Just started turning

[David Babcock]

I made some Christmas baubles as a first try, and man is that fun. Especially when you can just make the chips fly and not worry about what you're making. But I bought some bowl blanks and the whole thing changes now. My questions are these: If you look at the end grain of the blank, it runs from top left down to the bottom center then back up to the top right. Do you turn a bowl so the grain runs with the bowl or against it? And is there something to hold the bowl in place other than a plate with screws in it?

Dave

[Dave Balderstone]

In most cases, the grain runs across the bowl.

A chuck of some sort. I use a Oneway Talon , but you can build your own...

Drop in to rec.crafts.woodturning, I'm just a duffer. The real experts are there.

djb

[David Babcock]

Here is one of the pieces I won on ebay:

[Dave Balderstone]

Beautiful grain.

djb

[Larry C in Auburn, WA]

Dave, you might want to add rec.crafts.woodturning to your list of newsgroups to read.

[Larry C in Auburn, WA]

Never mind, I see you already have.

[Phisherman]

I turn my bowls such that the grain follows the shape of the bowl. This gives better strength, but there's really no rule about turning it another way. There are many ways to hold the bowl, "fasthold" tool or build your own holder. I have glued or carpet taped the bowl to a plate. I understand why some say that Turning is like a drug--Very addicting !!