Once you have developed the skills required to turn a decent bowl, you will want to challenge yourself in other areas of woodturning. Turning a hollow vessel is one such way. It is not really that different from bowl turning except that the opening into the top of the piece is much smaller. To complete the outside of the piece you will use the same techniques that you used for turning the outside of a bowl. The challenging part will be cleaning out the inside to make the piece hollow.
Objectives of the class include the following:
1. How to mount the hollow form blank on the lathe.
2. Shaping the outside of the hollow form. This must be completed prior to beginning the hollowing process.
3. Hollowing out the inside of the piece. This will require special tools that you will need to provide.
4. Finishing the piece. Since we will be using green wood, we will only discuss the finishing process. You will need to do the actual finishing after the piece has dried.
This class builds on and further develops those foundational woodturning skills you have already developed and encourages you (within limits) to use your own creativity in designing your piece. The final dimensions of your piece will be in the neighborhood of 6 to 7 inches in diameter and about as tall.
Skill Level: Novice to intermediate. Advanced turners without hollowing experience may also find it of value.
Tools Required:
1. Bowl Gouge - you may use those provide by the Guild or bring your own. If you want to purchase one before the class I recommend the Thompson Lathe Tools 5/8” bowl gouge. Several others such as Oneway, D-Way, Robust, etc. are equally good.
2. Detail/Spindle Gouge - you may use those provided By the Guild or bring your own. If you want to purchase one I recommend a 1/2” Thompson gouge or one of those sold by any of the companies mentioned above.
3. Hollowing Tool -Unfortunately the Guild does not have these to provide so you will need to bring your own or borrow one from a friend. I will have several tools to show you and I will mostly be using one produced by John Jordan - his #1 Hooktool (comes without a handle). John is deceased but his wife is still selling his tools. You can see them at www.johnjordanwoodturning.com. There are videos there with John showing the tools. I suggest that you watch the video to give you an idea of what we will be doing. If you purchase one you may also want to get an extra cutting tip, a handle, and a sharpening gig. There are also other sources where you can find hollowing tools. For this class you will not need one of the captured bar systems such as those sold be Lyle Jamieson and others.
Materials Required: Green wood to be furnished by the Guild.
Pre-requisite: Must have completed the Introduction to Woodturning and the OVWG Learning Center. Read and be familiar with the AAW Lathe Safety Guidelines and the Glossary of Woodturning Terms (available own the OVWG website in the document library.