Woodturning Online

Hi all. As a newby to woodturning I have seem to keep running up against silly problems. At present I am trying to make my first bowl and the grain keeps beating me. I was given the treads from a spiral staircase and I think they are maple. I am of course turning from flat stock so I keep coming across half the grain going the wrong way to sand. I have mounted the piece on a face plate and turned the base, so once I got the whole thing mounted on my chuck I thought I would be o.k. but of course I now have the other half of the grain going the wrong way.
Can I fill this grain so I can sand it smooth and if so what with ? I am in Australia so I may not have access to all the fancy stuff you blokes have so a general suggestion rather than a brand would be ao=ppreciated. Thanks Larkspur

Hi Larkspur, what's it like living upside down?
Whenever you turn a bowl from solid timber you will always have two areas of side grain and two of end grain to cut through, and it is the latter that is, almost certainly, giving you grief. What is happening is that the separate grains are unsupported and are being 'pulled' out of their 'sockets' (and/or being broken and laid over) instead of being cut cleanly. Its a common problem and, in my experience anyway, no amount of sanding, or filling, will get you out of the situation. I am afraid there is no easy way except LAZER sharp tools, good tool control and lots of practise. Some woods will be kinder than others, some will appreciate a sharp scraper finish while others will mutiny if you try.
May I suggest that with the next bowl you start practising and experimenting with your tooling long before you approach your finished shape/depth. You will then have the required knowledge to hand when you come to do the job for real.
Sorry that's not the answer you were hoping for but please remember that we have all tramped the road you are now on... and most of us survived ...so forget short cuts and just go out there and practise, practise and practice a bit more...it WILL pay off in the end, I can assure you.
All the best from UP here in Blighty.
Brian

Larkspur;

I have good success with either a cellulose sanding sealer, or a more economic vesion - shellac flakes in denatured alcohol. I mix the flakes thinner than a one pound cut to make it go further. It also allows the wood to soak it in deeper. This will accomplish exactly what you are thinking... the shellac will dry and stiffen the fibers in the cross grain. This will make it much easier to cut a smooth finish as well as sand to an excellent finish.

As Brian said - there is no substiture for razor sharp tools. Cut with the grain after you apply the shellac or sanding sealer. I think you will be happy.

Good Luck

Scott

I support the two views of 1) cutting with the grain and 2) sharp tools. Those are the keys to dealing with every bowl that you will turn in faceplate orientation!

Cutting with the grain is something that seems to difficult for beginners to understand... so I like to remind them using these statements.... inside of the bowl must be cut from the rim to the center of the bowl... outside of the bowl must be cut from the foot to the rim... violating this concept can lead to tear-out, catches and other ugly things!!

Having sharp tools is really important and luckily with today's jigs (ie: Wolverine or other similar devices) sharpening is so easy. If you're not up-to-speed get a local turning friend to help! You'll pick it up really fast!

Best of luck!

Dennis

Thanks for the info. I spent a couple of hours sharpening tools and had the most monumental dig in ever. I am now trying the shellac and I will see how this goes. Once again thanks john

There's down grain and down hill. Best explanation is here http://www.turningtools.co.uk/wtintro/wtintro.html and includes some pictures.

You want to cut ACROSS the grain and SHAVE down. Where you are cutting almost 90 degrees to the fibers you want to keep the least amount of skew in the tool as well. As the angle to the fibers decreases you can skew your tool and decrease the sharpness angle to do the shave or peel, if you prefer to call it that. Think of your whittling, carving or mortise chopping. Turning uses the edge and the angles the same way, steep entry across the fibers sweeping to shallow and running along them. Bit of skew in the edge helps in referencing where you're going to where you've been, and effectively lowers the sharpness angle

I have read the article on grain and it explaines a lot of troubles I have been having. The concept of uphill & downhill makes a lot of sense, and as I have been cutting whichever direction I am lucky to have had some of the good results that I have had. This will save me a fortune on sandpaper. Once again thanks John