Prometheus writes:

Example - You can always glue a block of wood to your bowl, with brown
grocery bag paper in between. After you turn, you separate with a
chisel.

I've heard that technique mentioned before, but never tried it- how
well does it work, and how much work is it to get the glue off
afterwards?

It's what I used when I was turning faceplate/bowl work when I started.
You can scrape and sand to remove the paper and glue, but it's a thin
layer.

I'm not an expert, but ever try to separate a 2" surface glued to
another 2" surface? The glue is stronger than the wood.
The paper weakens this a little, but ...

And another nice thing is you can cut everything but the foot, and
then you can cut the foot nearly away at the end. The "chuck" is just
paper, after all. The smaller the foot, the less sanding you have to do.

Is that an appropriate technique for trying to do some
hollowing, with a vase, for instance- or is is only useful for
relatively shallow objects like bowls? That may be a good thing to
try while waiting for the tool account to grow a bit so I can get a
better chuck right off.

A vase would probably require gluing end grain to the paper, which
won't hold. Instead:

Cut a spigot on the end of the blank, remove it, and then mount a new
lock and cut a recess into the block, making it a "chuck". Jam it in.

Or, if you need more holding power, cut a slice in the chuck, and use
hose clamps.

There are hundreds of variations. The scroll jaw chuck is a
recent invention. The lathe is not. Some of the home made "chucks" I
have seen are dang clever.

An expensive chuck will make some things faster and easier, but old
fashioned techniques can make do. I think a dovetail recess is hard
without a metal chuck. But wood holds wood, and costs the same as
wood. It can take you far.

A $15 book will teach you how to do things that a $300 chuck can't do.


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