Richard Raffan turns two small maple bowls in real time.

These are two of four bowls turned green from a small tree felled two days earlier. The bowls are finshed on a jam chuck. You see the other bowls in • Richard Raffan turns a...

[@randycosgrove3608]

Once again it's nice to see how smoothly and quickly you do something that I find a bit tricky. 50 years of practice pay off. Thanks again Richard.

[@johnwhitteron5296]

Love that you admit to not turning the camera on. As a retired cameraman, I know the feeling.

[@JohnWilliams-iw6oq]

I love to see the Angel's Hair coming from the tip of the gouge, something satisfying about it and the chooks love the shavings for nesting material. Thank you for another great video.

[@kenvasko2285]

I always learn something or see a hand position or understand more about design features when I watch your videos. Thanks for sharing your techniques.

[@boooshes]

It's still satisfying to see how the wood displays itself when fashioned into the bowl.

[@DennisSuitters]

They certainly are two nice little bowls, always a pleasure to watch you turn Richard, thanks for sharing.

[@hazzzee]

Thank you for the quick lesson, I could watch you all day

[@bubberinbrunson5975]

I prefer turning small bowls up to about 6 inches. I watch all your videos and learn a lot from them because of the way you explain your cuts and the reason for them. You are the best.

[@RayShaw007]

Two delightful little bowls; a good demo with excellent narrative. You often share little tips and techniques that can only come with experience. Thank you for sharing.

[@johnnyb95678]

I always enjoy watching you turn and I seem to learn something new, or an improvement on what I am doing, every time I watch. Thank you!

[@mauricebyrne5016]

Lovely work. May I suggest that an overhead view, especially for small items, when turning the outside would be really helpful. Right now I can sort of see What you are doing but not How you are doing it. Can't see gauge angles etc. I have been following your work for 30+ years but am only now, in retirement, getting back into turning. I need all the help you can give 😂. Many thanks for your inspiration.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I'm using an old iPhone 5s. In my very limited space I've yet to find a way of setting it up directly overhead where it doesn't interact either with the overhead lighting or my head whilst I can get a peek at the view-finder. Only yesterday I spent another 3 hours experimenting with yet another setup to no avail. Yet.

[@dtork47]

Really nice! Such control, very inspirational, thanks again Richard.

[@jackthompson5092]

Beautiful little bowls Richard.

[@Laikeen]

As usual beautiful pieces, many thanks

[@ShevillMathers]

Thank you for sharing your skills once again, perfect for mini lathe owners, not as easy as it looks, but a useful way to develop one’s skills. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 👍😁🇦🇺🦘

[@josephpotterf9459]

Thanks Richard really cool little bowls

[@MickyBellRoberts]

You make wood turning look so easy.

[@peteranthonyboland750]

Excellent video and results, thanks for sharing 👏👌😉

[@DM-cy2tj]

Hello Richard. Just found your channel this evening, and I can say it's the best I've seen by far on all aspects of woodturning. I'm very humbled by your breadth of knowledge. Regarding this video, I've one small question on making of the two maple bowls. At 1m 24 secs it shows you fixing the wood into the chuck, and again at 12m 5 secs for the second piece. In each instance the wood has a circular hollow which fits over the jam chuck. However you didn't show the creation of these hollows. At first I thought that the wood pieces would have been held by a screw in the chuck in order to hollow out each piece. I watched again but didn't see evidence of a screw hole on either piece. Can you help please.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I've taken to using a forstner bit to drill a hole in small blanks so I can mount them on pin jaws. For small bowls it's much faster and easier than using a screw chuck, but not a good option for blanks over 150mm / 6-in diameter. For more in-depth information you'd probably find my books helpful. www.richardraffan.com.au/books-and-dvds/

[@MikePeaceWoodturning]

I made a square scraper several years a go about the size you are using. I guess I need to dome it a bit and try and get more use out of as I see how versatile it can be in the hands of someone who knows how to use it.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I've always had a few scrapers in use with slightly different radiuses. Even the 'square' ends are slightly radiused and skewed for hollowing into endgrain so I can't have both corners in the wood at once.

[@dianadougherty7187]

lovely, thankyou

[@SAr-Woodturning]

Hi. Thanks for marvellous videos. It is a joy to see how confidently you use the tools. It is obvious you have done this once or twice before. Question. Can you please tell me the diameter of the rod of the 1/2” spinle gouge you use.

[@timofeyzhukov-khovanskiy9173]

Was inspired by your previous videos on these bowls. Made 3 from a small white oak branch to work on once turned bowls and to work on the technique. The last one was quite thin, in fact it shrunk almost completely after one minute in the microwave. I think I need to add some weight to the bottom of my midi lathe stand and perhaps add a bit more bracing, since I'm not sure it can go fast enough for the diameter without vibration, so I turn at ~500rpm and I got about 4 inch wide bowls

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

A lathe can't be too heavy or solid, so more weight is always better. A 4-in diameter blank with evenly balanced grain shouldn't vibrate too much at 1400rpm.

[@timofeyzhukov-khovanskiy9173]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning I managed fine so far with 900 rpm (I got 500, 900 and 1400 speeds), but I'm gonna step it up next time after roughing it out

[@jorisdemoel3821]

An interesting pattern in this wood. Is that common, or specific to this log, do you know? After drying, would you finish them? Or leave them as is? Thanks for another excellent and instructional video.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

The stain is incipient rot, a sign the tree was dying, so not in every tree. The bowls will get some linseed oil in a week or so as they are pretty well dry.

