# Couple bowls and a question



## Gixxerjoe04 (Jul 5, 2015)

Made a couple bowls this weekend, one from some box elder and the other maple. The problem I've always had is tear out with the end grain I guess and I assumed that's what happened with the curl in the box elder bowl. Couldn't get it perfectly smooth to save my life with my tool and I use water and sanding sealer to harden the fibers which only works sometimes but usually doesn't get 100% of the tear out cleaned up. I just use carbide, and don't know a thing about traditional tools, do they still cause tear out or is their a certain tool to fix this problem? Tired of sanding the crap out of them to "fix" it.

Reactions: Like 6 | EyeCandy! 7 | Great Post 1


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## Nature Man (Jul 5, 2015)

Bowls are superb! Love the FBE particularly -- and you even used some inlay! End grain is certainly a challenge, but looks like your final product is just fine. Chuck


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## barry richardson (Jul 5, 2015)

Nice wood and bowls Joseph! If you are really good with a bowl gouge and use a shearing cut, you can get a prefect finish on about any thing, and a big part of that is knowing how to sharpen your tools to a very keen edge. But there is quite a learning curve to mastering it (especially the inside curves of a bowl) I'm still learning myself.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## duncsuss (Jul 5, 2015)

This looks great -- FBE with curl is one of the wonders of the world 

Your question re: carbide ... well, there's carbide and there's carbide. If you are talking about the carbide tools that are flat on top, then you're talking about scrapers. One technique to reduce tearout when scraping is to angle the edge of the tool, sometimes called "shear-scraping". It needs to be really sharp -- not the portion of the cutter that you've used to hog out the innards of the bowl so far (that's a blunt edge by now) -- maybe keep a spare cutter on hand purely for this function, or rotate the cutter to an unused portion.

Some carbide tools have an up-turned lip, they are actually cutting tools (not scrapers). Again, you need to rotate the carbide bit to an unused portion to get the sharpest possible edge (or switch to an unused cutter).

In both cases, you have to take incredibly light shavings. If you're getting dust, it means you need a sharper edge. You should aim for translucent fine ribbons.

As Barry said, a freshly sharpened bowl gouge is reckoned to be the best tool -- but it takes experience to get it sharp, and it takes experience to get the tool presentation right. And just like Barry, I'm still on the learning curve.

At the recent symposium in New Hampshire, I talked with Doug Thompson and he told me that a U shaped bowl gouge has an advantage over V shaped gouges for this final smoothing pass on the inside of a bowl. I trust him, and came away with one (okay, that and a spindle gouge I'd been eyeballing ...) but I haven't put it to the test yet.

HTH

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 2


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## ironman123 (Jul 6, 2015)

Good looking bowls. I like them that size.


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## manbuckwal (Jul 6, 2015)

That first one is off the charts with all that figure in Joe. I have only made a cpl small bowls myself, and all the sanding takes a lot of the joy out of it, but when they turn out like yours did, it makes it worth it .


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jul 6, 2015)

I bought the wood from a lumber yard back before Christmas to make some presents. It was freezing cold so wasn't paying attention and just grabbed a few and saw the flame but didn't pay attention to all the curl in the blanks, would have bought more.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jul 6, 2015)

Here's how bad the tear out was on a fbe bowl I did a month or so ago, when it's that bad taking small passes takes forever.


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## Mike Jones (Jul 6, 2015)

Don't feel like the "Lone Ranger" Joseph. Box Elder is often a real challenge to get clean cuts when dry....much easier to work when still green. If you have a bunch of this dry wood, you can try a wood hardener. I got some at my local ACE Hardware called PC Wood Petrifier that worked like a charm.
Your bowls are Sweeeeet!

Reactions: Informative 1


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## APBcustoms (Jul 6, 2015)

box elder gets torn out badly. i got the opportunity to use a bowl gouge at school and learned a sheer cut. it makes a whole world of difference. it still may tear out a little bit but not as badly as carbides do. if you have a round carbide try angling it and doing a shear cut with that it will lessen the tear out but not as well as an bowl gouge


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## DKMD (Jul 6, 2015)

Nicely done! Box elder can be tough, so don't feel bad. You've gotten some great advice so far, so I can't add much. Everybody sands and almost everybody hates it!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## ghost1066 (Jul 7, 2015)

Has anyone mentioned how bad box elder tears out?  You can turn bowls with carbides and many do which is how I started but I finally broke down and bought a bowl gouge and after threatening to throw it out in the yard I finally learned to use it. One big factor with a gouge is you can ride the bevel on you finishing cuts after getting the gouge scary sharp and it can and will produce a slick finish.


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## Jerry B (Jul 8, 2015)

Nice looking bowls, love the grains 

as stated by many above, use a shear cutting (pull cut) to clean up the rough spots, and yes can also be done with carbide tools.
_make sure the carbide is sharp_ or else you're wasting your time.
Also, get some Zinsers Dewaxed Shellac (pinkish colored can), brush it on very liberally, let it dry 15-20 minutes, and turn some more
Sometimes you'll have to use several coats with several cutting passes, but it does work
Water doesn't do any good as it just raises the grain which lays back down when cutting, the shellac seals the wood, and also hardens it

Here's an example showing the Shellac does work, FBE with same tear out issues you have, used the Shellac maybe 5-6 times, applied/dried/turned/re-applied ......
and this was end result (I started sanding this bowl with 220 after final shear scraping)

Reactions: Like 1 | EyeCandy! 1


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## NYWoodturner (Jul 10, 2015)

Joe - Lots af good advice so far. The only thing I would add is use a very low angle approach (Traditional gouges) and increase the speed. The faster the wood is turning the less resistance there is to the cut. 
Scary sharp gouge, Jerrys shellac, low angle approach and a fast speed should make your life a lot simpler


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