The American Woodshop

(upbeat music) (chisel scrapes) - That's what we're looking for.

Greetings.

Welcome to "The American Woodshop."

I'm Scott Phillips, and I love to turn, and if you know me, you know that's true.

And we're doing a base to a clock, and then we're going to turn an art deco clock with a secret compartment.

So this is a two-parter, so stick around.

Learn how to turn today on "The American Woodshop."

(logo scrapes) - [Narrator] "The American Woodshop" with Scott Phillips is brought to you by... - [Announcer] Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

- [Sponsor] Pro tools for tool pros.

(dramatic music) Rikon Tools.

- [Advertiser] "Woodcraft Magazine."

Projects, plans and web links, designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon Steel Band Saw Blades and Super Sharps Scroll Saw Blades.

A bed to sleep on.

A table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- Wood turning.

It's been around for thousands of years.

Yep, I said that the right way.

And it goes back to Egyptian times and even before that.

So, what we're doing, we have a glue-up of three big pieces of mahogany and one smaller piece here, and we have a face plate inside.

You'll see that later.

But let's get to the most important thing that I learned from a guy named Rude Osolnik years ago, how to properly use the most important tool in turning a bowl gouge, B-O-W-L gouge.

And it has a deep flute and a 45-degree bevel.

This is called a bullnose grind.

You don't go in and use it as a scraper like that.

You drop the handle, rub the edge, and then raise the handle until the cutting edge gets going.

And whenever you turn, you want to control the spinning work piece obviously.

And so you bring what is called the tailstock forward, and this is called the ram, and you make sure that ram is on center to capture it on this side, face plate here, live ball bearing center here.

And now what we can do is, be sure to read, understand, and follow, you thought I'd forget, all the instructions that come with the tools and products that you use in your wood shop.

Work safely.

And when it comes to turning, roll up your sleeves.

No jewelry, no rings, okay?

Face shield for sure.

Safety glasses.

I've never been hurt turning, and that's no accident because I plan to do it safely.

So, that's looking really good.

The cutting edge of the chisel is right at or slightly above center line.

That's good.

Let's get to it.

Okay, so I ease it up.

(chisel scrapes) And what I'm doing right now, there we go, that's balanced.

That's not hit or miss like this side is.

As soon as that chattering goes away, there you go, I know that's perfectly round.

Now I'm going to swing my hip in and roll over that edge, and then I'm coming down to this next ring.

Again, these were glued up, and I let it dry for a week before we started turning this because this is going to be a pedestal to Suzy's kitchen clock.

She spends so much time in her kitchen, and with recipes you have to pay attention so she deserves something fancy to track time in the wood shop.

So what I'm doing right now is this is called the three-point grip.

You go, "Three-point grip.

What's that?"

Well, that means this is my fulcrum hand.

It has one job to do, hold the chisel to the tool rest.

This is the tool rest right here, and there's a nice tray for my palm to ride in.

You can use the overhand or the underhand technique.

When I'm roughing, I have more control.

So, this hand right here on the handle, I'm right-handed, so that means that's going to be my dominant hand.

That does two things.

It controls the height of the chisel and it controls how that bevel, that shiny spot right there, rubs the wood, raise the handle, then throws the shaving from that little spot right there where my fingernail is, okay?

Right there, that's what you want.

And when you do that, you get a sheer cut, and that's what I learned years ago from Rude Osolnik.

Now, this is, I'm going to do one more pass on the outside.

Then I'm going to move the tool rest and then true this up.

But this is looking really good.

Why do you want to learn how to shear?

Because it virtually eliminates sanding when you shear the wood fibers with a sharp chisel.

By the way, that third point of contact, when I said three-point grip, it's my leg.

This long handle's there to give me control.

So I'm really throwing some nice shavings right now, and that's because this chisel is very stable.

That's looking good.

I've moved the tool rest, and now I'm going to use another chisel.

Some people call it the Ellsworth or English grind.

And this bevel is brought back, so there's a fingernail type shape right here on that bevel.

And instead of throwing the shaving from that magic spot that you saw in the bullnose, I'm going to throw it from this side over here.

The key that you want to do is continue to rub the bevel, and you can do this as a push cut or a pull cut, but I'll work this nub off.

And how long do you use this tailstock with the live bulb bearing center?

As long as you can.

It provides a lot of stability, and that's important as you turn.

Now, watch what happens when I use this side now.

I bring it up, I rub the bevel.

I keep the chisel married to my body, and then I rub the bevel until the bevel and the cutting edge kiss the wood at the same time.

And you don't want to get into a pinch right in there.

And then I come right up on the top of this piece right here, and I just continue to work this down.

(chisel scrapes) And then this is almost done right now.

So you've learned the basic moves with gouges, bowl gouges, and I'm just taking this down to the nub right there, and that's free.

And no longer need the tailstock there.

Everything's nicely balanced.

And I'll make one more pass rubbing the bevel, (chisel scrapes) a shearing pass just to smooth that out, just like that, okay?

