Well, I am much more experienced than you are having turned 3 more bowls
than you have, so here's my 2 cents.
I haven't done 2 bowls the same yet and I have made enough mistakes
already for at least a dozen bowls or two. You should see how far the
bowl goes when it breaks loose from the wood that's screwed to the
faceplate.
Here are the reasons, so far, that I have had trouble getting to the
inside of the bowl:
When attaching the bottom of the bowl to the headstock with a "faceplate
mounter" as you did:
1. I used a live center in the tailstock to support the outer end (the
"inside" of the bowl to be) and therefore left a "top" shaped center in
the bowl for the center to contact. That made the distance between the
edge of the bowl and the "top" very narrow. I ended up making the
"top" a lot smaller to give me some more room.
2. Same as #1, but the tailstock itself got in the way of the tool I
was using. To minimize this problem, but not eliminate it, I set the
tailstock ram as far out as it would go.
3. Same as above, but used a spur center at the headstock. This still
requires a tailstock support so my problems and solutions were the same
as 1 and 2.
4. When attaching the bowl to the headstock with the faceplate mounter,
I can remove the whole center of the bowl (the top)because I don't HAVE
to have a tailstock support, but I do use it untill I have gotten the
inside started. Once the "top" is removed, I still have trouble because
its hard to get the tool rest close enough to that inside edge of the
bowl to have good control. I made an S-shaped tool rest and it helps a
lot. I used tool steel for mine, but a piece of hardware store steel
should be okay for a short run.
5. If all else fails, (don't tell the real bowl-turners that I said
this) 60 grit sandpaper (or maybe even 40)will do wonders to clean up
the rough parts. Of course I've never done anything like that. I just
heard that it would work well. The sandpaper WILL get hot.
6. Keep this a secret too, but the parting tool is pretty good at
taking little clean up cuts as long as you have good support and plan
the pivoting of it.

By the way, I still plan to make more bowls anyway, so I did buy one of
those 4 jaw chucks. They really work well.

Pete Stanaitis
------------------

Tanus wrote:
Hi all,

I'm making my first bowl. Years ago, my dad had signed up for a turner's
course and got to the point where he had his blank that was about 9" by
4" and it was glued onto a faceplate mounter. That's as far as he got,
and it was moved more times than my mother cares to remember.

Dad died last spring and my mom produced this blank and said, "Please do
something with it." I figured it was a good starter project. A simple
straight-walled bowl with nothing fancy to it.

It is. I'm having a great time. I have sharp tools, Darrel's jigs and a
mountain of shavings. All I'm working with is a skew, thumbnail gouge
and parting tool. I haven't seen much use for the parter yet, and expect
I won't.

I've got the outside mostly round, and the inside roughed out.

But the inside walls are where I"m having some problems. Two, to be
exact. They're likely related.

I can't get the wall smooth. One of the reasons is that to get to the
inside wall, I nearly have to stand on my head to get the tool on the
wall. (Wall closest to me. I can easily reach the far wall, but the
wall's going the wrong direction. DAMHIKT if you put a gouge on the
wrong direction wall, the butt of the gouge will kick back. Into your
chest. Leaving you breathless. And looking 'round to see if anyone
witnessed it.)

As stated, I don't have gouges that are bent to get into those places,
and I'm wondering if I can get my walls smoother without having to turn
the lathe around. Or buying new tools.

Anyone got any suggestions?

TIA

Tanus