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| This issue of Lathest News features two fun projects that will give you an idea of the diversity of deep hollowing systems. It makes sense that everyone automatically pictures deep vases or hollow forms when the subject of boring bars comes up. They are also very handy creating other turnings that may be difficult for some when using regular turning tools. I am are sure many of you have turned a deep bowl where you have to work a long distance off the tool rest. Three or four inches using traditional tools isn't an issue but once you stretch further off the rest making nice smooth cuts can be a problem. Here I will show you how easy it is turning a deep relatively small diameter bowl using a boring bar.
First off, I will show in detail how to use the boring bar to achieve a perfectly flat bottom such as the one one shown on this serving tray. 
Queen Charlotte Yellow Cedar
2" X 19"
Next, I will explain how to use the Large Captive Boring Bar to easily turn out the bottom of deep bowls. This Box Elder Burl bowl is 11" deep and has a 9" diameter.
A number of year's back I was wondering through Costco and came across some beautiful 2" x 18" laminated Maple cutting boards that were selling for about $25.00 a piece. I'm one of these guys that have a hard time passing up buying wood, in particular, if it's what I perceive to be a good deal. I loaded up my shopping cart not really knowing what I was going to use them for. Back in the shop I stared at them for a few days and finally thought why not turn them into serving trays on one side and leave them as cutting boards on the other. As I attend a wonderful Farmers Market every Saturday I thought this idea would be perfect fit. I'd never turned anything this size perfectly flat before but thought it would be a breeze. Overall it was pretty straightforward but I was having a bit of a problem turning a perfectly flat bottom. Obviously I knew that as a serving tray the bottom had to be close to perfect. Using a bowl gouge worked quite well but I found I was taking too long achieving the flat surface. Then I thought why not give the boring bar a shot; with it I should have perfect control making a nice flat surface, so I gave it a go. Soon I'd cut my time in half and was turning out cutting boards/serving trays like nobody's business. Back to Costco I went where I cleaned them out buying another 50 or so. In hindsight I should have gone to every Costco in town and bought them all. That Christmas I sold out (priced at $110.00 each) and to this day I still have customers asking me to make more!
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Before I move along taking you through my method of turning these two projects I'd like to congratulate all of those lucky turners who took advantage of our Deep Hollowing System clear-out. They didn't take long to disappear and there are now 103 proud new owners of the finest deep hollowing system ever to be mass produced. Gord and I had a great adventure having these manufactured and going through the marketing process but are both looking forward to continuing our turning careers.
For those of you who missed out on this opportunity, I am very pleased to announce that a fine American tool company has agreed to carry on with the manufacture of these great tools. They expect to have them ready to go by mid-summer and we will keep you posted as progress is made.
Gord and I will continue to carry all our small accessories and tools that we have in the past. We still have a good supply of cutters, Elio Safe Drives, piercing equipment and of course the instructional DVD's.
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Turning a Serving Tray by Brian McEvoy
Here is one of the original Maple serving trays I mentioned; note it is quite shallow. I wanted to maintain the integrity of the cutting board on the opposite side so I only recessed it about an inch. Because this piece had to be food safe I finished it with Clapham's Salad Bowl Finish.
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Let's get started. I've cut a 2 x 19 inch yellow cedar blank and mounted a 6 inch face plate.
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I always recommend tailstock support until the piece has been trued.
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True up the side as well as the bottom with whatever tool you're comfortable using. I use a 5/8 inch bowl gouge.
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Use a straight edge to check for a flat bottom.
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 Sand the bottom flat; a sanding block comes in handy to remove any in perfections. I like to sand to at least 600 grit for a smooth finish.
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 I like to use a vacuum chuck for re-chucking but if you don't have one in your arsenal you can easily turn a shallow recess in the bottom so you can re-chuck using the dove tail expanding jaws on any four jaw expanding chuck.
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 Now's the time to set up the boring bar; starting with the secondary tool rest. Place the rest perfectly parallel to the wood blank. This will ensure a flat surface on the inside bottom of the tray. Place the floor stand where you need it and set the boring bar on the stand and tool rest. Be sure the cutter tip is at center and the bar is level.
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 Using the tip of the cutter, hog the wood out down close to the finish depth.
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Once you've rotated the cutter where you are presenting a flatter side you can proceed with the fine finishing cuts.
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Note my hand position in relation to the boring bar and secondary tool rest. Remember I set the rest perfectly parallel to the tray so with a smooth easy pass and my thumb resting against the tool rest I can cut a perfectly flat bottom.
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 Use a straight edge to insure a flat surface; again a sanding block will remove any minor imperfections. Finish sanding.
