Hollowing Disability ? ? ?

Pushing too hard, or rolling too far, I'd say. You should lay the bevel on the work, drop the handle slightly and roll in easy. The curl will start pretty much on its own. You can be more aggressive - up to that catch - by allowing the bevel to roll and dig in more, but that demands a real close support and a strong arm. You can also push the gouge into the wall at any roll angle for more wood removal, especially with wet wood, but I'd rather take a few minutes extra, and I'm normally using a steady with goblets.

If you have a fingernail grind spindle gouge, fairly common, you might find the shorter vertical section friendlier than the long one on the bowl gouge. You can sort of choose your curl by varying angle toward the tip, and roll toward the work.

Then there are ring tools....

If you are talking about the Raffin back hollowing technique...

When you are cutting at 2 o'clock with the flute up, the back of the gouge should be riding on the rim of the bowl at 8 0'clock. You are using the rim as the fulcrum for your cut. This is why you want to keep the entrance hole on the small side. Rubbing the back of the gouge on the rim gives you, effectively, less overhang so there is less vibration and less of a tendency to catch. I'd think it would also help to keep the blank in the chuck.

So, if you are not rubbing the back of the gouge on the rim, I'd give it a try. BTW, I use a bowl gouge when back hollowing, not a spindle gouge.

BTW, the demarcation line between bowl and spindle gouge is not really a line but a continuum. The old Taylor spindle gouge I have has a pretty deep flute -- much like a bowl gouge. What the manufacturer calls them and what you use them for... whatever.

Bill

Barry N. Turner wrote:

Barry.. I turn a lot of small/medium boxes and goblets, and the $27 set of side scrapers from Penn State made it a LOT easier... Scrapers are one of those tools that I didn't know that I needed, until I got them.. and then wished that I'd got them a few years ago..

I start with a forstner or brad point bit on the tail stock chuck, then either enlarge it or just clean up the bottom with the square or round scraper, depending on outside shape or bottom type I want..

I tried making hollowing tools and boring stuff, but was just wasting my time.. side scrapers rock.. YMMV

mac

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Barry, I suspect I'm preaching to the choir, but for hollowing end grain boxes and goblets I find what I term a "left sided Raffin cut" works quite well. Efficient, but maybe not as swanky or as much fun as the true back cut to the right side.

With a shallow fluted (forged Euro style if available) gouge start at center with the flute pointing to 9:37 &1/2 a.m. EST. ;) With confidence and not hesitating, cut don't scrape, with the lower (left) edge while just clearing the upper edge. Sweep outward to the bottom-wall transition and continue the curve by pulling up to the edge of the opening. The fulcrum is on the toolrest, so not limited to a narrow opening or a shallow box.

Several other cures are offered for your disability. Sure hope workman's comp. will cover the treatment you choose. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Arch,

You're not preaching to the choir! Normally, I do something very similar to what you do. I'm not so sure about the 9:37 1/2 AM though. More like 9:45.

But this time I was trying to duplicate what I saw in a turning demo...........just pushing the bowl gouge straight into a goblet, flute pointing upwards........taking a wonderful and effortless (so it appeared) cut. It looked so darned easy, I just knew I could do it, too.

Barry

Tell me about some of the other cures.........already tried Kentucky Bourbon last night.........I don't think it would help me do the cut, but it sure makes me not care that I can't do it. About that Workmen's Comp thing.........I'm not holding my breath.

Barry... after re-watching Bill Grumbines's bowl turning DVD and trying a grind sort of like his and some of the cuts that he teaches, my thought while reading your post above was a heartfelt "I feel your pain".. (I learned a lot from Bill's video and he's a great teacher, but I still think that it should be titled "Bill Grumbine makes bowl turning LOOK easy)

mac

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Whew! Thanks Barry, Before someone injures themself, I meant 9 _forty 7

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Mac,

Using a swept back bowl gouge isn't always intuitive. You rarely use the very tip of the tool. The sides or wings are like two little skew chisels. If you get too much of the wing into your work it will really dig in. So you always need to watch the relation ship of the tool to the work. When they work, they really work well. I asked Bill Grumbine if he only had one tool which one would it be? He said a swept back bowl gouge. Really concentrate on the cuts in his video and how he holds the tool. And then practice, practice, practice. I'm about halfway through the first practice and have a long way to go.

I like (and believe) the part about his not being able to sweep back the wings any further without sharpening the handle.. roflmao..

I was noticing the on the sharpening section he covered gouge, scraper and parting tool.. My wife said "how about the skew? It's the hardest to sharpen for me"... I told her that my guess was that Bill didn't need one, with the grind on his gouge..

I thought that I knew what I was doing, until I learned enough to be able to watch his video again and really understand WHAT he was doing... Besides holding the chisel wrong, I found that I was being way too gentle, and working myself to death.. Watching how he uses angles and sweeps, and seeing how sharp his chisel is, have totally changed my "turning style" in 2 days.. It was so cool this weekend, watching those long curls coming off the green wood and realizing that I was making them... wow! (picture huge self-satisfied grin)

mac

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