Thinking about getting into turning wood

[crazyal]

So I'm looking into getting a full size lathe for turning bowls mostly. After a decade of just burning the trees on my property I though I would try something new. Has anyone got experience in cutting blacks for turning? I watched a few videos that show how to cut out the pith and while my Dolmar has no problem making the cut the cover over the clutch gets packed with the shavings. Last weekend I had a yellow birch that was about 20" in diameter. After the second cut the shavings actually bound up the saw forcing me to shut it off and remove them. I suppose it could be done without shutting off the saw but I'm not about to go down that road. I had a little more luck with alternating between cutting across the face and the end and slowing down but it still left a lot of shavings under the cover.

For those who have never done it here's a picture I found on the internet. You can clearly see the way they cut the log and all the shavings (and how long they are) on the ground. I was just wondering if anybody has some experience doing this and some advice.

 

[crazyal]

Looks like there's not many (none) people here who turn bowls on a lathe with wood they cut. I had a cherry tree that the wind snapped last fall. It wasn't that large, 16" maybe, but it's too nice to just turn into firewood. So I practiced cutting more bowl blanks. By placing the round on top of a large flat rock with a piece of wood between them to protect the chain it worked much better. the shavings had lots of places to go so the chain wouldn't try to pull them around the clutch and split them back out on top of the bar. I made 15 blanks and had a pile of shavings about 3 feet high and 4 feet wide.

 

[4570Man]

I turn a few bowls from wood I cut. I cut the blanks with a chainsaw pretty much as described above. Then I cut a circle from that on the bandsaw.

 

[ericm979]

If you do a lot more, ripping chain will make those cuts go faster. Baileys' sells some inexpensive ripping chain (made by Carlton). I got some for ripping large Eucalyptus rounds into manageable size. For that it was about twice as fast as regular cross cut chain.

 

[4570Man]

If you do a lot more, ripping chain will make those cuts go faster. Baileys' sells some inexpensive ripping chain (made by Carlton). I got some for ripping large Eucalyptus rounds into manageable size. For that it was about twice as fast as regular cross cut chain.

I thought ripping chain was for cutting across the end grain of the wood such as a chainsaw mill. He's cutting with the grain. A practice often called noodling at least on here.

 

[crazyal]

I've got a Dolmar 7900 so it cuts with ease. It's just the actual shavings that amazed me just how quickly they add up. It also amazed me just how flammable they are. Even green they light up like crazy. I've seen people who fish using their hands call it noodling, never heard it before when it comes to sawing. However a quick search and it seams people use the term because of the shape of the shavings. Interestingly enough those who talk about it say the same thing, keep your saw up otherwise they will bind your saw up because the saw can't spit them out.

I was thinking of picking up a Harbor Freight 14" band saw and adding a riser block. I've seen people who say keep an eye on Criag's list but I'm thinking unless it's in a box it's more likely than not that it's one of the poorly built saws (anything from HF is kind of a cr^pshoot but at least if it's real bad you can return it) and the owner just gave up trying to get it to work correctly. Around here anything on Criag's list goes for near retail anyway. My neighbor is a real woodworker so I do have access to much larger band saws if needed. He doesn't have a lathe though but knows people who do so he's looking for a good deal for me. I hate to invest too much into this until I know if I'll even like doing it. I just hate it when I cut a tree that looks like it could be something much nicer than firewood. I avoid cutting cherry, beech, and sugar maples. I have had a guy come up with a band mill but I just don't have a reason to cut many so I really can't justify the cost.

 

[4570Man]

Wood turning isn't a cheap hobby. The lathe and bandsaw is the cheapest part of the operation.

 

[John_Mc]

That type of cutting is commonly referred to in forestry/logging circles as "noodling". Some saws handle it better than others. It's not a matter of power, it's a matter of how the clutch and clutch cover are laid out. You can help the situation by not cutting with the saw perfectly flat & parallel with the grain: lift the handle up a bit to create an angle with the grain (try 30˚ or so - or vary it until you find the angle that shortens the noodles enough that they don't clog your saw).

 

[GaryM]

I've turned bowls from green wood on my Jet lathe in the past. I never bothered taking off the bark and pith, just turned it off with a big gouge. You will get wet turning green wood. Lots of moisture thrown off in the process.

I liked a live edge where there was some bark and rough edges left. After the finished bowl dries out it will change shape some and get kind of oval instead of round. Then I'd sand the bottom flat so it didn't wobble.

 

[lt190b]

GaryM, don't they crack?