[@Paddle124]

How thick was the stock you started with? Thank you for sharing your artistry with us!

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Cutting into the short bit of log I mention the diameter as being 2 ½-in, so gauging by that I reckon the thickness would have been about 2-in. which is 50mm.

[@jimphilpott902]

It's a small world after all!

[@marcelsimun6282]

Pekná práca pán majster 👍👍👍✊✊✊ aké drevo ste použil?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Acer palmatum - Japanese maple

[@walter67435]

I really appreciate the things you do where the wood is intended to warp. I'd like to make a thin walled box out of maple, but I discovered it will need a very loose fitting lid, as even the dry wood changes shape. "ChatGPT" assured me that "boxes with loose fitting lids" are highly valued in some Asian cultures for their aesthetic appeal, however I think it might have been stretching the truth a little.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Ther are lots of situations when a loose lid is preferable. You shouldn't have too many problems with lid fits on an endgrain maple box, whereas with crossgrain seasonal movement is usually an issue.

[@walter67435]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning I think this is partly why your bandsaw videos are apparently so popular. Although I live in Oregon I don't yet have a pile of logs out my back door, but occasionally I do get to saw a thing up and choose the grain. What the "wood store" sells as "turning blanks" by the pound often gives a grain presentation that is 45 degrees to the radius of the tree, but that is the most beautiful grain pattern. There are so many things to think about, and your videos have helped me in actual situations when things are happening to me when I'm actually using my lathe. The "real time" stuff is essential, to see what happens and to watch the experienced person deal with it all as it is happening. Thank you!

[@DigitalNative01]

Thank you so much for these 'novice' turning videos, im just starting out and they are a huge help, especially when you're trying to learn everything on your own. Just wanted to ask how fast you were turning when you were roughing in the initial shape with the half inch spindle gouge? My lathe only has speeds between 500-2100, just wondering if one would really need to turn anything above 2100? - have i bought the wrong lathe?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

You never need more than 2000 rpm although you might need to run lower than 500 rpm. i would have been roughing the larger bowl at about 1200rpm.

[@DigitalNative01]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Well thats a relief to know about not really needing to run above 2000rpm, unfortunately cant run below 500rpm - would that be a concern when sanding/finishing or if the piece is really large and unbalanced? what scenario would require below 500rp?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@DigitalNative01 No concerns regards sanding - sanding would take a bit longer, that's all. An unevenly balanced blank will have the lathe bouncing and rattling even at 500rpm, so avoid blanks that are one-third sapwood at that's often much lighter in weight as well as colour as the heartwood.

[@DigitalNative01]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Oh ok, i see, that hadnt really occured to me. Thank you for the heads up, ill be sure to keep that in mind.

[@jontoolman]

Thanks for sharing Richard. What will you finish the small bowls with when dry?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

They'll be wiped with boiled linseed oil.

[@philstevenson2687]

How’s about marking the centre of the base when you’re forming the outside of the bowl? Makes centring when you reverse chuck much easier.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I do when I remember but usually I'm pretty good centring by eye which means I don't have a centre mark to remove. And you can't see centre if there's a disk in the way.

[@brianhawes3115]

Hi Richard, I’ve been watching your videos and I joined a wood turners club in my area. I brought some of my work to a meeting and they asked me to do a demo. I’m super nervous and I was wondering if you have any advise on how to work with lots of eyes on you, thanks again for your inspiration to turn wood

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Email me, Brian: www.richardraffan.com.au/contact/

[@woodturner1954]

Curious what speeds you use for different diameters and does species matter, dry or wet wood?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I rarely run the lathe faster than 1800 rpm. My overall approach is to start a new project near zero, then increase the speed until there's some vibration at which time I drop the speed back a couple of hundred rpm. Moisture content is not a big issue, whereas unbalanced blanks are.

[@antipode_ghost]

How is spindle gouge used for the outside of the bowls? Thanks!

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

You see how in all my bowl videos. Initial shaping is almost always using a ½-in spindle gouge and often the finishing cut as well.

[@antipode_ghost]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Thanks. I thought it was unsafe to use a spindle gouge in that manner. I'll need to explore this topic.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@antipode_ghost It's deep-fluted spindle roughing gouges with a tang that shouldn't be used for facework. Shallow spindle gouges are fine and even preferable when it comes to detailing. And they're definitely less expensive than deep-fluted bowl gouges which are designed for hollowing well over the rest. .

[@antipode_ghost]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Just watched your video on turning a bowl with a spindle gouge. I'm going to try this.

[@chrissimmoms1550]

Do you have an online shop where you sell these items?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I don't have an online shop but everything I make is for sale. Enquiries come through my website www.richardraffan.com.au/contact/

[@chrissimmoms1550]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning OK, thank you.

[@MickyBellRoberts]

Hi Richard, how are things going with you sir?

[@guenterjaekel4780]

Vielen Dank Sie Bereichern mein Hobbydrechslerdasein immer wieder ich bin Begeistert.

[@joescarborough1]

Mise en place bowls.