Line of Fire???

[Doug M Jones]

I've seen several posts that advise you to stay out of the "line of fire" when turning bowls. What position would that be? I have a Jet Mini and the desire for a larger machine but it may be difficult to convince LOML that I need more horsepower if I have a bowl imbedded somewhere in my anatomy.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Doug.....the line of fire...in my opinion is directly perpendicular to the project you are turning. I hope that makes sense..

In another feeble attempt to communicate this....if you are turning a bowl, the rotation is such that if it explodes it could throw pieces in a circurlar pattern perpendicular to the bed of the lathe....

[Jim Becker]

Unfortunately, the advise to "stay out of the line of fire" is something nearly impossible to apply some of the time when working a piece...you have to stand where you are balanced and able to comfortably handle the tool for the cut, and often that is in front of the spinning piece of wood. That's why all rough shaping should be done between centers, IMHO, so there is extra support for the workpiece...and why safety protection items, such as full face shields plus safety glasses are not optional. Trust me, a little lathe can throw a hunk of wood just as well as a big lathe. Your body will not care...it still hurts!

[Robert McGowen]

Case in point. I had to go to the doctor last week, as a part of the rim on a mesquite bowl broke off. I never saw it coming. I was out of "the line of fire" except for the hand holding the tool. A piece hit the back of my hand so hard that I thought it broke my hand. After swelling up overnight, I went to the doctor to find that it wasn't broken, but was VERY infected already from the wood penetrating the skin. The lathe. A Jet mini of course!

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Coincidently, I finally got around to relocating my control box on my VB. For a couple of years, I’ve been reaching around whatever was on the lathe to the control box which was attached just below the headstock spindle. With big stuff mounted, I would have to walk around, not just reach around. I’m thinking now, “what a dummy”, I could have done that the first week that I had the lathe. Like Jim said, it’s not always possible to remain out of the "line of fire", but there’s no reason to tempt fate.

[George Tokarev]

I've seen several posts that advise you to stay out of the "line of fire" when turning bowls. What position would that be? I have a Jet Mini and the desire for a larger machine but it may be difficult to convince LOML that I need more horsepower if I have a bowl imbedded somewhere in my anatomy.

Something dislodging itself from the piece being turned, like bark or the chunk from a revealed split will pretty much fling perpendicular to the axis of rotation. Unless it meets another object, then it's angle of incidence, and so forth.

A total dismount is another matter. Use your toolrest for a shield, locating it in close and over center a tad so that it takes the main blow and deflects downward. I much prefer the safety of a pin chuck to spur centers, even when the spur center is fitted into a counterbore to help with lateral movement. I even keep a bowl between centers when hollowing it out, and for "forms," a steady is a good stabilizing influence.

Almost impossible to keep your steady hand out of the line of fire, but you can hide it pretty well behind the rest, placing knuckles only at risk. With a deeper piece you may find your wrist inside the danger zone, but no reason for putting your face or your direction hand in there. Handles and tools are generally long enough.

[Joe Tonich]

A total dismount is another matter. Use your toolrest for a shield, locating it in close and over center a tad so that it takes the main blow and deflects downward.

I dunno, George. If you put your toolrest above center, I'm thinking you would have to put your gouge in a downward direction to make curls. You have a catch and it would drive the gouge further into the wood, resulting in a bigger nastygram, as I see it.

Also, with the direction of rotation, the blank would climb the rest, or bounce upward, least that has been MY experience. Never had one bounce into the lathe....but a few launched over my rest and hit me or the wall/ceiling behind me.

Maybe my thinking is flawed, I dunno, but your advice sounds dangerous to me. Having the toolrest close is a good thing, but having the top of the toolrest above center is asking for trouble.

[George Tokarev]

No need to think, take a look. http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...TrueBottom.flv

The gouge is shaped like this ( so below its center is what makes curls.

When you're cutting above center you also get a downward vector to go with forward. This, with the additional protection of the rest, was enough to keep the kids from hurting themselves when they tried to muscle their way around.

I think that may be one of the reasons that the traditional toolrest slopes out like \ , is to allow you to get close but over and close but under.

[Joe Tonich]

Well........guess your still in the 'roughing gouge to turn bowls' mode. A roughing gouge is presented differently than a bowl gouge. Not gonna argue, but I think I'll stick with the 45deg rule using a bowl gouge.

IJMHO......but I still think your gonna hurt someone with your advice one day, especially someone who has never held a gouge before and doesn't know what to expect.

Doug.......listen to Jim.......you'll never be out of the way 100% of the time. He gave you some good advice.