

@RustyFN finished up a request from his wife to turn a pumpkin (hope she didn't mean he was to turn INTO a pumpkin)

 

 

Rusty describes the turning and its purpose in his post-

 

 

We've had more activity on our continuing thread of "What's On Your Lathe"

@forty_caliber and @calabrese55 both added what they have been up to.

 

 

You can catchup up starting here-

 

 

 

What’s Coming Up-

Live tomorrow, September 28, with Cindy Drozda-

Preregister here- http://www.cindydrozda.com/html/Signup.html

 

 

 

For The Newbies-

Jim Rodgers' video describing some of the various turning tools used for hollowing

 

 

A short video about woodturning safety equipment from Cindy Drozda-

 

 

If you have started turning bowls, you know it can be challenging to find a way to hold the work. This video, from Richard Raffan, he demonstrates the process from start to finish on a rough turned bowl. What is interesting is how he has prepared the rough blank for being held by the chuck on the inside of the bowl.

 

 

A video short from Tim Yoder on turning stance-

 

 

 

Expand Your Horizons-

A different kind of winged bowl from Alan Stratton-

 

 

Over the last several weeks we have had information on various thread cutting processes. Sam Angelo prepares a new set of chasers for use. Sam explains why and how he modifies his chasing tools-

 

 

Mike Peace explores what the term "Food Safe" finish-

 

 

 

 

New Turning Items-

Mike Waldt reviews a new vase steady rest-

 

 

Woodturners Wonders has expanded their product line. They now carry "Hold Fast" vacuum chuck systems. Here's the link to that page on their website-

https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/hold-fast?_kx=gV5SF2As_3IwtBi5TrpHVQM0F3UvGVbQKzhWGippDlk%3D.VJvU8R

 

Ken Rizza added a YouTube video to further explain the additions to their product line-

 

 

 

 

Everything Else-

I think I would buy the game instead of this, but Richard Raffan turns what we used to call Pick Up Sticks!

 

 

And from Ron Brown's Newsletter-

22 Things I Wish I Knew In The Beginning

 

Friends, here is a partial list of things I wish someone had told me when I first started wood-turning. I plan to do a follow-up article based on your responses to things you wish someone had told you. Things I didn’t mention. Send your comments to me at ronbrown@coolhammers.com.

 

1)    I wish I had a “Turner’s Reference Guide” It is now a free download and very worth your time. Get it at www.ronbrownsbest.com or <Here> You have to be logged into your account.
2)    When you get a lathe, you’ve just started to spend money
3)    You can turn small things on a big lathe, but it is difficult to turn big things on a small lathe.
4)    There are four pillars to woodturning:
    a)    The lathe itself, turning tools (HSS & Carbide), Chucks and work holding devices, and sharpening
5)    There are 6 basic types of HSS turning tools but lots of sizes of each type. 
    a)    Skews, parting tools, scrapers, spindle roughing gouges, spindle gouges, and bowl gouges
6)    Buying HSS tools in sets is usually not a good idea. Get the tool you need when you need it. Learn to use it, learn to sharpen it.
7)    Carbide tools are a separate category and 98% are scrapers
    a)    Diamond, round, square, square with radius
8)    Hollowing tools can be a separate category 
    a)    Scrapers (HSS and Carbide) & ring tools 
9)    You don’t need 150 different tools, about 15 will do
    a)    It is easy to overpay for turning tools if you only buy brand names because of the brand. Save the expensive stuff for when you are more experienced and can tell the difference in quality.
    b)    It is never a good idea to buy based on the cheapest-priced tool.
    c)    Most mid-priced turning tools today have excellent quality M2 steel for the hobby turner
10)    Sharp tools are safer, easier to work with and leave a better finish
11)    Develop the habit of sharpening often
12)    Hone your skews, avoid the grinder if at all possible
13)    Sharpening is a cornerstone skill and worth the investment in time and money
14)    Some kind of HSS tool sharpening jig is one of the things every woodturner needs to own as soon as possible. Tools last longer, grinds are repeatable, and you will sharpen more often because it becomes quick and easy. Turning will be more fun and safer.
15)    At least one Scroll chuck is mandatory
16)    Free wood isn’t free
17)    Green wood is like lettuce, it goes bad very quickly so seal it immediately
18)    Use PPE, accidents happen in microseconds. Direct pressure usually stops the bleeding
19)    Good tool technique along with sharp tools eliminates much of the sanding
20)    Stop! Carefully examine your work at every step before going to the next process
    a)    If you can still see individual sanding scratch marks, go back and do it again before moving up to the next finer grit.
21)    Swing diameter is far less important than horsepower on larger projects.
22)    When your workpiece flies out of the chuck or comes loose from between centers, are you in the correct position to avoid injury?

 

 

Safe turning

[RustyFN]

Thanks Lew. I thought it was odd that her pin cushion looks a lot like me.

[HandyDan]

Thanks Lew.  Love this weeks video lineup.  You really out did yourself.  I love the results of a bowl from a cube and the Alan Stratton video ads some real flavor to it.

[Gerald]

Thanks Lew I really thought the post was going into tomorrow. Great picks------pick up sticks