Bowl Coring System

[Radek Kowalski]

Hey Creekers,
I have started to turn more and more green wood and while wood shavings isn't an issue I have recently started to think about saving the center. A couple days ago I got a good ammount of maple and I can make around 20 12-18" bowls. With the coring system, I am thinking I can make 3 bowls out of each one of those, so anywhere from 50-70 bowls total!

In the past when I only had one or two logs, spending the money on a coring system was not worth it, but when I think about an extra possible 40+ bowls I am starting to reconsider.

The issue is I have a Jet 14-42. Oneway does not sell a 14" swing coring system. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks.

Radek

[Reed Gray]

I don't know if the Oneway system will fit on your lathe or not. You could call them and ask. They have one for 16 inch and bigger lathes, and one for 12 inch lathes which has only one knife. The McNaughton would be your best bet here as far as I am concerned, but it does have a learning curve. You could get the Woodcut system, but the largest diameter core you can take is about 11 inches, which for me is just too small. If you are planning to core 18 inch bowls on your lathe, I am not sure how you will be able to do that. If you pivot the head, the Oneway system will not work as it doesn't fit onto your banjo. Also, your lathe, I think, has a 1 hp motor which while it will work, it is a bit minimal for coring. I have a number of posts on this forum reviewing the 3 bowl coring systems.

robo hippy

[Jeff Nicol]

I have to agree with Reed on this one. The Mcnaughton system is very versitle and will work on just about anything! If you can get a demo from someone or watch Reed's video or Mike Mahoney's it will tell you what you need to know about the McNaughton system. The bowl saver may work but not sure on it.

Jeff

[Rick Hutcheson]

I have a page set up on my web site about the Macnaughten. At the bottom of the page is a short video.
http://www.scrollsaws.com/WoodLathe/Mcnaughton.htm
The reason I went to it was because I ahd some large walnut to make bowls. The best wood is the center of the log but the bigg bowls will have some sap wood in them. Makes sence to save the best bowls instead of turning them into shavings on the floor. This was one log that you would have normally made the 2 large bowls. Now I made 4 extra bowls witht the nice grain.

[Ryan Baker]

I also agree with the McNaughton choice. For those with a 14" lathe, it's pretty much the only option anyway.

Speaking of the Mahoney DVD ... he has an "updated" version of his McNaughton coring system DVD out now. Does anybody know what in it is different than the old one? Is this just a redo to show the Mark 8 hardware?

[Steve Kubien]

McNaughton is not the only option. There is the Woodcut. This thing seems to get a bad-rap because of its size limitations but in this case, it would be just about perfect and without the learning curve of the McNaughton. Dead simple to learn and set up. I really like mine and the only reason I would have for going to the Oneway would be if I had a larger lathe to make better use of it.

Just my opinion.
Steve

[Reed Gray]

The Woodcut will work, but if you are pivoting the headstock, it won't. With the Woodcut, you have to hook the back side of it up to your tailstock, and if the head is pivoted, you can't do that. It will work without the tailstock, but you will get a lot of chattering.

robo hippy

[Radek Kowalski]

Ok, Thanks for all the replies so far. I have decided on a McNaughton system just because I can upgrade my lathe futher down the road and keep using the same system.

Which set of blades should I be looking to get?

"The Standard System is designed for use on 12 to 16 inch capacity lathes and allows bowls up to 12" in diameter to be cut from a single block of wood. The Large System is designed for use on heavy 16 to 20 inch capacity lathes, and allows you to remove bowls up to 16" in diameter." Craft Supplies USA

So I guess the large system is out of the picture. Will the standard system do everything I need or should I look into getting a mini or micro system for the small bowls I want to do?

Can I buy the standard system, and then just purchase the larger blades or the smaller blades or do I need to buy the other systems?

Thanks.

