It's Tuesday so that means I cleaned the shop tonight, including pulling out the tablesaw and air compressor and vacuuming the shavings from behind them. Close to 35 gallons in shavings off the floor and around the lathe. I then had a shop visitor.
A fellow turner and club member pulled me aside on Saturday at the club meeting and said he was having issues sharpening and making a clean cut down through the bottom of a bowl and wanted some help. He came over tonight and we reground one of his gouges to a more suitable profile and started working on a bowl. I roughed out the outside and then Steve and I took turns roughing the inside, practicing the arcing motion from the rim down into the middle of the bowl. It's a fairly complex motion, swinging the gouge across the lathe bed while simultaneously twisting the gouge and pushing it towards the center of rotation. It's not something that comes naturally but it can be learned and practiced through repitition.
Of course with roughing that bowl we made a mess on the floor and around my lathe so I spent another few minutes after he left sweeping up and vacuuming again. A small price to pay for helping a friend and fellow turner.
