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June 2008: Inside This Issue

Welcome to all of our new U.S. and International subscribers and thank you for joining us! This is the nineteenth edition of Lathe Talk, a free monthly newsletter (e-zine) for subscribers of Steve Russell’s "Woodturning Videos Plus" woodturning website. This newsletter will be delivered on or about the first of each month to the email address you indicated on your sign-up form. All back issues of this newsletter are available to subscribers here.

Lathe Talk will offer tips and tricks to make your woodturning easier and more productive. I’ll also show you ways to save money in your studio, so you can stretch your hard earned money. In addition, we will periodically offer subscribers only specials on our videos and e-books. If you like this e-zine, please do a friend and me a favor by forwarding it to them. If a friend DID forward this to you and you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting our subscription page.

New Feature Articles Coming Soon: We are planning to add a new series of feature articles to select editions of Lathe Talk. These will be step-by-step photo articles with captions that show different projects being turned from start to finish. Since there will be so many photos, we will introduce the article in Lathe Talk and give a link to the full article on a special area of our website. This will insure that the email editions of Lathe Talk do not get too large for those subscribers on dial-up, or those who read it on their mobile devices. Look for these special photo articles in the near future!

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Additional $5.00 Discount Off Volume #2 DVD Video, "Turning Elegant Writing Pens": For the month of June 2008, you can save and additional $5.00 off the current sale price of $25.00 on any Volume #2 DVD Video ordered from our website. With this special sale, your price will be $20.00 (plus taxes if you live in Texas) plus postage. The regular price for this video is $35.00.

To access this special offer, enter the coupon code 62508 on the shopping cart page in the coupon box area. Click the "recalculate" button and your discount will show on the screen. Offer ends June 30, 2008 at 12:01 midnight, CST. Additional subscriber only discounts and specials will be offered in future editions of Lathe Talk.

Overview

These waxes all seeped out of
their tins during storage.

Waxes are a popular topcoat finish with many woodturners. They are very easy to apply and offer an extra layer of protection for your woodturnings. Like all finishes however, waxes should be stored in cool, dry place when not in use. Herein lies the rub… Many woodturners have their studios or workshops in garages that lack consistent climate control.

Some may run a window air-conditioner when they're in the studio, but turn it off when they leave for the day. Others have no climate control in their studios at all, which can result in wide temperature fluctuations throughout the day. These temperature fluctuations can cause problems for some stored finishes like waxes.

If you've stored paste waxes before, you might have noticed a bit of seepage coming from around the lid when you pick up the can to use it. Seepage of wax from a sealed tin is known as "wax creep." This seepage can make a real mess in your finish storage area, not to mention causing you to waste some of your expensive finish.

Some waxes seem more susceptible to creep than others. In addition, the specific design of the tin can play a role as well. Here are a few tips to help eliminate wax creep in your studio, so you can keep your wax in the tin until you are ready to use it.

Storage Tips for Paste Waxes

What a mess! You can see how the wax
has seeped from this tin around the lid area.

Heat: It's best to try to store your paste waxes in rooms where the ambient temperatures are less than 85 degrees. If you're like most woodturners who have their studios/workshops in a garage/outbuilding that is not climate controlled, this can present a problem.

In the Houston area where I live, garages without air conditioning can easily reach 100 degrees or more in the summer, especially if there are vehicles parked inside, as the heat from the engine adds a significant amount of heat into the room. Keeping your paste and liquid waxes stored below 85 degrees will help to prevent creeping and will keep your wax ready for use when needed.

Another reason that your wax might creep is due to overfilling at the factory. If the factory overfills your wax tin and it is stored in temperatures above 85 degrees, the resulting expansion of the wax may cause the wax to seep out from under the lid. This condition usually corrects itself when a sufficient quantity of wax is removed from the tin. This is not a hard and fast rule however, as I have had waxes creep when less than 50% of the wax remained in the tin.

Fortunately, my studio is air-conditioned now, so I no longer have a problem with wax creeping. Several years ago when my studio was not air-conditioned, it was a big problem for me. I solved it by storing all of my paste wax tins inside my home, instead of in the studio. Another option might be to store your wax tins in an insulated container, or a basement.