[Reed Gray]

Do start with the standard system. You can use it for about 90% of anything you will ever core. The mini and micro systems are more for special burly or exotic woods where you will want to take every single possible core you can out of the piece. For utility bowls, I almost never core anything less than 8 inched in diameter and 3 inches deep. You can add single blades and blade sets later. Do learn to use the standard set before attempting the large set.

robo hippy

[Hilel Salomon]

I have both the McNaughton and Oneway systems and generally agree with the above comments. Oneway makes several knife sets and two of them will do nicely on your lathe. While the McNaughton is more versatile, it requires more torque from your lathe. The Oneway can be used with your tailstock to provide a pretty smooth, very rounded core or group of cores. Personally, when I'm dealing with very dry wood, I usually use the Oneway, while I use the McNaughton with green wood.
The learning curve on the McNaughton is steep compared to that of the Oneway where the knife is always riding on a curved tool rest.
Good luck, Hilel.

[Radek Kowalski]

Reed,
You said you try not to core anything smaller then 8x3". Ok so if you start out with a 12x5" blank, how many bowls can you make? I've read that its 1 bowl for every inch of depth. I will be ordering a system tuesday either way. Thanks.

Does the Standard, Mini, and Large system have the same tool gate?

[Ryan Baker]

The tool post has gates for each of the blade sizes (each type of blade goes into one of the slots between posts) -- so yes, you can just add blades later without upgrading your tool post.

The general rule of thumb is about one core per inch of depth, but that varies with skill level as well as desired outcome. If you are cutting green rough blanks for drying/returning you will obviously cut them thicker than if you are turning green to finish thickness.

You certainly can cut cores smaller than 8" if you want and if you have enough depth in the blank. The really small ones tend to not be very useful from a practical point-of-view. I assume that Reed chooses not to core smaller than 8" because his market doesn't make it worth while for him to bother. YMMV. I prefer to use the mini blades for cores under about 9" or so, because they take a bit lighter cut. The standard set will do what you want and is the right place to start. (Note, get one of the DVDs if you haven't already ... it will save you a lot of learning curve.)

[Reed Gray]

On bowls per blank, one per inch of thickness is optomistic. Figure kerf/width of the cut to be 1/2 inch (cutter is 3/8 wide plus clean up). You want the bottom to be about 1/2 inch thick or so to keep from going through the bottom when you break or cut the core off. They you need a recess or tenon to remount for the next bowl at about 1/8 inch minimum, to 3/16. That is more than an inch. A 12 by 5 inch deep blank is 3 bowls for me. A 6 inch thick blank I can get 4, but some times the 4th one isn't worth it to me.

Smaller production bowls aren't worth the effort to core. You don't save any time, and end up with a lot of small bowls that will sell for about $5, and barely worth the time to turn, sand and finish.

I don't think that the McNaughton takes more hp or torque to cut than any of the other systems, and I have all 3. The problem with the McNaughton is that if it drifts, which it always seems to do, the blade can bind in the cut which creates more friction, which is why we will open up the cut a bit.

robo hippy

[Chris Haas]

i just got the mcn. sys from woodcraft 2 weeks ago. it was the mk 8 sys.

anyways, in my limited experience, i go for 3 bowls. everytime i try for 4, i short change myself on the 3rd and end up with a funnel, or about 1/8th of an inch bottom. it just isnt worth it for a 2 inch bowl. all the blanks i've been using are 12-15 inches. as far as learing curve, i have lost 2 cores so far out of 5 sets. not too bad, considering i still end up with the largest core which is what i would only have if i didnt have the system. keep the tips sharp and the tool handle up. let it cut, dont force it, that has been how i have had the most ease of sucess. good luck, i dont know why i didnt get this system earlier.

[Ryan Baker]

Yeah, I also find that I tend not to bother with the smaller cores, mainly because you run out of depth quickly and they just aren't worth the trouble. Depends on the blank and the desired outcome. I would agree that one core per inch is probably an overly "optimistic" rule-of-thumb.