Let's take a look at that.

And that's beautifully balanced.

And look at that.

I mean, you barely need to touch that with sandpaper.

So that's the form that I want.

I'm going to bring up some dust collection, put on a N95 mask.

And whenever you do sand, always take off the tool rest.

So, I'll get that set up.

I'll work through 100, 150 and to 220.

Then we'll friction on a finish and you'll get to see what this is going to do.

Another thing important is back this ram off and remove that live bulb bearing center.

We don't need that.

It's just a thing that could get in the way.

(machinery buzzes) Okay, this is all turned and ready to finish.

And everybody has their own way of doing things, but, and all the grain when I did the glue-up runs together.

And some people go, "Oh, you could turn it on and friction it on."

Yeah, I could.

Remember what I said, everybody has their own way of finishing?

This dry mahogany, genuine mahogany, these were leftovers from other turnings that I just couldn't throw away, and I think you're starting to see why.

The grain is just so magical.

It just draws you right in.

And so I'm brushing this out.

And this is Arm-R-Seal that you saw me use before this season, a wonderful blend of oil and urethane, and there's nothing quite like it.

This is the semi-gloss.

And versus frictioning on the finish, I think I get a better finish this way, especially on the end grain that really soaks it in.

But you're about to see something that some people will go, "Did you see him do that?"

It's just like, "What would he do "that people would be amazed by?"

Now, I have a thorough soak on there right now, and I'm setting this safely out of the way, all cotton rag.

And I'm getting off the excess, right now, really buffing it in, because as soon as I turn this on, centrifugal force will create a fine spray in the plane of rotation.

Watch this.

Standing clear.

And I immediately down low go in, out of the plane of rotation, and friction that finish now and buff it.

And it doesn't take long to really bring that up into dry.

Now, let's take that off and I'll show you why Suzy wanted this just like that.

So beautiful.

Now, lock the headstock with this, right here, that's locked.

And I spin the face plate off.

And here you can see the glued up work pieces.

This, when it's glued up like this, I cut that out with a jigsaw and a compass, and then mount to the face plate, which will come off of that.

But this is now the pedestal to Suzy's kitchen clock, and it's a handy place to put things underneath if you wanted to.

So, out of sight, out of mind.

That's beautiful.

Now I'm going to get set up to turn the art deco piece.

This is pretty radical.

And now for something completely different, taking the pedestal and creating a spigot or foot, you can mount it on a four jawed chuck like this on a wood lathe.

These are handy things, and this is what you do when you really start doing advanced turning, and that holds it, and you can turn the inside of it, which is what we're getting ready to do on a piece from A to Z so you'll know how to do it all before this show is over.

But look at this.

So, this is the back, and it's got a hole drilled right here.

And this is a piece of scrap from another turning blank that I cut out.

And with that hole and with this turned, you can mount this to a half-inch dowel rod and you can go to a retail store.

Buy a clock face first so that you can size it appropriately, and dress up time.

And who doesn't like that?

But it doesn't stop there.

(frame whooshes) This is called a turning blank.

This is a piece of hard maple with tiger stripe in it, a little burn mark there.

And it's not perfect, it's warped on the back, but I've laid out a circle that's a diameter of a clock face that will fit right in there.

Any retailer will sell those very affordably.

And to cut the center point, you just use a straight edge corner to corner, and then you lay in your circle of the clock.

Get your radius right there and transfer the circle in.

And then you can cut it out on the band saw using a half-inch blade.

On something this big, and you want to really make sure you mark that center point so that when you do the next step, which is we're going to line up this face plate, we're going to center this hole that will mount this face plate on the wood lathe just like that.

Now, this is the clock side right here.

The backside, back here, we have to turn that spigot.

And once we get the spigot, we can chuck that up and turn away these screw marks by removing the face plate.

It all will become very clear in just a second.

So, I've transferred the same circle on the back, it's the same, so I'm just going to cut that out now, making sure everything's locked and on.

Okay.

And as I make that cut, I want to save this scrap wood, and you'll see why at the end of the show.

And I want to make the cut on the long grain right there.

That's where I need to start it.

So, (machinery buzzes) Leave the line, but once you start to make the cut, make sure you don't stop.

Make it a fluid cut.

Here we go.

(saw buzzes) Now, let's turn everything off.

And never back out of that cut with that blade running because, and this has a break on it so I can stop the blade.

If you pinch that blade with it running, you pull it forward, it hits the guard, ruins the blade.

Now, that's a good cut.

I can glue that shut, and now I've got a frame to hold this clock dial, as it were, once this is turned.

So remember, this is the back that we're going to turn the spigot on, so this is going to get the face plate.

I'll get that mounted, and it's onto turning.

(frame buzzes) This is what that hard maple blank looks like when it's face plated on the back with a big face plate.

Don't be using a little face plate on a big disc.

And use fully threaded, inch-long screws, eight of them into the back.

And what we're going to do, this is the foot.

This is the open part, and the foot will be held by these four jaws, and the key is right there.

