crosscut blanks

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penbros

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i just tried to turn a crosscut zebrawood pen, 1st time and my last unless antone has a solution for me. The blanks caame in the mail and i was stunned by the color and figure of the end-grain and thought "this will be great". The blanks cut and drilled and trimmed great, i thought i was in for a treat[:D. I began to turn it and to my suprise after about 3 minutes of turning a big CRACK SNAP! a big chunk came out of one corner and i thought" oh well it was just cuz it was in the rough" good thing it wasnt down to the bushings.It took at least 25 minutes to turn the blank to 1/32 of an inch to the bushingd and still needed to come down in the middle to flow with the ends. about 4 minutes after that the tool grabbed the wood and pulled off a 3/8 of an inch square piece down to the brass[V]. i stopped the lathe and i felt it, it was horrid and the bumps all over the pen were undesireable. I just had to give up. I really would like to finish it does anyone have any suggestions for me?
also is every crosscut blank like this?

it would really be a beautiful pen if it was finished
 
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Firefyter-emt

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Yea, they can be a pain.. I myself have found that a freshly sharp tool and a low speed combined with a blaank that has been rounded either on a band saw kig or a belt sander helps a lot..
 

wdcav1952

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Not to disagree, but I have more problems with catches when I turn at slow speed. My thoughts are to use a very sharp tool, and a light touch at full speed. You also should consider stopping and using thin CA to stabilize the blank at regular intervals during the turning process.

Yes, cross or angle cut blanks can give wonderful results, but if you are new to turning, you probably should get more experienced prior to turning them.

FWIW,
 

Dario

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I am with William on this 100%, I too turn fast (not max but usually the 2nd or 3rd to the last setting of my Jet 1236)

The slower the lathe the more problem with tearout you can get. Sharp tool is a must and take light cuts. Usually, I am taking hair like shavings as I near the final cut. CA treatment nearing final cut does help a lot. With cross-cut or biased cut you may want to stop earlier and start sanding sooner than usual [:D].
 
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Dario and William have good advice. I also find the chance of tearout is lessened if you cut from the end of the blank towards the center rather than from the center towards the end. I also take the "corners" off the blank with the band saw (sander works well too) before turning.
 

vick

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as a note I love the look of cross cut blanks but the wood is alot weaker, some woods like zebra wood that is not very strong to begin with can be especially troublesome.

Not sure of your turning experience but x-cut is definately not something I would recommend to a new turner. Not sure what tools you are using but I have had better luck with a sharp skew then any other tool.

I agree with the advice you have already been given especially use the highest speed you are conformable and cut from the ends towards the midle of the blank if possible. I you are using a skew make sure that you are cutting at about 2/3 down the tooledge. When cutting with the skews bottom point on the x-cut blank I get more tear out and chipping.
 

penbros

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well ill look to try out fast speed sharp tool and cut the corners off(too lazy right now). also i think it might be my tool. its like a cross between a bowl gouge and a roughing gouge. when u look at the cutting edge from the front of a roughing gouge it has the arc of this smiley face[:)]
bowl gouge=[;)]
my tool=[^]

also my brother sharpens the tool so there is 2 bevels
is that right?
 

penbros

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ive been turning since october 2005

why skew?

ive only used that twice, i dont like it. sometimes the point gets into the wood and pulls off a chunk and with the amount of material u have for error is very small in a pen, but ill have to learn some time[V]

what tool does everybody here use?
 

wdcav1952

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Originally posted by penbros
<br />thats a spirit raiser


jk

Practice on scrap wood. Also, if you have a round nose scraper, try that. They are a breeze to sharpen and do (for me at least) a good job of reduction. I still use a skew to smooth and finish my tool work.
 

penbros

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well.... i tried it and it worked well. I didnt have the time to cut the corners off so i knocked them off with the skew. not quite cylindrical but it already looks great and isnt bumpy
u guys were right

thanks[:D]
 

mick

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I'll echo William ....I start with a round nose scrapper and finish with a 3/4 inch skew...I won't use anything else since learning to use it! Also ditto on the faster speed I turn all my pens,X cut or otherwise this way. Reduces tearouts. IMHO
 

Fangar

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All good recommendations. One thing though that has not been pointed out that will definately cause issues.

Like someone mentioned, the cross cut grain creates a very weak blank. Drill trhough that and you can see that the problem is compounded. It is essential that you obtain a good brass tube scuff and glue covergae when working with cross cuts and also really punky or extreme burls. A straight grained blank has much more strength. You can often get away with poor CA (or whatever glue you use) coverage as the portions glued will support those that were overlooked.

Lastly, be sure that your blanks are milled properly. If a blank is not square, it is possible that one of the bushings is contacting the wood at a strange angle, causing pressure across the blank.

Keep at it...

