Replies

1. 
   trackersoft | Jan 05, 2009 08:55pm | #1

   Learn to rub the bevel. Place the tool on the rest and then place the bevel on the wood and then raise the tool handle until the cutting edge is cutting and the bevel is still rubbing. This takes some time to get used to but is a skill that has to be learned. You will then be amazed at how easy it is. Also make sure that your tool rest is at the proper hight to the wood. Keep at it. It is great fun!! Get some scrap wood (even firewood) and practice with all of your tools. The roughing gouge is the easiest and one of the most forgiving tools -- get something round and then try rubbing the bevel with the roughing gouge.

   Also find one of the turning groups and go to a meeting (http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/LocalChapters.asp). You can learn a ton and someone can show you how to do it.
   Scott

2. 
   joinerswork | Jan 05, 2009 09:08pm | #2

   Bryan,

   There are as many causes for a catch as there are tools to catch. 

   First, you want the tool rest as near the work as possible. Get all the mechanical advantage you can.

   The best results are when the bevel of the tool is "riding" on the work, that is, if the attack angle (and the relief angle beneath) of the edge is relatively shallow (handle-tip of the tool much closer to the floor than the edge).  A steeper angle of attack, but with the handle of the tool still closer to the floor than the edge, invites a dig in.  Scraping (handle tip higher than the edge) will not allow a dig in, but won't yield as smooth a surface as a shearing cut with a sharp edge.

   If the stock is too thin and whippy, it tends to move away from the tool, reacting to the cutting pressure, then rebound, resulting in a catch.  Most often when turning a cylinder shape with gouge or skew.  The remedy is a steady-(or back-)rest, preventing the whipping.

    In addition, if using the skew to turn (smooth) a cylindrical section, if you allow the tip to touch the work, it will immediately dig in. Remedy is to orient the chisel edge to keep the tip well away from the work.  This usually means attacking from an acute angle, rather than more perpendicularly, so you are pushing the edge along the axis of the spindle, rather than into it.

   If the gouge digs in when entering the work, usually that is due to the lip of the gouge, standing up (away) from the tool rest, contacting the work instead of the bottom of the flute, which is supported.  The lip when it contacts, is pulled down, rolling the tool in that direction.  Remedy this by rolling the tool the opposite way, before entering the work, so that the gouge is nearly upside down, and the lip that you present to the work will be supported directly under the force exerted by the work.  As you advance the tool into the work and slide it along the rest, you can roll it down till that lip up to the center is doing the bulk of the cutting.  Do this from both left and right, working toward the center of the hollow or cove you are cutting, finishing in the center at the bottom of the depression.

   If cutting a convex curve with the heel of the skew (to me the most difficult cut), the line of force that you are pushing must be downhill of the grain of the cut.  If the skew is laid over too far initially, it will grab and pull the tip into the work.  Ditto if the axis of the skew approaches perpendicular to the axis of the spindle.

   Ray

3. 
   flairwoodworks | Jan 06, 2009 09:40am | #3

   I was taught that a catch is the result of the work piece exerting more force on the tool you are. If you match the the force the work puts on the tool, you won't get a catch.

   Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
   (soon to be www.flairwoodworks.com)

    - Success is not the key to happines.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

4. 
   bholton | Jan 06, 2009 06:14pm | #4

   thanks everyone for the comments, I will definitely try them (and work more on scrap before ruining my nice piece of walnut).

    

    

1. 
   Thorvald | Jan 06, 2009 06:53pm | #5

   When I was first learning to turn, I found it usefull to mount a pine 4x4 and just have at it.  If you aren't trying to produce anything in particular, you're free to focus on using the tool and developing a feel for how it cuts in different directions and angles.  It's sort of like practicing your driving in an empty lot.  After you've turned a few lengths of 4x4 into curls, you'll probably be a long way toward solving the edge catching business.

   Verne

2. 
   TaunTonMacoute | Jan 07, 2009 04:07pm | #6

   Subscribe to the premium service and watch some of the turning videos. Your learning curve is going to be awfully steep if you've never seen an accomplished turner turning wood. It will be surprisingly short otherwise, at least spindle turning will be. There's an Ernie Conover video on turning beads and coves. Once you watch him do it you should be able to turn a half dozen or so practice spindles and then be ready to turn relatively simple legs for a 'live' project.Always remember to let the wood come to the tool. The lathe provides the power. Let it do its job. You're carving the wood, not brutalizing it. Don't be heavy handed. Done correctly, you could sit a little 80 year old lady on a stool in front of the lathe and she could turn all day long. Be easy. Be deft. Check the tool rest. You may have it set too low.

   Edited 1/7/2009 8:14 am ET by TaunTonMacoute