# Tool Chatter on the Lathe



## FrankoManini (Oct 10, 2008)

Often whe n turning bowl grain or face grain, or when roughing out a bowl, I will get a bounce or chatter in the tool. This is caused by the piece being out of round. It seems to be "self perpetuating" in that the worse it gets, the worse it gets…

I have the hardest time with bowl gouges and on wood that might have a soft area like spalting or a bark inclusion. The only way I have been able to address it is to try and take smaller cuts, speed the lathe up, or use a scraper to gently ease the piece back to round.

Does anyone know what I might be doing to cause this and how I might go about avoiding it in the future?

Thanks!


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## alindobra (Oct 3, 2007)

Franko,

This issue takes a lot of patience to learn how to deal with since it depends mostly on the type of wood. You can always use the bowl gouge in a scraping cut and that will take care of the bouncing but might produce a rough surface. Turning the tool so a different part cuts might help as well. On some woods, though, when you turn end-grain, almost nothing you do will help. I usually fix the surface by sanding when the piece is dry, if that happens.
The only advice I can give you is to experiment a lot.

Alin


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## johnpoole (Nov 28, 2008)

a few things that helped me.. getting the tool rest a little closer to the wood.. both the ones you posted,, another thing that helped,i broke down and bought a higher grade set of tools.. i was using craftsman.. i can't remember the name of the new ones, but i got them at woodcraft.. the steel is twice as thick and way harder..

i used to carve a lot, holding the cutting edge in the same manner that i would to cut a stationary piece is how i taught myself to turn.. when you cut against the grain, i use a sharp scrapper, and finer cuts.. but i tend to take my time, at my age that's about all i can take


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## trifern (Feb 1, 2008)

I would recommend a freshly sharpened tool and lighter cuts. Soft areas or punky wood…good luck. You may consider fortifying the soft, punky wood with a 50/50 mixture of Elmer's glue and water.


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## johnpoole (Nov 28, 2008)

i bought a bottle of elmers rotten wood stablizer, (wife pick it up at lowes).. it turns punky wood into plastic.. at least it cuts like plastic..


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## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

You may want to buy or build yourself a couple of steady rests. they help take the "flutter" out of the wood allowing the tool to continue its path.

From wood lathe and tools
As others have already pointed out there are several factors and and no single answer.

Bob


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## Grumpy (Nov 9, 2007)

Franko, all of the above is good advice. You can now buy hollowing tools like the *Rolly Munroe hollowing tool* that is much more usere friendly & tollerant to dig-ins.
Heres a link
http://www.rollymunro.co.nz/html/fmain.html
There are similiar versions on the market.


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