Glue to use for bowl turning -- and other startup questions

Will A chuck is not necessary for bowl turning. I have an excellent chuck, the One Way, but I seldom use it for bowls. I rough hollow between centers and use a glue block for finish turning. In my opinion, hot glue is the way to go. All that is needed is a minute of waiting time and off you go. For a better work up, see my web site.

Sacrificial block still pretty standard Notebook paper Yellow glue

I just got a new chuck, but have to turn a recess or a stub for it & I still use the sacrificial block to do that plus sand the inside of the piece around the recess as the chuck is way too close to my fingers, then use the chuck for the rest. good luck, Phil

Hi Robin

I usually use first face plate and then a chuck, on a tenon or recess, or if the blank is smaller and better balanced I use a woodworm screw & chuck, but sometimes I do want to use all the wood for the bowl and there is not enough wood for a tenon or recess, and if it is wet wood, I don't want to first heat dry the wood and then use hot glue, even though that works well, I will use a alluminium disk , out of a VCR, it's a nicely balanced flywheel, and every discarded VCR has one to take out for you. So after I do the outside of the bowl I cut a 1 mm deep recess, nice and flat, to fit my flywheel just right, take the wood from the lathe and have the bottom horizontal so I can squirt some CA glue in the recess then place the flywheel in the recess and push it down to make sure it sits flat in the recess, give it a minute or two and clamp it in your chuck and your ready to turn again. I just did a 10" apple bowl like that yesterday, I can send you a picture if you like.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

OK, Leo, I'm intrigued. How large is this aluminum disc? How do you remove it after turning the inside of the bowl, it's securely glued in? Why not just expand your chuck into the recess and dispense with the aluminum disc? It's just that I never heard of this method, and I'm always curious about new mounting methods.

Hi GP

Sorry I did not include the taking out of the disk, you just heat it up a bit, and pull it out. Yes it better be securely glued in , I have roughed the disk with sandpaper so the glue has a better grab. Like I said if you don't have enough wood for a recess, for that I would use normally 1/4" or better with wet wood, the 1 mm you don't really need but I use that to make sure that the disk sits centered accurately. It is not a new method, I found the idea on a Australian web site and tried it, and it works.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Why indeed.

It's just another way of holding on to the wood. A bit fussier and more time-consuming than a chuck, because when you come right down to it, except for eliminating screw holes, what chucks do is speed the process of turning. You certainly do not need a 1/4" deep recess to hold a piece, and if you don't have a 1/4" available to split between recess and bottom, you'll certainly have trouble standing that piece upright, unless you make the bottom pretty broad. Could do the same glue job with wood, of course.

I use my chuck(s) and jaws to hold the wood for everything I do on a bowl. Sometimes even on spindles. In a choice between a big-name gouge, fancy grinder, grinding jig or chuck - get the chuck. That way your recesses won't have to be precisely sized to center, you won't have the disappointment of dismounts because you couldn't stand waiting for the glue to cure, and, of course, no screw holes. The less time I spend on nonessentials, the more I like it.

I use yellow glue, white glue is as, or about as, strong but takes much longer to set. I have turned with yellow glue in 2 hours but 5 hours is safe, no need to wait 24 hours. I do primarily segement turning. Some times I clamp but often just hold pcs together tightly for 30 seconds - minute and put down to set. I use a scrape of sacrificial wood, on face plate, no paper. Add addition thin sacrifical pc. when it gets to close to screws. Clean off and put a series of indexing scores on face plate sacrificial pc. before removing face plate. I have about 8 face plates so I am not tied up waiting.

Walt Conner

And a bandsaw, unless you've already got one.. *g*

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Walt.. if you have a drill press, you'll find that it makes a real handy clamp for those low pressure, short time clamping jobs.. it's adjustable and easy to center, too..lol

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

George... do you usually reverse the bowl and trim off your recesses, or include them in the foot of the bowl?

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Have a bandsaw. 14" King Industrial with riser. SWMBO kept asking about why I needed a riser.... Now I have the starter lathe. She promises to monopolize it. :-)

Just picked up a hot glue gun at Home Hardware. Like the 5 min. wait idea. :-)

Also got the bolts for the table. Now I just need to make some hardwood clips for the table top and I can start up the lathe again.

I'm right there with you, Darrell, only I use thick CA, myself. Same effect -- no mortise or tenon to get rid of or "disguise" and more wood for the bowl. I do use my Super Nova with Cole jaws, though, to finish the bottoms.

-- Chuck *#:^) chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply. <

September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

I normally leave 'em. They're already sanded, sometimes decorated with a couple of beads/grooves inside or out. Haven't seen any difference in purchase rates between those with or without, so I do what strikes me at the moment.

That said, I don't normally put a "foot" on a bowl, preferring perhaps an eighth to a quarter inch of recurve to make the bowl float to the eye, versus anchor it visually with a foot. I leave the bottoms at half inch or maybe a bit more, letting the lower center of gravity compensate for the narrower footprint.

Chuck Just to try one out, I made a set of Cole jaws for bowl bottoms and am quite pleased with it. See the web site for how if you ever need a bigger set.

Me too! I'm glad I'm not the only one :) Like George said it doesn't seem make a jot of difference to the average buyer, and it often makes the job of evening up a bottom that's warped slightly after the fact a little easier too.

Darrell:

Had a look at the web site. Nice job and lots of info. Too much to absorb in one sitting.

Will spend more time later trying out some of your ideas. Never thought of making my own cutting tools - but what the heck - I do it now for other things. Why not?

Darrell Feltmate wrote:

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You may want to get a heat gun or snitch your wife's hair dryer to preheat the work piece or face plate before applying the hot glue. Otherwise, it may harden too quick and leave you with a connection that is less secure than you want. Been there, done that! :-)

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

Good idea, (got two) I sometimes use the lathe to clamp with various tail stock gadgets, if I am not going to use it right away.

Walt Conner

Ken:

Ken Mo> Just picked up a hot glue gun at Home Hardware. Like the 5 min. wait idea. >>:-) >

Guess we'll have wet cold hair from now on. :-)

Thnx for the type