Max weight of a bowl?
 

I have some thick pieces of walnut that I have glued up to make a large
salad type bowl. It will be about 14-15" when I am done. This thing is
heavy. To reduce the weight I cut the corners off with a bandsaw and also
cut the inside out of the top rings. This helped but it is still fairly
heavy (guessing 15+ lbs). I have turned a lot of things but have only
turned small bowls up to this point (6" or so), so this is quite a step up
for me.

Couple questions:
* How much weight is too much weight? I will be using a Jet 1442 lathe (1
hp).
* How do you mount it best? Is just a face plate ok? I can't put it
between spindles because it is too big, so I will be turning the head stock
out away from the bed. My thought was to glue a 3/4+ plywood spacer onto
the bottom and then use 1 1/2" screws so that it goes through the face
plate, plywood and into the walnut a little (~1/2"). How big of face plate
should I use? I only have a 4" one now - even if I put 8 screws into it, I
think that might be not be big enough.

Any other thoughts \ advice?

Thanks
Darren

Max weight of a bowl?
 

Hello Darren
I've zero experience with objects as large as you are attempting but from
reading a few books it seems that taking the dia of the faceplate X 3 will
get you about the max size. I am sure many of the more experienced turners
will chime in here.
I did my largest turning thus far the other day - about a 7" hard maple
bowl. For me it is somewhat frightening even when it is fairly round. I
attached to a faceplate with 4 screws and a plywood spacer so I could get
almost to the rim. I use a roughing gouge to round out the form and then
switch to a 3/8 bowl gouge to finish. Other tools used as required.



"Darren" wrote in message
...
I have some thick pieces of walnut that I have glued up to make a large
salad type bowl. It will be about 14-15" when I am done. This thing is
heavy. To reduce the weight I cut the corners off with a bandsaw and also
cut the inside out of the top rings. This helped but it is still fairly
heavy (guessing 15+ lbs). I have turned a lot of things but have only
turned small bowls up to this point (6" or so), so this is quite a step up
for me.

Couple questions:
* How much weight is too much weight? I will be using a Jet 1442 lathe (1
hp).
* How do you mount it best? Is just a face plate ok? I can't put it
between spindles because it is too big, so I will be turning the head
stock
out away from the bed. My thought was to glue a 3/4+ plywood spacer onto
the bottom and then use 1 1/2" screws so that it goes through the face
plate, plywood and into the walnut a little (~1/2"). How big of face
plate
should I use? I only have a 4" one now - even if I put 8 screws into it,
I
think that might be not be big enough.

Any other thoughts \ advice?

Thanks
Darren

Max weight of a bowl?
 

Darren wrote:

I have some thick pieces of walnut that I have glued up to make a large
salad type bowl. It will be about 14-15" when I am done. This thing is
heavy. To reduce the weight I cut the corners off with a bandsaw and also
cut the inside out of the top rings. This helped but it is still fairly
heavy (guessing 15+ lbs). I have turned a lot of things but have only
turned small bowls up to this point (6" or so), so this is quite a step up
for me.

Couple questions:
* How much weight is too much weight? I will be using a Jet 1442 lathe (1
hp).
* How do you mount it best? Is just a face plate ok? I can't put it
between spindles because it is too big, so I will be turning the head
stock
out away from the bed. My thought was to glue a 3/4+ plywood spacer onto
the bottom and then use 1 1/2" screws so that it goes through the face
plate, plywood and into the walnut a little (~1/2"). How big of face
plate
should I use? I only have a 4" one now - even if I put 8 screws into it,
I think that might be not be big enough.

Any other thoughts \ advice?

Thanks
Darren


Darren: You did the right thing in trimming off the corners, also the lazy
way of doing it. (Why remove all that material with a gouge when you can
cut it off with a tool that will do it so much quicker?)

Assuming you have left a large enough area to mount your face plate to, then
by all means do so. If not, let's just say that life is going to be very
interesting.