Putting Away Wax Tins After Use: Sometimes when using a paste wax, the inset groove on the rim or the area around the edge of the lid can collect wax residue. Before you replace the lid, take a clean paper towel and wipe the lid and the rim on the can (if it has one), before storing the wax away. Excess wax in the recessed rim or on the edge of the lid may contribute to creeping, so you want to always clean your lid and the top of the tin before replacing the lid.

Another benefit of keeping the lid clean is that it will prevent wax residue from attracting dust and debris. If dust forms around the lid, it can compromise the quality of the wax finish if any of this dirty wax gets on your application pad. I keep my wax tins in a cabinet now, with a sealed door on the front to prevent dust from accumulating. This has worked very well for me for several years. The cabinet keeps the tins clean and ready to use, without any supplemental effort on my part.

Tin Designs

Waxes with screw on lids seem to
experience much less creep than other designs.

Some wax tins seem to be more prone to creeping than others. I've had the best luck with screw on lids, but few paste waxes are available with screw on lids these days, save some English waxes like Renaissance Wax and a few others. Most tins feature some type of press in/friction fit lid, or one that fits inside a recess in the top of the lower portion of the tin.

Semi-liquid waxes with screw on
lids are very resistant to creep.

Tins that feature straight walled sides, with a press in lid (without a recessed channel) and some with a recessed channel have suffered from creep in my studio in the past. Some paste waxes seem to creep easily, others don't creep at all. It can be frustrating! The best advice here is to check your wax tins, open them all up and thoroughly clean the lid and the top of the tin with a clean paper towel. If necessary, use an appropriate solvent to insure a clean mating surface on the upper lid and top of the tin.

When properly stored, most paste
waxes will not experience creep.

Once every tin is clean, store them away again. The next time you use a wax, check for any creep around the lid. If you cleaned them all as mentioned above and you see wax seeping out from around the lid on one, chances are that your wax is creeping. Try storing it in a cooler location and see if that helps. Most of the time, this (in addition to keeping the rim clean) will solve your problems.

Applicator Tips

I use several different applicators to apply wax onto a finished turning. My favorite applicator is a small folded piece of paper towel. The advantage here is that each time you apply the wax, you will be using a new paper towel. This prevents any issues with using a rag that may not be clean and free of debris. Using old rags to apply or buff your wax finishes may result in scratching your finished surface. Always use a fresh, clean applicator for best results.

For larger projects, I use a piece of synthetic wire wool (the white variety) cut into small pads. This holds more wax than the paper towel applicator and speeds up the application of wax onto the finished surface. Although this applicator could be used multiple times, I prefer to use a clean piece with each project to prevent damaging the surface of the turning with any debris from storage.

Some of the waxes I use are in liquid form and I will usually spray these with a small airbrush onto the surface of the project before buffing. Few turners use spray waxes, but they can be useful with some projects where applying a paste wax would be difficult, or time consuming – on a textured surface for example.

If you would like to know more information about waxes for woodturners, take a look at this article that gives detailed information on various waxes and offers tips for using waxes on woodturnings.

Overview

Starting sequence of pull cut.
Wing bevel is rubbing wood and tool
shaft is placed in a shear angle before cutting.

You all know how much I love the Irish grind for bowl gouges. It is one of the most versatile grinds you can put on a bowl or spindle gouge. One of the many cuts you can execute with the long swept back Irish wing is a pull cut. Pull cuts are a great technique to use when working near the tailstock, (cutting from the bottom of the bowl, up to the rim for example) where a conventional bevel rubbing push cut with the grain may not be possible because of the tailstock.

A bevel-rubbing push cut with an
Irish ground bowl gouge, cutting from
the spigot to the rim.

Although we always try to cut the wood in the proper direction (supported fiber cuts), it is not always possible. For example, when you're turning the exterior profile of a bowl between centres and you're cutting from the bottom of the bowl near the dovetail spigot (bark side), up to the rim (pith side). You soon reach an area near the spigot where you cannot use your push cut, because the tailstock blocks your ability to get close enough to the dovetail for a bevel rubbing push cut.

This is a great time to use a pull cut! If you have an Irish ground bowl gouge, you can use the long swept back wings in a pull cut to remove the wood next to the spigot and complete the exterior profiling. A pull cut with an Irish ground bowl gouge is by my definition, where the mouth of the gouge (rounded cutting tip) trails the cutting surface of the tool, in this case the wings. Using this example, the sharpened edge of the wing actually cuts the wood; the mouth of the tool does no cutting.

