George wrote:


"HarryS" wrote in message
news:7kEQf.611353$084.348848@attbi_s22...
I'm just getting started in lathe work, turning spindles and legs. My
lathe is an old Craftsman that someone gave me years ago and I had to fit
it with a motor and had to construct a tool rest for it. It has a
relatively short bed, about 30 inches but will do what I want, at least
for the short term.

My question is this. What's the trick to turning around the edge grain?
Say you have an octagonal blank that you want to leave octagonal for a
short distance on the end. You want to turn the rest of the octagon
round
and I don't really have a problem with that. It's at that transition
from
the rounded part to the octagonal part where I have trouble. You're
basically cutting the end grain as you transition up to the octagon. I'm
using a gouge right now but occasionally it wants to grab and cut a chunk
out that's hard to repair. The same thing seems to happen when trying to
cut beads or other transitions from smaller diameter to larger diameter.
I've worked my chisels over with an oil stone followed by a very fine
aluminum oxide stone and they seem good and sharp to me.


You want to cut down grain, as you know, as that means you have the
support of uncut wood under what you're cutting.

Standard approaches include:

Mark the corners and make saw kerfs with the lathe off. Like a stop cut
in carving, it keeps you from overrunning and splintering out.

Use the tip of a skew, tip down, to start the shoulder. Pretty much the
same principle as the saw.

Cove with your gouge and then sneak back toward your desired transition
point, using standard nose and rolling motions.

It's a "pommel" cut. http://www.alanlacer.com/Videos.html First video.
http://www.channelislandswoodturners.org/SBattyDEMO.htm


and always cut down hill, from the thick part of the wood to the thinner
area, and work SLOW little cuts
--
if corn oil comes from corn,
and olive oil comes from olives
where dose baby oil come from?

I'm just getting started in lathe work, turning spindles and legs. My lathe
is an old Craftsman that someone gave me years ago and I had to fit it with
a motor and had to construct a tool rest for it. It has a relatively short
bed, about 30 inches but will do what I want, at least for the short term.

My question is this. What's the trick to turning around the edge grain?
Say you have an octagonal blank that you want to leave octagonal for a short
distance on the end. You want to turn the rest of the octagon round and I
don't really have a problem with that. It's at that transition from the
rounded part to the octagonal part where I have trouble. You're basically
cutting the end grain as you transition up to the octagon. I'm using a
gouge right now but occasionally it wants to grab and cut a chunk out that's
hard to repair. The same thing seems to happen when trying to cut beads or
other transitions from smaller diameter to larger diameter. I've worked my
chisels over with an oil stone followed by a very fine aluminum oxide stone
and they seem good and sharp to me.

Maybe some of you experience lathe folks could give me a tip.

Harry

"HarryS" wrote in message
news:7kEQf.611353$084.348848@attbi_s22...

My question is this. What's the trick to turning around the edge grain?
Say you have an octagonal blank that you want to leave octagonal for a
short distance on the end. You want to turn the rest of the octagon round
and I don't really have a problem with that. It's at that transition from
the rounded part to the octagonal part where I have trouble. You're
basically cutting the end grain as you transition up to the octagon. I'm
using a gouge right now but occasionally it wants to grab and cut a chunk
out that's hard to repair. The same thing seems to happen when trying to
cut beads or other transitions from smaller diameter to larger diameter.
I've worked my chisels over with an oil stone followed by a very fine
aluminum oxide stone and they seem good and sharp to me.


Welcome to the group Harry. Some one here is bound to be able to answer
your question but there is a better group for your question that has more to
do directly with lathe work.

Check out
rec.crafts.woodturning.

head on over to
rec.craft.woodturning

Check your local library for books
and videos on turning. Ernie
Conover has a video on turning
furniture parts - and shows
how to get a clean transition
from round to square - as in
the top part of a tabl leg.

There are a lot of different
types of gouges so your
"I'm using a gouge" isn't
enough information to provide
any useful help. In general
though, it's corners and points
that get a dig in/catch started.

charlie b

ps - you're going to probably
need more than just a gouge.

"HarryS" wrote in message
news:7kEQf.611353$084.348848@attbi_s22...
I'm just getting started in lathe work, turning spindles and legs. My
lathe is an old Craftsman that someone gave me years ago and I had to fit
it with a motor and had to construct a tool rest for it. It has a
relatively short bed, about 30 inches but will do what I want, at least
for the short term.

My question is this. What's the trick to turning around the edge grain?
Say you have an octagonal blank that you want to leave octagonal for a
short distance on the end. You want to turn the rest of the octagon round
and I don't really have a problem with that. It's at that transition from
the rounded part to the octagonal part where I have trouble. You're
basically cutting the end grain as you transition up to the octagon. I'm
using a gouge right now but occasionally it wants to grab and cut a chunk
out that's hard to repair. The same thing seems to happen when trying to
cut beads or other transitions from smaller diameter to larger diameter.
I've worked my chisels over with an oil stone followed by a very fine
aluminum oxide stone and they seem good and sharp to me.


You want to cut down grain, as you know, as that means you have the support
of uncut wood under what you're cutting.

Standard approaches include:

Mark the corners and make saw kerfs with the lathe off. Like a stop cut in
carving, it keeps you from overrunning and splintering out.

Use the tip of a skew, tip down, to start the shoulder. Pretty much the
same principle as the saw.

Cove with your gouge and then sneak back toward your desired transition
point, using standard nose and rolling motions.

It's a "pommel" cut. http://www.alanlacer.com/Videos.html First video.
http://www.channelislandswoodturners.org/SBattyDEMO.htm

Thanks for all of the input. I think I've figured out what a big part of my
problem is. I've been using the roughing gouge for this operation. My
roughing gouge is basically sharpened straight across with little fingernail
grind of the cutting edge. It's that corner that's catching. When I switch
to the shaping gouge, which has a considerable fingernail grind of the
sharpened edge, it's not grabbing unless I get careless. Always cutting
downhill is also a key thing.

"HarryS" wrote in message
news:7kEQf.611353$084.348848@attbi_s22...
I'm just getting started in lathe work, turning spindles and legs. My
lathe is an old Craftsman that someone gave me years ago and I had to fit
it with a motor and had to construct a tool rest for it. It has a
relatively short bed, about 30 inches but will do what I want, at least
for the short term.

My question is this. What's the trick to turning around the edge grain?
Say you have an octagonal blank that you want to leave octagonal for a
short distance on the end. You want to turn the rest of the octagon round
and I don't really have a problem with that. It's at that transition from
the rounded part to the octagonal part where I have trouble. You're
basically cutting the end grain as you transition up to the octagon. I'm
using a gouge right now but occasionally it wants to grab and cut a chunk
out that's hard to repair. The same thing seems to happen when trying to
cut beads or other transitions from smaller diameter to larger diameter.
I've worked my chisels over with an oil stone followed by a very fine
aluminum oxide stone and they seem good and sharp to me.

Maybe some of you experience lathe folks could give me a tip.

Harry

"HarryS" wrote in message
news:fXYQf.613270$084.289972@attbi_s22...
Thanks for all of the input. I think I've figured out what a big part of
my problem is. I've been using the roughing gouge for this operation. My
roughing gouge is basically sharpened straight across with little
fingernail grind of the cutting edge. It's that corner that's catching.
When I switch to the shaping gouge, which has a considerable fingernail
grind of the sharpened edge, it's not grabbing unless I get careless.
Always cutting downhill is also a key thing.


If you hadn't rounded the edge of your roughing gouge, you could have used
it on its side like a big parting tool. Takes some fairly large cojones,
though, unless you've got experience.