I turned my first bowl!

[Gizmo3k]

So, I turned my first bowl!

Well, kind of.  It was a bowl until I decided to try and clean up a bit of tearout at the rim, after hollowing it out.  I know have just over half a bowl (still not sure where the other bit went - somewhere over my shoulder!)  I might get my friend to saw it cleanly, then I have a half bowl I can fasten to the wall to hold something 

Still, at least I learned something!

Wile we are on the subject though, how can you avoid tearout around the outside of the rim? Is it just a case of light cuts with sharp tools?

[Les Symonds]

So, I turned my first bowl!
......Wile we are on the subject though, how can you avoid tearout around the outside of the rim? Is it just a case of light cuts with sharp tools?

Well done Gizmo. I can well recall being in the same position as that in which you find yourself now. As for your question, you've guessed the essential part of the answer, but 'd also add that whilst the cut (and therefore the tool pressure) against the bowl needs to be light, you'll need a positive hold on the tool itself, especially holding it onto the tool-rest. Then, of course, there's the issue of exactly how you present the tool to the wood.
I live out on a limb a bit, in the Snowdonia National Park, and didn't know of any other turners around here, so when i started, I had to teach myself, with assistance from books, You Tube and magazines etc. Having said that, I recently visited a professional turner who was kind enough to take me to his workshop and talk me through a few ways of using the bowl gouge. A similar visit to an AWGB member's home resulted in a demo of the use of the skew chisel, and these two experiences proved enormously beneficial. So if you can.....get in touch with a (good) turner local to you, or even go on a course. It really will help. Having said that, if you're anywhere near me, I'd be happy to help.

Keep at it!
Les

[edbanger]

Gizmo3K

I kept my first bowl and look at it every now and then brings a smile to my face because I thought it was so good

Your problem could be the presentation of the tool, it could be the sharpness or it could be the direction of cut.

As Les said find your local club listed on the AWGB website are a lot of AWGB woodturning clubs, but you could also ask at whichever is your nearest woodturning store because there are many more clubs which are not with the AWGB. You would learn a lot from a one day course, or a bit of time from another turner.

If your anywhere near Ashford, Kent I would also be happy to help.

Ed

[Graham]

I am sure that Les and Ed have given you good advice but why not take a photo and put on here, it speaks a thousand words you know 

[seventhdevil]

choice of timber has a good effect on the tearout too as some woods are much worse than others.

[burywoodturners]

I suspect we all have half a bowl somewhere, and not necessarily the first one made! Sharp tools and the right pressure is the way to go, but Mark Baker has shown us how to use a skew as a scraper on a bowl. I have been doing this for years and feeling a bit cautious about admitting it to other turners. But now Mark has demonstrated it has become the 'official' way to go.
If it is good enough for Mark Baker it is good enough for me.
Ron

[Gizmo3k]

It was sycamore. I will try to take a picture soon, the inside was pretty much all done with a round nosed scraper, as I don't have a bowl gouge. It didn't turn out too bad though!

[Bryan Milham]

Gizmo3k,

Another cause could be direction of cut. If you look at a piece of timber spindle-wise, it's easy to say you cut from the outside to the inside - cut high to low - cut down-hill. what that means is as you cut through the fibres, the fibre you are cutting is supported by the fibre (still uncut and therefore longer) underneath it.

Bowls are not so easy, they rotate side grain - end grain - side grain etc., and as it rotates at times (depending inside or outside cut) you will be working 'against the grain', that means cutting longer grain off of shorter grain, hence unsupported and more easily to tear out.

The golden rule is sharpen before you take your last one or two cuts and cut gently, let the tool work through the wood at the speed it wants to cut without being forced.

tear out may still happen but it won't be so bad and a gentle scrape will fix that.