Close-up view of a typical push
cut on the outside of a bowl.

In a traditional push cut with an Irish ground bowl gouge, the mouth of the gouge leads the cut and the wings follow. Using this example, the mouth of the gouge and a small portion of the wing near the mouth do the cutting. The bulk of the sharp wing surface does not cut, unless a very heavy cut is taken. Both push cuts and pull cuts are effective cutting techniques that you can use to help refine the profiles on your projects. Deciding which one to use is determined by considering the mounting method, clearance issues, tool length, bevel angle, bevel length, grain direction and the profile of the form being turned.

Pull Cuts

Pull cut on the outside of a green
wood bowl, cutting from the spigot to the rim.
Notice the fine shavings that are created.

Bevel rubbing pull cuts produce fine shavings and leave the surface of the wood very smooth. Even when you employ a pull cut, there may be a small area left near the edge of the spigot where you need to remove some more wood. In this case, I usually revert to a push cut in this tiny area, cutting in the opposite direction from the rim to the spigot. This will leave a rougher surface than a pull cut, since cuts in this direction are cutting unsupported fibers when the bark side of the blank is mounted towards the tailstock and the pith side is mounted towards the headstock.

A pull cut is being used on the
outside of a dry bowl to fair the curve.

By using a pull cut to remove the bulk of the wood near the spigot, you eliminate the chance of tearing the grain in this area. Any rough surface left right next to the spigot could be removed by shear scraping with your Irish ground bowl gouge, or by using a dedicated set of shear scrapers.

There are many ways to execute a pull cut. When working on the exterior profile of bowls, here is the protocol I use:

Another view of the pull cut used
to shape the profile on the outside of the bowl.

I prefer long side wings on my Irish ground bowl gouges. The long wings allow me to use the tool in many different configurations. When I want to make a pull cut on the side of the bowl, cutting from the foot to the rim, I use the left wing on the gouge. The wing is moved into a shear angle and the wing bevel is rubbed throughout the cut.

Irish ground gouges can be used on both
wet and dry bowls to smooth
and perfect the surface profile.

A bevel rubbing pull cut is not designed to remove large quantities of wood. Think of it as a finishing cut, where you want to remove small amounts of wood to perfect the curve, or shape of the project. If you need to perform gross shaping work, you should not use a bevel rubbing pull cut as it will not remove large amounts of wood fast enough.

If you rotate the wing where the bevel no longer rubs (only the cutting edge would be in contact with the wood), you can increase the aggressiveness of the cut. However, this will eliminate the many benefits achieved by rubbing the wing bevel and making fine, delicate shavings. This in one of those times when you can't have your cake and eat it too! If you want an ultra smooth surface off the tool, you must use the more delicate approach that rubs the side wing bevel.

If you are roughing the wood and just want to move the wood off quickly, the more aggressive non-bevel rubbing cut that will do just that. However, the surface will not be as smooth as when the bevel is rubbed. Pull cuts, push cuts, scraping and shear scraping are all different turning techniques offering advantages as well as disadvantages, depending on the timber and the circumstances at hand.

Think of them as tools in your toolbox, ready when necessary and as the project demands. Advanced techniques are often borne out of necessity, where an established technique is not working for one reason or another. As always our goal is to turn the form with the best finish possible off the gouge, so we have a minimal amount of sanding to perform.

Learn and Practice

The next time you get a bowl blank on your lathe, spend a bit of time trying different cutting techniques. Get a book, or a video that will help you see how to achieve these techniques. If you prefer one on one instruction, look for a professional woodturner in your area that offers classes. A day or two spent refining your existing techniques with a professional will help you to grow and learn new techniques.

Also, join a local woodturning club, guild or association. Most have monthly meetings where you can watch demonstrations and even get a bit of hands-on instruction. Rubbing shoulders with other woodturners is a great way to make new friends and learn how to become a better woodturner. Watch as many demonstrations as you can, read books, take classes and watch videos by different woodturners to learn how each turner has mastered different aspects of woodturning.

Money spent educating yourself is always money well spent. Invest in yourself and it will pay big dividends in the future. Finally, nothing beats time in front of the lathe. Steal away a few hours here and there to do what you love, woodturning!

Additional Information and Resources