Glue Block vrs. Chuck

No reason you couldn't, if you liked. One possible advantage of just turning the faces flat is that you could then move the center at the next stage (it's oten difficult to tell where the best appximation to center is on a fully rough hunk of wood). Of course, you could also just move the centers at that point and turn it round between centers. Some folks simply prefer working with centers, and others prefer not working with centers. If you happen to have a lathe with a bad tailstock (one of mine is), the latter position is wise.

Faster (hot glue) and less fuss for a lot of things, as well as a nice tendency of Darrel not to act as a salesman for many tools you don't actually need (as with many folks that have been at this a while, I own a chuck, but I got by without one for many years, too). You could also hold the things (in the hole, to do the bottom) with a pin chuck if you were making a lot of them and kept the hole the same size.

Primary principle - whatever works for you, works.

You are right on about Darrell's site and his contribution to helping turners. You are also to be commended in trying to figure out why things are done a certain way and if there are alternatives. The alternatives often are exactly what you need if you don't have a certain tool or lathe feature.

Ecnerwal pretty well summed up why Darrell did what he did. I would have rounded the blank with a bandsaw first but not everybody has a bandsaw.

I may have put it between centers and turned a tenon for a chuck but not likely. If I had been working with a piece oriented like a spindle (grain parallel to bed) using centers, I likely would have turned a chuck tenon - just me! So in the orientation shown on his site I probably would have used a glue block (if material at a premium) or screwchuck.

Keep thinking! Billh

"Paul Kierstead" skrev i melding news:pmk snipped-for-privacy@news.isp.giganews.com...

I like working with chuck only, because of the speed. But, I never use tenons when I turn bowls. I find it impossible to get the steady, unvarying grip on a tenon that I get from a recess. (I know, I know, we have been thru that, I stick to my way)

So, I have made myself dependent on a drillpress. (It is also possible to make the initial recess between centers, but i takes far too much time).

I always start on the (normally) flat side that is going to be the concave side of the bowl. I put the piece under the drillpress with a 2 1/8" Forstnerbit, and drill a hole near the max depth for my chuck. I put the piece in the lathe, roughturn the bottom, and make the recess for the convex side with a parting tool ( This tool makes a clean, cylindrical hole).

Then I true up the first hole with the parting tool to secure the symmetry of the two holes.

Then i finish the bottom, and I mean "finish", as in sanding and oiling.

Then I "empty" the bowl and finish.

This is the routine I learnt from my local "guru", and it seems to me to be very near a professional way of working.

Bjarte

OK up until this point except that I either use a woodworm screw in my SuperNova chuck for smallish stuff, or a faceplate for the bigger blanks. I have my doubts about the "cylindrical" nature of the recess too, but that's been covered adequately in other posts ...

Now, this is the bit I don't understand. Are you saying that you reverse the blank just to true up the first hole you made and then reverse it again to finish turn the bottom? Why?

"Alun Saunders" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@news.supernews.com...

Because of the rougher nature of the drilled hole, the bottom will almost never be in exact parallell to the second hole, made with the parting tool.

I therefore clean out the bottom and sides of this first hole, in order to avoid wobble when i refasten to clean the bottom. It is a choice between removing a little in the hole, or a lot from the bowl.

It works for me.

Bjarte

But surely after you're done with turning the bottom and making the recess, then it doesn't matter because the first thing you're going to do when you reverse the bowl to hollow the inside is to get rid of the first hole you made anyway ... or am I missing something here? It seems like an unnecesary extra step to me, unless you're getting some movement or wobble in the piece due to the nature of the bored hole which you want to avoid when finishing the bottom?

Paul Thank you to you and the group for your kind words regarding the site. In answer to your question regarding the glue block, I do it that way partly out of habit and because it works so well. It also eliminates the need for a scroll chuck which is an unnecessary expense although a nice one. These are also a good seller for me at Craft Fairs so I like turn them by the dozen and have them ready on glue blocks to put on and off the lathe. I know, they could be done with the chuck as well, but really, I think of blocks and face plates before a chuck. It is just what I am used to, I guess.

Everybody grows from something into something. I never used faceplates much, and with my first chuck purchase, they were relegated to collect dust on the shelf until I took them up to school. So I ask, as you do, why glue blocks. The way I do it works too, and dollars to donuts there are other ways. Darrell uses that Oland tool, I use (HORRORS) spindle gouges - both move wood, but I'll bet there are other ways out there too.

Since the center point is still there from your original bore, why not use it and your tailstock to help hold as you turn the inside of the bowl? Or at least as a third hand while mounting the reversed blank?

Since I use a 1" bore for a pin chuck or jaws, I use the tapered nose on my live center to do the same.

"Alun Saunders" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@news.supernews.com...

When I use the drilled hole, I roughturn the backside, that is, I turn it down to _near_ the finished shape. Then I make my second hole in the bottom with my parting tool (5mm thick)(and I have another, thinner one, for real parting work).

Now comes the hard part: Sometimes and allways you find something inside the wood to make you change your plans for shape and / or thickness. Sometimes I have to hollow the bowl partly, leaving a thick stem in the middle, just to see what the wood looks like, and then I have to change the shape of the outside somewhat, because of what I saw.

When I have made sure of two exactly parallell holes, I can switch back and forth between the two sides without losing anything that I don't want to lose. With an uneven, not trued up hole on the other side, I get wobble each time i turn the piece around, and the bowl is rapidly taking the shape of a platter.

Now. When I allways true up the two holes in the beginning, it gives me a wider range of actions afterward.

Sometimes it is a bit unneccessary, and sometimes it gives me a good result with minimal loss of material.

That's why I do it routinely. It works for me.

Bjarte

OK, I get it now :)

"Alun Saunders" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@news.supernews.com...

You're welcome:-) Giving advice to other people helps me think through my own things, so maybe the benefit is really mine?

Bjarte

Though, it is entirely possible to do what you suggest with a dovetail recess. Less the oil at my house.

"Tony Manella" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@nni.com...

I do.

Bjarte

SNIP .........

=================================== This is true, but keep your eyes and ears open. There may be a better and/or easier way. Never too late to learn something new!

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

================================== For any one new to this group, please read Darrell's site regarding his use of hot glue. It is NOT the usual craft type glue gun he uses. That will not give you a good hold when you start turning (don't ask how I know, I just do). His procedure calls for a stove or hot plate, etc., and a container to heat the glue in. It must be much hotter than glue gun temp for it to work.

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

I use a wood faceplate and hot glue from a Black & Decker glue gun. I also warm both surfaces with a heat gun or a hair dryer. This has worked

Actually Ken, I use a regular craft glue gun. A friend of mine, Ken Bullock from Fredericton, NB uses an electric frying pan. Maurice Gamblin uses a regular glue gun. they both turn larger bowls than I habitually do and either system works. There are a couple of things to watch out for though. The gun has to get hot. Use at least a 40 watt gun and an 80 is better. Give it time to heat; I like at least 10 minutes under the theory that 5 is good enough. When in doubt give the piece a "bench test;" hold it in your hand and give the glue bock a good swat against the bench. If it holds, turn away. Make sure the glue surfaces are dry. If gluing to a wet surface, heat it dry with a heat gun or torch. You are quite right in thinking that a gun hot enough to melt glue is not necessarily hot enough to give a good melt. Give it time to heat and things should go well. Your suggestion of a hot plate is good. Set the heat to about 375 F.