Roughing out blanks

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LastChanceWoodshop

New User
Jason
For those that are more experienced turners (which is likely all of you) what sort of process do you use to get your stock to rough shape? I have been working with what could most kindly be called firewood; My process is very slow.

So far I've used a hatchet for rough trimming and then tried to pick the best line I could on the piece. I then dimple the end for the tail stock and drill a hole for the screw center on the head stock end. I then turn a tenon that my chuck will bite before moving on to roughing the piece to shape.

This works, but often as not I find a low spot where my splitting wandered and I have to scrap my blank.

Am I better to draw knife/bandsaw my pieces close to the shape I want prior to doing the finish work on the lathe?

Please share your technique!
 

awldune

Sam
User
Are we talking spindles or bowls?

For spindles I would almost always put the piece between centers and hog off the waste with a roughing gouge at a high speed.

With bowls and especially large bowls, a circle-cutting jig on the bandsaw is generally a good idea, possibly in combination with removing some waste with a chainsaw. For a small bowl I would just throw it on there.

If it feels like it is taking forever to turn away the excess, you may want to look at your sharpening technique and possibly up your RPMs.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
I don't do anything in the conventional way and anything I say here will be hotly contested so I will keep my thoughts to myself. Something I learned the hard way.
 

Stuart Kent

Stuart
Senior User
I go directly from the chainsaw or the bandsaw to the lathe and rough stock out at high speed between centers with a roughing gouge or a carbide tool - whichever is there when I reach.
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
Jason, splitting a blank out is always a gamble that you are going to get the split to behave. If the wood splits perfectly it's probably pretty boring wood. I always cut the wood into blanks with a chainsaw and mount it with a faceplate to rough it out. Using a screw center on a rough blank would be very likely to lead to some unwanted excitement in your shop.

Roy G
 

LastChanceWoodshop

New User
Jason
Thanks all for the responses. My screw center has lead to some excitement for sure. Right now I am still making handles for my carbine tools but I plan to try a few Christmas gift type things year. It sounds like I need to acquire a face plate or two in addition to my Nova chuck and drive center.

Thanks all for the tips!
 

awldune

Sam
User
I don't especially endorse this method, but another option for initially mounting a blank is to use a 2 1/4'' forstner bit to make a recess for your chuck jaws. This should be combined with tailstock support.
 

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
Are we talking spindles or bowls?

For spindles I would almost always put the piece between centers and hog off the waste with a roughing gouge at a high speed.

With bowls and especially large bowls, a circle-cutting jig on the bandsaw is generally a good idea, possibly in combination with removing some waste with a chainsaw. For a small bowl I would just throw it on there.

If it feels like it is taking forever to turn away the excess, you may want to look at your sharpening technique and possibly up your RPMs.

Never got the answer but I am assuming he was interested in bowl stock prep.

In response to your path with the spindles, I do the same if I am only doing 5 or 6 spindles. If I am doing lots of cylinders in route to chair legs, I like to cut squares, then octagonal on the TS. I have a box on the lathe bed with a router on top that slides the length of the leg blank while turning. You go from an octagon blank to a perfect cylinder in one pass with a cove bit in the router.

Curly Red maple for legs and stretchers air drying.

bamboo_dec_17_26_.JPG


recent bamboo legs with garnetlac sealer. red milk paint in background on plain sugar maple

bamboo_dec_17_24_.JPG






1-leg_painting_002.JPG


first coat of paint red done on the lathe. next coat is black thinned down over the red then some varnish
bucket_of_legs1.jpg


I don't do fewer than 20 legs and stretchers at a time. I now have over 100 of these turned so I am only getting on the lathe when I need something special. It shows when I first start out.

Getting stock to a cylinder with a router saves so much time and it sure saves on wear and tear on my roughing gauge.

Some day when the photo loading to an album gets fixed, I'll start an album on how the box works.​
 

LastChanceWoodshop

New User
Jason
Wow Dan those are beautiful! I did forget to mention, but thus far my turning has been limited to tool handles which I suppose are more spindly than bowl-like.
 

awldune

Sam
User
If you are making spindles from lumber (rough or otherwise) I would prepare them on the tablesaw as Dan suggests.

If you are starting out with raw pieces of tree, (e.g., green branches with bark on them) I find it better to go straight to the lathe.
 
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