I got some free black walnut logs from a tree that was getting removed.   Let them sit a few years.

Used my milwaukee battery saw to split one of the 9 inch diameter logs and got 4 bowl blanks.  

But man... those ripping cuts kinda sucked.   I do have an aftermarket 18" bar on this saw.  And its not really a purpose ripping chain on it, either.   It cut OK but it did not evac the chips from the saw well at all. Had to stop every few inches and pull the chips (more like strings) out of the saw housing.

I can't really turn anything larger than 12" on my lathe anyways so I was wondering if I actually got a 14" bar for it and a ripping chain if that would appreciably help?

Good on you for your blanks, I wish I had some.
Can't help much on the solid bowl turning as the bowls I turn are all segmented.

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Beautiful!

Maybe I'll try that at some point.   Looks like a great way to empty out your scrap bin at the end of the year.

What all wood is in that?

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The bigger stuff is going to be interesting

Yeah definitely going to need a saw with more power or something.

Did a 12" dia by 18" length walnut log. Which is kind of a perfect size to get some 11.5"ish blanks out of, leaving a bit extra to saw ends off to get past cracks.

Took several battery changes and was pretty tough sledding.

There's a big 18" Jet bandsaw coming up in a school auction.  If I could make a jig or something to keep the log from rolling, a big bandsaw like that with a coarse tooth blade would be perfect for ripping logs into bowl blanks.

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Walnut, Maple, and Jatoba.
It was my first ever bowl and a very fun project.

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Trying to put epoxy in cracks at the start is kind of a waste of time.

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Going to rough turn these, leave the walls pretty thick, do the microwave trick to dry them, then see what needs epoxy or other fixes before final turning.

Some progress but man... the spindle speed is just way too fast.  Lowest it will go is 915 rpm.  Roughing this thing out was pretty hairy.

And doing the inside, yeah, its too fast.  Having removed enough for it to have some flex, its wobbling pretty good now.  If I could slow it down I would.

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After I'm done with this bowl, was thinking of swapping the .75 hp single phase motor for this 3 hp 3 phase motor.

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That way, I can put a VFD on it and gain some speed control.  

Motor speed is twice the speed of the stock delta motor, tho.  3450 instead of 1750.   So I might just run it with a pulley on the outboard side of the spindle so I can pick a good pulley reduction ratio.

I'm really not up on VFD's tho.  I know you want to pick a VFD rated for about twice the horsepower of the motor you're trying to run.   But what's a good frequency range?  

And what's the lowest you can/should reduce the motor speed by using the VFD?   That'll determine what size pulleys I use.

So at 3495 motor rpm at normally 60 hz, doing 3 to 1 pulley reduction, my spindle speed would be 1165 rpm.  

Running it at 25% of rated frequency or 15 hz would make my lowest speed 291 rpm.

That seems like a reasonable speed range for doing bowls.

But I don't know if running the motor that slow is fast enough to move enough air to keep it cool (its a fan cooled motor).

You don't need a ripping chain if you cut your logs this way. If your chain is sharp you'll buzz right through the stuff..

Cutting a bowl blank

Subscribed to see how this project turns out.
Lots of skilled folks on this sight.
I learn something new every day.

Agree with this, you're not ripping.  Ripping would be if you started cutting on the already cut end grain.  Ripping will create very small chips instead of long noodles like you're getting.

Speaking of noodles, the type of cut you're making is a 'noodling' cut and it can be difficult for some saws to clear chips while doing that.  You can help that by not following the grain directly with the entire bar.  Keep the bar off of parallel with the grain of the wood and the chip size will be smaller.  I cut like this a lot when I get a big nasty piece of wood that will be a PITA to split.  Easier to just noodle it into splits.  Then, I use the noodles as fire starters.  Just bag them up and keep them dry.

A couple things that help with this type of cutting is:
1.  Sharp chains.  With ANY cutting, sharp chains are priority.  If you're not touching up the chain with a file every 1-2 hours of run time in clean wood (less in dirty wood) you're probably cutting with a dull chain.  
2.  Use an older chain.  Chain with the teeth sharpened back almost all the way creates more room for chips and helps with chip evacuation.  
3.  Not keeping the bar perfectly parallel with the grain of the wood
4.  Slightly longer depth gauges.  Keep your depth gauges a bit longer, causing a smaller bite of wood and thinner chips.  This can help saws that are under powered get through these cuts with less problems.  You can achieve this by sharpening the teeth without filing the depth gauges/rakers/drags/whatever you call them.



Also very interested in the final product!  I know turning bowls can be a sketchy process.  We did this in shop class in high school and several of the bowls 'blew up' due to cracks.

Thanks, I did not know that.   I always figured cutting with the grain was "ripping" whether the blade was oriented to cut the full length of the fibers or only the "Face" of the fibers.

"Noodling"  Yeah, that is descriptive.  It was making long, thick, noodle-like chips.

Yeah, I've already thrown this bowl once.  I got a bad kickback when I got deep into the bowl and it broke the tenon in the chuck.   I was able to reglue it tho.  Clean break.

This lathe really isn't optimized for bowl turning.  The lowest speed is too fast for anything but finishing cuts.

Mostly done.  Sanded to 240. Need to go to hardware store to get some superglue to touch up a couple of air bubble voids in the epoxy fills.   But mostly sanded.

Despite being a very non-suitable lathe to do this (waaay too fast) I think its turning out pretty good.

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Will do those little touchup spots, finish sand to 320, cut the tenon off, and apply finish.

Looks great so far! Can't wait to see the finished pics!

edit: not GD

looks nice!

Some very good advice a few posts up.  Noodling!  perfect name for it.  You'll find there is a sweet spot with the angle of the bar to the log.  Find that and maintain it.  I have the same saw, but I haven't tried a noodle cut yet.  I suspect big noodles will bog it down.  Now the tuned 046 is my go to for those cuts.  ;)

Bowl looks nice.  

You * Need * Lower * Speed!  but you already know this.  You're a smart guy... you'll figure it out.  motor change and vfd sounds reasonable.  I haven't done anything like that.  I was in the right place when a friend upgraded from a "B" grade lathe to an "A" grade lathe for him.  I'm still using that "B" level lathe, but it does have variable speed.

Thanks, I'm debating with myself to mod this one or sell it as is and put the money toward a different lathe.

Sanded and applied finish.  Just basic Watco butcher block oil.

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Looks good!

That came out very nice!