Replies

1. 
   DennisS | Oct 29, 2002 02:49am | #1

   I've used ordinary copier paper, 20lb bond and lighter, with pretty good results.

   Do you have a chuck of any kind? You can use a screw chuck on the face that will become the inside, hollow portion of the bowl, turn a spigot or recess into the bottom then reverse chuck the piece to finish hollowing and so forth.

   A good chuck is a great investment if you plan to do much hollow work.

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]

1. 
   Woodcrazy | Oct 29, 2002 07:04pm | #2

   the next step after turning the piece to round, would involve a chuck, as it is now the bottom is round enough to be chucked and finished, i used a scrap piece and drilled a 2" hole with a forstner about 3/8" deep for the chuck to grab the scrap, didn't want to touch the good wood this way, although it can be done.

   i wouldn't have thought paper to be strong enough, maybe the file folder is too thick and shears off easier.

1. 
   DennisS | Oct 29, 2002 10:10pm | #3

   Im my admittedly limited experience thus far, I've found that leaving the recess for an internal chucking fix is a nice design feature. I realize that the current fashion, so to speak, is to avoid or hide all indications of fixings but .... it doesn't bother me.

   You can also turn a spigot, or could in the future, for an external grip to reverse chuck the piece, then when the piece is hollowed out and the rest of the outside is finished, revers it again on a jamb chuck and turn the spigot off between centers down to a just enough of a nubbin that you can carefully pare off with a gouge or really sharp chisel. Don't part it off completely as this tends to tear the grain pretty badly right at the center. Then figure on some serious hand sanding to get the bottom where you want it.

   Use a piece of scrap carpet padding between the work piece and the jamb chuck to avoid maring the inside finish.

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]

1. 
   IanDG | Oct 29, 2002 11:06pm | #4

   I'm turning some small boxes and what I do is to drill a hole into the blank with a 3" Forstner bit then mount the blank on a 3" spigot fixed to a faceplate. I turn the outside and recess the bottom to take an expanding chuck, fix it on the chuck and continue turning the inside to shape.The 3" spigot is drilled to take a screw through the middle and I screw the lid blank on it to turn it so that I have the diameter of the spigot to follow for the tenon on my lid.I fill the screw hole in the underside of the lid and as the inside of the box and the underside of the lid are flocked, nothing shows.

2. 
   GeeSeaWhy | Oct 30, 2002 09:13am | #6

   Here's a page on making a compression chuck to finish off the bowl bottom: http://www.wwforum.com/faqs_articles/bowl_bottom.html.

   It works best on steep-sided bowls, on shallow bowls I found it difficult to get enough of the bottom to stick out so I could get at it.

   Graeme

2. 
   GeeSeaWhy | Oct 30, 2002 08:51am | #5

   How does the glue & file folder joint fail? If one piece of wood comes away clean maybe the card is coated and the glue won't stick. If both wood faces have a paper coating maybe the folder is too thick. I've never used a paper & glue joint but what I've read is any old paper will do, newspaper or brown paper preferably. Don't use anything thick or coated. Clamp the assembly until the glue sets.

   I use the same technique as Dennis for bowls. With my Supernova chuck, 1/4in is the max you need to go for a recess. I "dovetail" it a bit to match the chuck jaws and it hasn't failed yet, despite some vicious catches :-(

   HTH

   Graeme

1. 
   Woodcrazy | Oct 31, 2002 12:28am | #7

   both pieces had folder on them, so probably too thick, normally i would have done a recessed hole for internal chucking, but this base was not thick enough so i opted for a scrap with the folder!!.