Fangar
 

kf4knf

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Your blank might not be entirely wasted. Could you take 1/2 and inch off the end of the blank and replace it with a small piece of ebony and make it look like a soft grip just outta wood?

Zebra and ebony sound like a nice pair!

Hope that discription makes sense.
 

wdcav1952

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Originally posted by huntersilver
<br />William you use the scraper rather than a gouge to rough out
your blank? I may try this sometime, never really got the hang of the
scraper though.

Michael, my el cheapo Harbor Freight set of turning tools includes a round nose scraper (I think half inch size) I started using it since you only sharpen the flat size, and it really does a good job for me reducing the blanks to near finished size. I keep a diamond card sharpener next to the lathe, and swipe the scraper a few times on it and it cuts well.

FWIW,
 

penbros

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awe i really never thought about that. but i would use a wood other than ebony because the center band is black. maybe redheart, padauk or bloodwood. THANKS!

any sugestions?[8D]
 

penbros

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Originally posted by wdcav1952
<br />
Originally posted by huntersilver
<br />William you use the scraper rather than a gouge to rough out
your blank? I may try this sometime, never really got the hang of the
scraper though.

Michael, my el cheapo Harbor Freight set of turning tools includes a round nose scraper (I think half inch size) I started using it since you only sharpen the flat size, and it really does a good job for me reducing the blanks to near finished size. I keep a diamond
card sharpener next to the lathe, and swipe the scraper a few times on it and it cuts well.

FWIW,

woah thats what tool set i have!

they do work though
 

penbros

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the back half is now finished and looks like heaven. i finished it with only carnuba wax and it shines like a car!it also makes the long grain of the zebrano look kind of metalic. i didnt put any oil on it because i thought it would look very unbalanced since the end grain soaks up more oil. one cool thing about the zebrano its that since it is cross-cut there are no cross-grain scratches! wish i could say the same for the padauk[:(]

it is over all very very nice! a couple of blemishes like a small gouge in the transition from zebrano to padauk and a nick that is covered by the clip and the cross-grain scratches on the padauk.

i may post a picture!
thanks again on the idea kf4knf!
 

Firefyter-emt

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Hmm, strange.. I guess I was wrong about the low speed. I tried it like that on some angle cut cocobolo and I managed to get it to turn before kicking it up to a higher speed. I blew up 3 in a row on the higher speed. Have to keep that in mind the next time.
 

penbros

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oop one more thought. When i sanded the pen it got real hot i put water on it and then i realized that that would only raise the grain thus makeing it rough, so i just went on with it and it got hot and hotter BURNING UR ON FIRE!!![}:)]
ok the point is i wanted to know if anyone thought it would crack?

i hope not

also how do u post a picture if it is 1200 somethings i dont remember what they were called and needs to be 90. how do i make it from 1200 to 90. i really want u to see my half pen

i will finish it tomorrow ... i think
 

OSCAR15

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I have only tried one crosscut blank as of yet....
I used <b>a lot</b> of 5 minute epoxy on the tubes, razor sharp chisels (gouge to start, skew to finish). It was beyond any doubt, the hardest piece of wood I have turned. Chisels were difficult to keep on the wood. Tearout was a problem, so I left it at least 1/16th proud of bushings, and brought it down rest of way by sanding. Nevertheless, the results make it worth it! Sorry for the lousy photo. Mediocre camera, Worse photographer.

2006616112613_P1010176.jpg
<b></b><b></b><u></u>

2006616113347_P1010174.jpg
 

joeatact

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http://www.trade80.com/JCP/photogallery/photo00025353/liveoak2.jpg

This one is my favorite cross cut. From a live oak tree in my back yard. Sharp tools was a must. Took
twice as long to cut but looks great compaired to one cut with the grain.

http://www.trade80.com/JCP/projects/small_limbs.htm

Worth the effort.
 

wdcav1952

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Originally posted by penbros
<br />oop one more thought. When i sanded the pen it got real hot i put water on it and then i realized that that would only raise the grain thus makeing it rough, so i just went on with it and it got hot and hotter BURNING UR ON FIRE!!![}:)]
ok the point is i wanted to know if anyone thought it would crack?

i hope not

also how do u post a picture if it is 1200 somethings i dont remember what they were called and needs to be 90. how do i make it from 1200 to 90. i really want u to see my half pen

i will finish it tomorrow ... i think

Check out Russ Fairfield's site. http://www.woodturnerruss.com/ He has more wisdom there than you can imagine. Heat build up during sanding is a common cause for stress on the wood that leads to cracking, sometimes sooner, sometimes later. Try to avoid heat build up when sanding.
 

OKLAHOMAN

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I agree with the fasted speed you are comfortable with and sharp tools, Just got a wolverine and don't know how I turned without it.........[:D]
 
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