Had to work, but SWMBO recorded all but the first few minutes of Norm Abram venturing into bowl turning Saturday. It was a repeat, I have to believe, as he was using what looked to be a 46-700 Delta.
Now I know that a lot of people, perhaps most, don't turn as I do, but I found myself talking to the tube as he stepped up to the spinning blank, placing his body in the throw zone. Then when he turned his gouge (yes, a bowl gouge - Packard WW logo) almost nose up and began to round the blank that way, I had to close my eyes. Does anyone really do things this way? Have to believe Norm got some sort of instruction prior to the episode, so someone must, but why?
I'm a coward, so I never put my body into the throw zone, rather I work from the tailstock end. Tried the other way and didn't like the odd dirt, water, and bark that could come off and hit me, much less the hidden crack that might release a chunk in search of my chin. I also begin my cuts at the base and orient the gouge so the paring cut is being taken across the blank from bottom to top, rather than turn the nose up where it might tear huge chunks out of the end grain. With the paring cut there's no direction difference felt, because I'm cutting face grain entirely, really rather than running the long grain and digging end.
It makes more sense to me to stand clear of the throw zone and pare, rather than cut and tear my way around. Maybe that's why people complain about chucks being weak, needing full body armor to turn, and not using the biggest edge they own to waste away wood - they're cutting like Norm!