I'm feeling really happy. I've decided I've done enough bowl turning for now as I feel I've got to the point that I can turn a simple bowl when I want to without worrying too much about whether it'll all go wrong. That's completely different to how I felt a few weeks ago.
I said a while ago that I was going to give up as soon as I'd turned one bowl from start to finish with no major issues and not too much sanding. On Sunday morning (and one last job this evening), I turned five and all went well.
I did them in a bit of a batch mode. This is what they looked like after I'd turned the outside shape (along with some tenons and some pockets) on all five. All used faceplates / screw chucks for the first job; as you can see, I've left a big faceplate attached to the biggest bowl.
I didn't take many photos of the process as I was just in the groove of making bowls. However, I did take a few. The big blank was one that came in a box from English Woods and was marked as a "premium" blank. It's "crotch" Sycamore (which I gather means it came from a bit of a Sycamore tree where the trunk is splitting into branches). It's 240 mm diameter. Here's what it looked like after what seemed like a very straightforward bit of hollowing:
After hollowing all the bowls out (three of which I then considered to be finished as I'm leaving the pocket used to hold them for hollowing in place), I fitted the Cole jaws so I could turn the tenons off on the two bowls that had them. Unfortunately, the bowl was too big for the Cole jaws (seen here at their widest setting):
That was something I hadn't considered. Early last year I made a Beech bowl (with loads and loads and loads of sanding involved) of the same-ish diameter, so I'd assumed this one would be straightforward, especially since I've increased the lathe centre height a bit since then:
However, that one had a pocket on the underside so didn't need remounting.
When I made the Ash bowl on the day course I did with Paul Hannaby, we used what I think might be called a "jam chuck" (although I might be mis-remembering the name as I also think that's the name for a bit of softer wood turned to be a tight fit on something). It was basically a lump of wood with a rounded face held in the chuck with a soft rag between it and the bowl. The tailstock then supported the underside while most of the tenon was turned away and the last bit was sanded off after the bowl came off the lathe.
I didn't fancy trying that for the first (at home) time on a "premium" blank, so I came up with a plan B (that meant I couldn't finish the bowl on the same day).
In the meantime, I moved the buttons on the Cole jaws and mounted the Eucalyptus blank, which was much more straightforward:
The tenon could then be easily turned away:
Overnight on Sunday, I made a request of the 3D-printer. I was busy yesterday evening but tonight I got to go and try the prints out:
They offset the jaws slightly to allow a slightly increased holding diameter. The taper angle on the sticking up bits matches the big Sycamore bowl. The little pads you can see lying on the jaws are some scraps of leather I cut up as I figured they'd help prevent the jaws marking the bowl.
All fitted nicely...
... and the glued-on tenon could be removed and the base turned and sanded smooth:
All five bowls after having their first coat of hard wax oil:
Clockwise from the back right, they're Sweet Chestnut, American Black Walnut, Sycamore, Eucalyptus and something that might be some sort of Mahogany (it was cut off the end of a piece of wood I bought in Ironbridge Antiques that was labelled as "Mahogany Lintel"). Close-up of the grain on the Mahogany one:
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