Turning cumberland

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csb333

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Apr 11, 2005
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Nashville, TN, USA.
I am having a hard time making my barrel smooth on cumberland rod. I use only a bowl scraper. Is this the problem? I have not tried a skew chisel.
 
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I would say the scraper is your problem... on pens a scraper does not seem to leave as fine a surface as it will on a bowl... especially on acrylics and plastics... I would assume you are getting a rippled surface... if you have not learned to use a skew properly, I would suggest staying a bit proud of the bushings and sanding your way to the final dimension and then going to MicroMesh.. wet sanding to 12000
 
I must be getting old. I swear I thought there was going to be a picture of a cucumber being turned.[:eek:)] I guess I need to dig out my reading glasses now.
 
Having turned a number of ebonite/cumberland pens, I find a gouge and skew work exceptionally well. I haven't tried the scraper as I didn't find it necessary.
 
I use a large scraper for all my resins & cumberland, finish with a skew. You should have no trouble removing any marks from the cumberland as it is pretty hard rubber and polishes up real nice.
 
It is hard to get a clean cut with a scraper. When the cut is made with a dull tool it tears the wood leaving a rough appearance or even pits in the wood. A scraper by design is not a sharp cutting instrument. I would definitely stick with a bowl gouge. The sharper you keep your tools, the sharper your work will look.
 
I recently purchased a 1" round nose scraper for turning antler and it works like a dream. Easiest tool I own to sharpen too. I tried it on burl this weekend and it worked better than a gouge or a skew. Guess I'll become a "pen scraper." I haven't tried it on acrylics yet but I probably will.
 
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