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The finished 2 inch x 19 inch Alaskan Yellow Cedar serving tray. Any timber will work for this project but be sure it is cured to perfection; you won't want to be balancing wine glasses on a warped tray.
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In this case I've enhanced this project with a little Pyrography; this simple embellishment is one of the projects covered in my Secrets to Woodburning, Airbrushing, and Texturing & Piercing DVD.
Available at:
www.onegoodturn.ca or
www.langercraftworks.com
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 Finished Walrus ready for Lacquer.
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Turning Deep Bowls by Brian McEvoy
Most any deep hollowing systems can be very helpful when turning deep bowls; after all they were designed to reach a long distance off the tool rest. As I've mentioned conventional turning tools can achieve similar results, but in my opinion at a greater level of difficulty and definitely not as safely. The bowl I will demonstrate here is only 9 inches diameter but is 11 inches deep and by using our deep hollowing system makes short, hassle free work of this project.
I find with a precut template cutting natural edge blanks is easy and accurate. In this case I'm using a dry Box Elder Burl blank.
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I'm using one of our 2½ inch Elio Drives to secure the blank between centers. Though we do manufacture three different sizes of Elio Drives I find I seldom ever use the 3½ incher, my favorite is the 2½ inch and the 2 inch comes in very handy for smaller projects. These drives are available through our web-sites www.onegoodturn.ca and www.langercraftworks.com A U-Tube demonstration video is also available for viewing.
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 Turn the outside form down to the foot; at this point I leave the foot a little larger than my intended finished size.
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With a little oversize dove-tailed foot, mount the bowl securely into your favorite 4 jaw chuck.
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Though it is not necessary with natural edge pieces, I like to use a bowl gouge to turn the first few inches or until I'm out of the natural edge; I find I can get a smoother finish off the tool which means less sanding down the road. Once you're into the meat of the bowl, the scraper used on the boring bar will cut surprisingly smooth.
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Using a Saw Tooth Forstner, drill a depth guide hole. I'm using a 3 inch bit available from www.leevalley.com .
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 Set up the boring bar with the cutter at center and the bar in a level position. |
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 With the cutter positioned so the pointy tip is cutting, start hogging out the wood.
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 Work your way down three or four inches and then rotate the cutter so a larger radius of cutter is presented to the surface. Gently make a fine cleanup pass or two. You will be quite pleased at how smooth a surface can be achieved.
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 Continue hollowing, checking for consistent thickness as you go. Note the light attached close to the cutter tip; I find this invaluable to see my results as I progress. These light kits are available through our on-line store on our web sites. www.langercraftworks.com www.onegoodturn.ca
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Remember to rotate your cutter to achieve the nice final finish.
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Once I'm satisfied with the result I will turn the lathe speed down and sand the interior to at least 600 grit.
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 I like to use a vacuum chuck wherever possible to remount the bowl so that I can finish off the foot. If you don't have one then any sort of homemade jam chuck will work just fine. The main difference is that you'll have to hand sand the very bottom once the piece is off the lathe and this will add a few minutes to the process.
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Reshape the foot to where you're satisfied.
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 As with the inside finish, sand down to at least 600 grit. |
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The finished deep bowl ready for the spray booth. I'll do a little relief carving and staining on this piece and will include a picture of it totally finished in a future Newsletter.
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Missed one of our old newsletters?
Click on the link below to access our archive home page:
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Now available in three sizes and are black zinc coated.
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This is the ultimate tool kit for piercing your work. These pneumatic piercing systems are comfortable to use, the lightweight design and the 400,000 r.p.m. speed are ideal to embellish your work. The handpiece design allows for unwavering control of your cut. The carbide dental burs seem to last forever but when the need arises, take only seconds to replace.
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Available for immediate shipping at:
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Two Piece Hollow Form DVD
Over 70 minutes of instructional footage.
Amateurs and professionals alike will learn Brian McEvoy's secrets to producing beautiful works of art using only basic woodturning tools. Once you have mastered the two piece hollow form, you can let your imagination run wild and use this simple technique to turn out museum quality work.
Our Price: $29.99 + Shipping |
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Embellish your work
This 2 DVD set has over
4 hours of instruction and covers 4 projects from start to finish.
The techniques covered in these 2 DVDs include: Woodburning, Piercing, Airbrushing & Texturing, a great value.
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Preview our DVDs
You can preview our DVDs on YouTube or at:
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Deep Vessel Boring DVD
Over 90 minutes of instructional footage plus 20 minutes of bonus features.
Join master woodturner Brian McEvoy who will show the process from raw wood to sanded piece in easy to follow steps. Create amazing pieces quickly with these never-before-seen secrets from a master woodturner.
Our Price: $29.99 + Shipping |
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