Need some turning help, working the end

Joe, I feel your pain. I have found that using a very sharp scraper is my best tool here. I use one that is about 1/8” thick and 1/2” wide and slow the speed down considerably. Also, you must take very light cuts. The angle on the end is the most aggressive against the endgrain and it tears easily. I also can never get the end so smooth that I cannot see rings from the tool. I always use some sandpaper on the ends with the lathe off. Keep trying and you will eventually figure out the best method for you and your tools.

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Hmmm, that is a lathe tool I don’t own. I have a round nose scraper, but I have never used it. Will that work?

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if your tool is sharp,shouldn’t be a problem.but is your speed high enough? such as 1800 rpm range.
and you’ve got to take light cuts. it should work. and your angle of attack; are you rubbing the bevel as you edge into the cut? with a 3/8 spindle gouge?

You could try the round nose. It should work just the same but be extra careful to go slow and take small bites.
1800 may be a preferred speed for some and you may get to that point but I’d advise starting out slow.
The theory is that the faster the speed the less chance the grain has to bend against the tool and cause a catch. That is certainly true on most areas but the end grain reacts differently.

-- Website is finally up and running....www.woodandwrite.com

I’m still getting used to speeds. I turn pens around 3200, but big bottle stopper blanks I’m around 1100.

Also with scrapers, the flat side of the bevel faces up and the bevel side is down toward the toolrest, correct? That’s what it looks like in the videos I watched anyway.

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Dont work the end like a bowl, work it like a spindle. Also how are you chucking your pieces. Are you putting the stopper over a threaded stud or putting the dowel in and chucking the dowel. The dowel isn’t really strong enough to give the needed support. Fore bottle stoppers, I have a 3/8 lag bolt that I cut the head off of. I chuck it in a drill chuck. Never have any problems…..well usually dont have any problems. :-P

-- Isaac- Decatur, GA - "Your woodworking....NOT machining parts for NASA!!!"

The stopper is going over a threaded stud (PSI bottle stopper chuck).

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To answer your question about the bevel, yes the beveled edge is facing down (away from the work piece). Position the tool rest so that the top (cutting) edge of the scraper is just a hair below the centerline of the work.

I know I’ll probably get some flack, but you can make a flat nosed scraper from an old file. Grind the end square , then grind the bevel. Go slow and cool the file often in water. I usually wrap the file with a layer or two of masking tape to keep the file teeth from scraping on the tool rest. Just remember the file is brittle so don’t be aggressive with the cuts and resharpen often. You can probably pick up some old, dull files for free at any machine shop or Vocational School.

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

I use a skewchigouge, really more as a scraper, though. I hate exploding pieces, too.

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog