In this video you see all the turning including some quick and easy decoration on the base, sanding and finishing, chucking, and how I deal with a couple of careless catches.
Beautifully simple plate done by a master turner. I am 3 years into my wood turning journey and continually learn from each of your videos. Thank you for sharing your expertise.
I made a shear scraper with a notch like yours and really appreciate how easy it is to decorate the bottom of a bowl or plate. Thanks for sharing, Richard.
I really enjoy watching you develop the design as the piece takes shape. It is really instructive hearing why you make the various design choices that you make.
Your videos just get better. As a learner I really appreciate your comments on tool presentation and rest height. Also your camera and lighting really show the angle of the flute, where as wirh other uploaders the bright light just reflects off the the tool and you can't see the flute. I keep learning!!
What I enjoy most about you and Tomaslav is the simple tools you use that are basic and what you are able to do so much with without fancy gadgets. Your beeswax oil finish is often your go to finish but I wonder is there any other finish if it's an art piece that you know will just be looked at that you would want to use just to feel a little more built up?
For me, the advantage of an oil/beeswax finish is that when utilitarian bowls are washed the finish comes off, after which a patina develops with use as it does on a wood chopping or serving board, wooden plate, wooden salad bowl, or cup. On pieces that won’t get wet, the oil/beeswax is a good base for ongoing care and regular polishing that can build to a glossy patina in a few months. My observation is that hard finishes and sealers eventually crack, look terrible, and need refurbishing, whereas my bowls tend to look better with age, use, and ongoing care.
Thanks again Richard for your videos, I’ve never seen you use a bottom bowl gouge, would be interested in your thoughts. I must admit I don’t use them myself.
The steep bevels on the right wing of my asymmetric gouges let me cut right into centre, but generally I feel I have more control of the shape across the bottom third of the inside of a bowl using scrapers. When the grain refuses to be scraped clean I'll use a gouge, but I try to select blanks that don't present such problems.
Very nice as usual. It amazes me how efficient your dust collection is. Is it the design of your Collector hood? or do you have a really big system, like 2HP?
Open-grained timber usually needs an oil to fill the pores, where beeswax is all that's required on dense timbers. I'm not interested in hard shiny surfaces.
A lovely bowl Richard, I'll be interested to try out the rice bran oil. Sorry if I missed it, but what size are those big jaws? They look really useful.
Can you describe your view when it comes to the rim? Shape? Feel? Angles? I think you've said it before but I can't find it. Also, why don't you power sand the outside of your bowls?
On a utilitarian bowl I like a rim to feel good as well as look good, so no sharp edges. Aso, sharp edges tend to break easily. Commercially, plates and bowls without a well-defined inner lip on the rim are far more difficult to sell, suggesting that people feel that food is likely to fall from plates and bowls without a defined working space. So I usually go for a well-defined detail that defines the working area of the bowl or plate. On a plate this can be as simple as a small groove that does nothing to contain anything, but works visually and psychologically. Here the shallow cove on the rim makes for a better defined inner lip. Sanding: sanding disks are far more expensive than cloth backed abrasives, so I power sand only when and where there's a real benefit, and that's mostly on the inside of bowls, especially controlling the curve into centre where it's very easy to let a bump develop when hand sanding. Power takes care of that.
