!st and 2nd bowl

[Rchan63]

I decided to broaden my horzions and turn my first bowl last week. Well all I have to say is it is much different from turning pens. lots of different grain pattern. 1st bowl took me about 2 hrs to turn 6"wx2"d and finished with Teak oil. It's what I have on hand at the moment.


I decided to turn a 2nd bowl again same size. I needed to make one last smoothing cut, light as a feather. BAM the bowl went in all different directions. Good thing I have a full face shield on as my face was only inches away when it blew up. Did I mention I FORGOT to put on the face shield and turned 99% of the bowl( I'm a dumb ars).
Lesson learn is always use eye and face protection.

 

[brownsfn2]

LOL. When I looked at your second bowl I could not help but smile! I am sorry to smile at your misfortune but this is exactly what happened to me as well on my second bowl. It is so frustrating because you get so close to the end.

Your first one is really nice for a first bowl. Much better than I did. Very well done!

 

[Rchan63]

Thanks, that was a piece of ribbon mahogany from the scrape pile. I was more upset wasting 2hrs than the bowl blowing up. But it did make me jump back some.

 

[Haynie]

I would say most folks have learned the hard way to keep a full face shield on. My lesson came when a piece of acrylic chipped out and went UP my nose. Hurt like hell and bled a lot. Don't knock the teak oil. I like the look

As someone who plans to turn bowls at some point what do you think happened to the second that caused the explosion?

 

[TerryDowning]

Been there done that, a few times!

It's always that one last pass to make it perfect!! Latest blow apart was a 5 inch oak bowl with fairly substantial walls as it had a natural edge opening in the side (that's where I caught an edge)

Oak shatters!! and it happens really fast!!

You're so right about grieving the time lost rather than the material lost. I waited months for that blank to dry and finish turning.

 

[InvisibleMan]

Definitely face shield for me when turning larger chunks! I had a pepper mill split in half with only glasses on. Got nailed right on and above my left eye. Hurt like a bugger, but no lasting damage. Would've spent less time evaluating my long-term viability had I been wearing a full face shield.

 

[Fred]

Nice first bowl.

Looking at the remains of the second bowl it looks to me like the bottom is extremely thin. Possibly the stress of turning caused the smallest of fractures to release and the piece self destructed.

One thing I have learned over the years is to ALWAYS have a solid tenon or such for the chuck to hold solid and hold tight. Light touches or not, IF the bottom is cut thin then things tend to go wrong due to centrifugal forces going outward to the outside rim. This is the same thing as the balance of your vehicles tires at high speed.

If the piece is not in 'balance' as it turns then bad things can and do happen. If you must remove the workpiece from the lathe, always mark the position of the piece on the chuck. When replacing the piece on the lathe position this 'mark' in the same place. Many problems can be eliminated if you do this. I use four jaw chucks (Nova) and simply use a pencil to mark he bowl in relation to the center of the number one jaw.

Might I suggest that you re-piece your broken bowl and examine the bottom thickness all around the bowl. If it is too thin ... then there might lie your problem(s). If it is turning out of round, then the thickness will vary and trouble is brewing and the end results are pretty much the same as what has already happened.

Mot of all, DO NOT GIVE UP as this can happen to us all. Always wear face protection as none of us look good with a piece of wood embedded in our faces.

 

[Rchan63]

You are 100% correct Fred, I was pushing the envelope with my limited skills. I notice the bottom of the bowl was getting translucent. Light was passing through from the lamp mounted on the lathe. I was hoping I would finish one last cut by supporting the back while cutting. Starting from the bottom I reached about 1/2 inch from the lip of the bowl that's when it blew up.