Square Turning - Page 4

The cutting can be more aggressive in the supported area, but must be less as you get out of the circle and on the tips of the wood. Regulate the action with your rear wrist. If you try to be too aggressive in the less supported areas, you run the risk of tearing out the grain and ruining the square edge. (If this happens regardless, flood the edges with water thin cyanacrolate glue and let it soak in, but don’t breathe the fumes!)

Stop the lathe and move the tool rest as need to give as much support to the gouge as possible. Do not attempt to move the tool rest while the lathe is running! Not only is this a dangerous practice, but especially so when working with squares. Occasionally stop to feel the curve of the wings. They should have a smooth feel to them, no bumps. If they have bumps, this is usually a ring that runs all the way around the circle. To correct this, make real light cuts passing the gouge over that area. Usually I find it best to make a full pass, from the inside of the piece, working the gouge out across the surface to smooth it out. Occasionally, if it is very noticeable, with the lathe stopped and turning it with my hand, I will mark the circle with a pencil at that high spot so I know where it is when the lathe is running. I then pass the gouge across the surface, paying extra attention to that spot, repeating as necessary.

OK, let’s say you have a profile that satisfies your needs. Smooth sweeping curves that don’t end abruptly and the wings are of even thickness and ¼" thick for this piece. Any thicker and you will not get the full effect. Any thinner and they may be too brittle for your first attempt.

At this point we can move on to the finishing.

Most of the finish work is done with the lathe off and using small rubber backed sanding disks. Usually a 2" disk work great, but occasionally, I will have to go to the 1" size for the tighter details. When power sanding keep the disk fairly parallel to the work, too much angle and you will be adding rings to it. When sanding, try not to remove too much material at the edge of the imaginary circle. In the center of the wing the thickness here can be easily altered with an over zealous drill and sanding disk. If the wing is level all the way across, no corners swept up or down, you will want a fairly even thickness across the wing. If the corners swoop up or down, the wing will be slightly thicker in the middle. If you are in doubt as to whether to power sand or not, don’t. You can easily lock the headstock and use both hands to sand and still progress rapidly.

Gizmos that help in Square turning

edge scribe.

Take a 1" thick x 4" square block of hardwood (maple works well). Drill a ½" hole through the center of the 1" thick section. From the top, drill a hole from the side that will meet perpendicular to the ½ hole. This hole needs to be the size to accommodate a threaded insert. Now take a ½ hardwood dowel and drill a hole about ½" from the end so a pencil will snugly fit in. Insert the threaded insert and an appropriate size screw that will snug up the dowel. When the screw is loose, feed the dowel in or out to approximately the center of you wood to scribe the lines.

We also need to make a center finder for the faceplate. All you need to do is turn down a large dowel so one end fits through the center hole on a faceplate. In the middle of this tenon, you glue in a short piece of a nail. The portion of the dowel that will extend all the way through the faceplate must fit tight enough so that it doesn’t flop around, but not so tight as to bind and you have to hammer it out.