I thought I knew how to turn bowls.

[Reed Gray]

Day one of a 3 day workshop with Stewart and Allen Batty. As a primarily self taught bowl turner, I was very surprised at how much I learned in one session with Stewart. This will change a lot of things I do. First thing to go will be the Ellsworth sharpening jig. The hand sharpened gouges, not swept back work so much better. I still have to figure out if my scrapers will rough out faster than a gouge though.

Tomorrow is with Allen. I use a skew just enough to get the hang of it then it sits for a few months, and I don't quite have to start over.

Day 3 hand chased threads, and review.

Probably my biggest gloat to date.

robo hippy

[Brian McInturff]

Must be nice!!
So are the gouges more blunted? Have you seen how Johannes Mickelsen sharpens his? His has a rolled bevel. Almost catch proof.

[Chris Rae]

First thing to go will be the Ellsworth sharpening jig. The hand sharpened gouges, not swept back work so much better

Do you mean sharpened like a traditional bowl gouge rather than a fingernail, Irish, or Ellsworth grind?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Reed - glad to hear you are enjoying the classes! Looking forward to hearing more about it once you have more time! Have fun!

[Craig Powers]

Reed,
Where are you taking the classes?

[Judy Kingery]

Reed,

That's outstanding! One of the most enjoyable workshops I ever attended was a front-row seat with Stuart Batty, learned a lot AND he was such fun as well! Enjoy your time and tell us more as you go along!

Jude

[Jim Kountz]

Sounds like a good time to me!! Keep posting and let us know everything ok!!

[Mark Norman]

I was also wondering if a scraper would be a safer way to rough out and reduce catches. Just one catch can ruin a piece and yer whole day..

Man, I need to attend a class before I start developing bad habits..

[Norm Zax]

RH,
You are now officially no longer a self taught turner, but all for the best.
A personal request: after practicing threads, please give us a condensed version of what tools where introduced and even more important, what is the tool of choice for this function.
Enjoy!

[David Walser]

Reed,

Your learning from among the best. I've not met or seen Alan in person, but I have watched and learned a lot from his videos. His son may be the best demonstrator I've every had the privileged to watch. I can only drool with envy at the chance to attend a class put on by the two of them.

Please do report back!

[Steve Mawson]

I would like a picture of before and after on the gouges. Trying to decide how mine should be sharpened. Love to hear more on the classes. Keep us updated.

[Reed Gray]

Most of the information I am taking in is stuff I kind of already know, but can't really describe. I haven't practiced enough to really know and understand it. The grind is more the traditional grind, 40 degree bevel, and 40 degree sweep, and relieved bevel on the back. Mostly it is the push cut, which I have always done, but used a shear cut to clean it up. Now, I can cut a lot cleaner, but more practice is needed. Also, when bowl turning, the left hand isn't on the tool rest. Makes a big difference in 'feeling' what the tool is doing. I have known for a while that you don't 'ride' the bevel, but gently 'rub' it.

Stewart did claim that he could rough faster than me with a gouge. It would be fun to take that challenge. The down side to using the scraper is that you don't get the practice with the gouge, but I can never clean up the bowl with one pass with a gouge, at least not on the inside of the bowl. Outside, yes, after final shaping with a scraper.

The thread chasing was fun as well. Allen was telling a lot of stories as well and got side tracked a bit from what we were doing, but the stories were great and again, I learned a lot. Hand chasing threads isn't that difficult. Mostly it is having the right tools. The chasers/cutters, need to be beveled back a bit, 75 degrees or so. If the face with the cutters is flat, they don't cut worth beans, and of course, the one I picked up to try was like that. Outside cutter, inside cutter and support/hook tool to hold the inside cutter, and a small tool with a hook in it to get a relief cut on the inside so the chaser doesn't run into the bottom of the box and tear up the threads because it stops advancing. It would take a bit of practice to get good at it, but not really any more difficult than using the McNaughton coring system. The best wood we have here is Mountain Mahogany, and for some reason, no one grows box wood here. Great stuff, but not much color.

Workshop is in Independence Oregon, just south of Salem, and about 55 miles from me.

robo hippy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Reed sounds like you are having fun and learning. Mike Mahoney uses a conventional gouge also for his final cuts on a bowl. I saw him demo and he put me onto that. He suggested buying a P & N conventional grind and putting a 40 to 45 deg bevel on it with really no swept back wings. It seriously changed my sanding from 60 and 80 grit to starting at 120 or 150.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Can one (or both) of you elaborate on how that change in the gouge grind makes for a smoother finish cut? And do either of you have pictures that you can post? As a reference, how does it compare to the stock grind on a Thompson?

thanks, Jake

[John W Dixon]

Reed I'm jealous of ya! Glad you are enjoying the class.

John