Your real problem is going to be vibration, until you get the blank trued
up. Oddly enough one serious problem area is not where you would first
look - the side of the blank opposite the face plate. Take some time to
trim that side to some semblance of symmetry, it will keep the lathe from
waltzing across the floor quite as bad.

I turn a lot of white oak pieces (my lathe only has a 12" swing) that weight
about the same as your walnut, or a bit more. Get ready for a lot of
vibration. Do not be afraid to stop the machine, trim a bit and retry.

Start at your lowest speed and use your biggest "bowl" gouge. Forget form
and get that thing roughed out ASAP - sides and bottom. Then work it like
the civilized piece it has become.

Good luck. (You won't need it, but it is nice to say)

Deb

Max weight of a bowl?
 

On Mon, 8 Mar 2004 10:01:23 -0800, "Darren"
wrote:

This helped but it is still fairly
heavy (guessing 15+ lbs).
* How much weight is too much weight? I will be using a Jet 1442 lathe (1
hp).

Assuming your Jet 1442 is constructed at least as well as my Jet Mini,
I can tell you that 15 pounds is not too much weight for it. I've had
pieces of wringing wet elm on my Mini that were 14" long by about 9"
in diameter. Probably in the neighborhood of 20-30 pounds, and I've
done this several times with no problems whatever.

--
Chuck *#:^)
chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply.


September 11, 2001 - Never Forget


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Max weight of a bowl?
 

If the lathe starts to tip, you might go with a smaller piece or weigh down
the tailstock end! *G*

Leif
"Darren" wrote in message
...
I have some thick pieces of walnut that I have glued up to make a large
salad type bowl. It will be about 14-15" when I am done. This thing is
heavy. To reduce the weight I cut the corners off with a bandsaw and also
cut the inside out of the top rings. This helped but it is still fairly
heavy (guessing 15+ lbs). I have turned a lot of things but have only
turned small bowls up to this point (6" or so), so this is quite a step up
for me.

Couple questions:
* How much weight is too much weight? I will be using a Jet 1442 lathe (1
hp).
* How do you mount it best? Is just a face plate ok? I can't put it
between spindles because it is too big, so I will be turning the head
stock
out away from the bed. My thought was to glue a 3/4+ plywood spacer onto
the bottom and then use 1 1/2" screws so that it goes through the face
plate, plywood and into the walnut a little (~1/2"). How big of face
plate
should I use? I only have a 4" one now - even if I put 8 screws into it,
I
think that might be not be big enough.

Any other thoughts \ advice?

Thanks
Darren

Max weight of a bowl?
 

You won't have a problem with the 1442 weight wise. When I had a Jet 1236,
I turned a lot heavier pieces than that.
"Darren" wrote in message
...
I have some thick pieces of walnut that I have glued up to make a large
salad type bowl. It will be about 14-15" when I am done. This thing is
heavy. To reduce the weight I cut the corners off with a bandsaw and also
cut the inside out of the top rings. This helped but it is still fairly
heavy (guessing 15+ lbs). I have turned a lot of things but have only
turned small bowls up to this point (6" or so), so this is quite a step up
for me.

Couple questions:
* How much weight is too much weight? I will be using a Jet 1442 lathe (1
hp).
* How do you mount it best? Is just a face plate ok? I can't put it
between spindles because it is too big, so I will be turning the head
stock
out away from the bed. My thought was to glue a 3/4+ plywood spacer onto
the bottom and then use 1 1/2" screws so that it goes through the face
plate, plywood and into the walnut a little (~1/2"). How big of face
plate
should I use? I only have a 4" one now - even if I put 8 screws into it,
I
think that might be not be big enough.

Any other thoughts \ advice?

Thanks
Darren

Max weight of a bowl?
 

Two comments from experience. Weight is not the problem, use a face plate as
others have suggested, and I always use the tailstock as long as possible. Most
of all use your best face shield with a helmet if you have one. I have had one
that size come apart and it was like I was in a war zone. Go slow at first for
sure. I am afraid of those glue ups if they are that big. GCS