I'm considering getting a bowl Corer. I have never used any, so I was
wondering if one type of system outperforms another.
The 2 types I have only ever seen are the Kelton and Woodcut both seem
to work just fine.
any ideas.
Peter

Peter

I have the Kelton and do not recommend it to anyone but the strong armed and
strong willed!

Recently I have been researching this tool and found that the One Way has
the most built in safety features. The "finger" tool rest is an awesome
innovation that provides the tool so much more support. That is what makes
the One Way safe.

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.

I have Santa all lined up with the info for ordering me the One Way for
Christmas. I can not wait to retire the Kelton!

Ray

PS: I will have a Kelton for Sale in early January!



"Peter" wrote in message
om...
I'm considering getting a bowl Corer. I have never used any, so I was
wondering if one type of system outperforms another.
The 2 types I have only ever seen are the Kelton and Woodcut both seem
to work just fine.
any ideas.
Peter

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

I have these cutters and love them

If your having to use a lot of force then your doing something wrong.

I strongly recommend the Mahoney video because it gives some great pointers.

I've done several nested bowls out of cottonwood. I stuggled with the
first but after watching the video and getting pointers from others
using them is now much easier. My last took me only about 30 minutes
to core remount and core out 3 bowls from one piece of wood.

My only problem now is that winter has set in and its no fun turning
outside when it is below 50 and in the shade.

Jim Gott wrote:
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

"Peter" wrote in message
om...
I'm considering getting a bowl Corer. I have never used any, so I was
wondering if one type of system outperforms another.
The 2 types I have only ever seen are the Kelton and Woodcut both seem
to work just fine.
any ideas.
Peter

I owned the Woodcut corer and while it works it is very "grabby" while
coring. I bought the Oneway corer and like it a lot better. It not only
cores larger blanks but the design of the cutter makes it nearly impossible
to "catch" during the coring. Well worth a look if you can find someone
locally that can demonstrate it's capabilities.
--


M.J. Orr
http://www.island.net/~morr
ô¿ô
~

Hi Ray

I had some of the same problems you had until I started using the tool in
the proper manner. Unfortunately the directions are not clear, and it was
trial and error for me. Jim gives you some very good advice. You can also
go to my personal website (URL in sig line) where I have a pictorial essay
on using the tool. When you get to the main page, scroll down to the link
on coring bowls, and hopefully it will help you out some. You can push this
thing through wood with a couple of fingers once you get it set up right.

--
Bill

Bill Grumbine

commercial site www.wonderfulwood.com
personal site www.enter.net/~ultradad
"Ray Sandusky" wrote in message
...
Peter

I have the Kelton and do not recommend it to anyone but the strong armed
and
strong willed!

Recently I have been researching this tool and found that the One Way has
the most built in safety features. The "finger" tool rest is an awesome
innovation that provides the tool so much more support. That is what
makes
the One Way safe.

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.

I have Santa all lined up with the info for ordering me the One Way for
Christmas. I can not wait to retire the Kelton!

Ray

PS: I will have a Kelton for Sale in early January!



"Peter" wrote in message
om...
I'm considering getting a bowl Corer. I have never used any, so I was
wondering if one type of system outperforms another.
The 2 types I have only ever seen are the Kelton and Woodcut both seem
to work just fine.
any ideas.
Peter

Jim & Bill

You are right - it is the tendency to hold the handle down - I have done
that and gotten the crap beat out of me. I have held the handle up against
the rest device and it does work, but the cutter does not get a good bite in
that position and I have the edge sharpened correctly... I push forward,
cut a nice wide kerf and pull the tool out of the cut frequently - I have
had this tool for over 3 years and have used it quite a bit. I am not happy
with it and am fixin' to change to a tool with a better support system.
That's all

Ray


"Jim Gott" wrote in message
...
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

Peter,

The "original" coring system was a Stewart Slicer in an armbrace.
This system makes conical cores. Many still use it today. There are
three dedicated coring systems on the market: McNaughton, Woodcut and
Oneway. Depending on what you are corings, what shapes you want and
how big a lathe you have, may swing your choice to one tool or
another.

Very briefly, if you are making production bowls and want to do it
quickly and easily, you might want to consider the Woodcut (for a
smaller lathe) or the Oneway for a larger lathe. This is assuming
that you want to produce bowls that, more or less, approximate
hemispherical proportions. Oneway can go much larger, but it is also
the most expensive of the three. If you want to make nests of various
shapes ranging from broad and flat to tall and deep, then the
McNaughton can't be matched. In my opinion, it is the most flexible
of the three systems.

Having said that, there are probably users of each system that can get
comparable results to the others. Mike Mahoney, for example, uses
McNaughton for production bowl turning and he is like a machine.

Lyn Mangiameli wrote a lengthy review of coring systems in "More
Woodturning" about a year ago. You can find his review of bowl saving
systems on their website at:

http://www.fholder.com/Woodturning/lyn.html

I wrote a 3-part follow-up article in "More Woodturning" on using
coring systems.

Joe Fleming - San Diego
===========================================


(Peter) wrote in message . com...
I'm considering getting a bowl Corer. I have never used any, so I was
wondering if one type of system outperforms another.
The 2 types I have only ever seen are the Kelton and Woodcut both seem
to work just fine.
any ideas.
Peter

my slicer, used as a coring tool, works OK once you learn the tricks - you
wedge the tip in the ways and bend to the required curvature, and cut away.
But my new problem is that the heat removed the carbide tip - while the tool
itself can still be sharpend, it doesn't hold its edge as long ( :-(

"Joe Fleming" wrote in message
om...
Peter,

The "original" coring system was a Stewart Slicer in an armbrace.
This system makes conical cores. Many still use it today. There are
three dedicated coring systems on the market: McNaughton, Woodcut and
Oneway. Depending on what you are corings, what shapes you want and
how big a lathe you have, may swing your choice to one tool or
another.

"Ray Sandusky" wrote in message
...
Peter

I have the Kelton and do not recommend it to anyone but the strong armed
and strong willed!

Recently I have been researching this tool and found that the One Way has
the most built in safety features. The "finger" tool rest is an awesome
innovation that provides the tool so much more support. That is what
makes the One Way safe.

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.

I have Santa all lined up with the info for ordering me the One Way for
Christmas. I can not wait to retire the Kelton!

Ray

PS: I will have a Kelton for Sale in early January!
========================
Ray,
With that glowing advertisement, I'm sure you'll have people standing in
line for it ! :-)

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX

You are right - it is the tendency to hold the handle down - I have done
that and gotten the crap beat out of me. I have held the handle up against
the rest device and it does work, but the cutter does not get a good bite in
that position and I have the edge sharpened correctly. BRBR

One other thing, Ray. Mike Mahoney suggests reshaping the tip to an arrow
point by grinding the opposite side back so you have a point in the center.
This makes two small edges rather than one wide one, thereby making the
shavings narrower and easier to clear through the kerf. I've tried it and it is
a definite improvement in the tool, and since the edges are smaller it also has
less resistance in the cut.
-Jim Gott-
San Jose, CA

Jim

Thanks - I just read the article by Joe Flemming that details and draws that
configuration out. Looks good, but I think I have a buyer for the Kelton -
as is. I'm getting the One Way!
Thanks

Ray

Do you have your Stubby yet? I bet that works better with your McNaughton.

Derek