I can not tell you how many times I have wrestled with coring a bowl with
the Kelton and have had sore arms, tender ribs, a near miss with my chin and
inconsistent results.
BRBR

Ray,

It sounds to me like you're trying to hold the handle down rather than holding
it up against the top of the guide. If you hold it up, the guide takes all the
vertical force so you don't have to. I've seen quite a few people try to hold
the handle down, which is the natural thing to do when using a normal hand-held
tool) only to have it buck uncontrollably. That's what the crossbar is there
for--to take those forces. The main things I learned from Mike Mahoney about
the McNaughtin is (1) Hold the tool UP against the crossbar, (2) Push FORWARD,
not to the side when advancing the cutter, and (3) start the cut, go in 2 or 3
inches, then back it out and start another cut to the outside, widening the
original kerf to allow clearance and to allow chips to evacuate. Then go back
and use your original inboard kerf and hug the INSIDE of the cut so the chips
will evacuate to the outside and you will not bind in the cut against the
outside edge.
True, the McNaughtin does take practice, but once you've seen Mike Mahoney
demonstrate its use it all becomes clear. Everything we do in woodturning takes
practice to get it right. We shouldn't expect anything different from our
coring tools.
-Jim Gott-
San Jose, CA