Saturday, January 12, 2008

Natural Edged Bowl - Roughing Outside (1)

One of the things, if not the thing that makes turning these natural edged bowls fun is simply the amount of air in the mix. That is especially true for one like this that is longer than it is wide. Of course this brings up complications. For one thing, there is really not firm bevel to ride. You depend on the speed of the wood to make up for the gaps and just go for it. As the video goes on you can see the difference in tool movement as I go from the sides with gaps to the bottom with solid wood. The other thing is the difficulty in viewing the bowl. There is so much air that it can be hard to see the wood once it starts turning. I am turning here at 1200 rpm. You need a decent speed to contend with the huge gaps. If you are not comfortable turning a bowl at that speed, just practice on a few regular ones first.

2 comments:

Derek Andrews said...

Hi Darrell

Good video, and interesting to see your Oland tool at work.

One thing I find that helps with "seeing" the edge it to reduce the general room lighting and bring one light up really close to the work. This greatly increases the contrast between the work and the background which I find makes it much easier to see both the edge and the cut.

Darrell Feltmate said...

Hi Derek
Thanks, I like the idea. I will have to try it for the next video. Actually, after some of the winged platters I have turned where I had to take it on faith or cracked fingers that there was any wood at all, this one seems almost solid.