We want to use the calipers to size the foot just right so that these jaws can close down on it properly.

So, that's locked in place.

Ram's locked.

Let's turn it on.

It's free, meaning not touching the tool rest.

And I have it adjusted so the cutting edge of this is about an eighth of an inch above center line.

So let's turn this on.

Face shield down.

And you can see there's a little bit of wobble, not much, but that's going to happen when you go to center it up.

I'm using the bullnose grind to first establish a shoulder, and then I'm truing up the outside of this (chisel scrapes) to get it perfectly balanced.

(chisel scrapes) You don't want any chatter.

When you turn, you listen, and you can hear that little knocking noise right now.

That's because I'm turning into an area where there's a shadow or a void where it's not completely round.

And that has the fingernail grind to it.

And you can do a push cut or you can do a pull cut.

It just depends on what you get used to.

(chisel scrapes) Oh, this is fun.

(chisel scrapes) Now, I'm taking it down, getting it balanced.

And I think that's the size right there that I need for the foot.

(chisel scrapes) Okay, I think we're there.

I think we have our spigot.

And that's the bottom of the bowl right there.

I need to turn that off briefly, pull this away, and now I can swing this around to finish off that little nib right there.

Then I'll show you how the four jaw chuck closes down on this.

Let that come up to speed.

(chisel scrapes) The idea is when you turn something, never, ever see any screw holes from a face plate.

You want the bottom to be just as pretty as the top or the inside of the bowl, and that looks good right there.

Let's see what we have.

Let that come to a stop.

That's good.

Oh, that's gorgeous wood right there.

(metal clangs) Now, if we did everything right, these four jaws will close down and grab this dovetail and ride right in that ring right there.

And you want to get a full purchase.

That looks really great right there.

Oh yeah.

And when you have two places to tighten, you always tighten on both sides.

That squares up the jaws of the chuck.

That looks good.

So now what I'll do, everything's perfect, again, this is the bottom, that's off.

This is, now, listen.

It's going to lock in place.

Right there, it's locked.

And what I need to do, there are three Allens that lock this headstock on there.

So now, with those Allens loose, you can see the face plate is on there.

This is the bottom of the bowl.

This will be the top.

This will be hollowed out.

And I'll remove the face plate and then mount the four jaw chuck up and tighten the Allens, and then it's on to hollowing.

Okay, now what I've done is I have everything secured, four jaw chuck secured, and I have this dynamically balanced.

Anytime you switch a chuck around, you're going to have to true up the outside just a bit.

And now with the face plate removed, I'll adjust tool rest around so I can hollow that.

Cutting edge should be about a eighth of an inch above center line.

Let's see.

I think I've just about got it down to here.

Now we're ready to turn.

Everything's secure.

Now let's hollow.

Face shield down.

Bring it up to speed, and (chisel scrapes) using that fingernail grind, I'm rubbing the bevel and I am slightly rotating the handle 'til the cutting edge and the bevel kiss the wood at the same time.

And you can do a pull stroke as well.

I like the push stroke.

(chisel scrapes) Just listen to that wood, bone dry hard maple just floating away.

That's just so much fun.

And I always work from the larger to the smaller diameter when I'm using the bowl gouge like this, the bullnose.

And if it starts to vibrate and talk to me, I take a lighter cut, that's all.

And I'll work this down until it has a uniform wall thickness, oh, right at half an inch.

And then we'll get on to finishing.

(wood whooshes) Now all the turning is done, and we're out of time today so you didn't get to see me sand it on the wood lathe.

Be sure to wear an N95 dust mask.

But I want you to look.

I'm using a walnut oil food safe finish.

You just buff it on.

I really don't need gloves for this, but look at the figure in that.

It's just spectacular.

And you could use this in your kitchen because this walnut oil is food safe safe, and that would be a nice use for it.

And look at that foot on the back, a decorative accent.

So, you can see it's shaping up.

But you take the scrap that I glued shut, and now you wipe that down too with the walnut oil, and then you marry a clock face to this and finish off the back with that and you have yourself an art deco clock for the ages.

I'll get that done, and we'll have the final reveal.

(wood scrapes) I can promise you this, when you learn how to turn as a woodworker, your world will never be the same because you can do things that no one else has ever done before, like this contemporary style clock with a turned bowl back, or is it?

I love it.

And then this one, well, it has its appeal too, to the live edge burl from the Pacific Northwest.

So, there you have it, turning.

The only thing holding you back is you.

Time for you to head out and do some lessons and master your own turnings.

See you next time in "The American Woodshop."

Thanks for being with us today.

- [Narrator] Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

- [Sponsor] Pro tools for tool pros.

(dramatic music) Rikon Tools.

- [Advertiser] "Woodcraft Magazine."

Projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon Steel Band Saw Blades and Super Sharps Scroll Saw Blades.

A bed to sleep on.

A table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information about "The American Woodshop," you can watch free episodes 24/7 on our website, and you can find us on these social media platforms.

(upbeat music)