Where do you look?

[admin]

I'm not what I'd consider a born or instinctive turner. Most of my hand movements and what I know, I've learned and tuned by just running through a lot of wood.

But one thing I don't think I've ever approached in all my questions is probably one of the first I should have asked. When you're turning, where do you look?

For me, when I'm doing a vessel, for the outside, I normally look at the tool tip or maybe a little bit up on the blank above the tool tip. Same for spindles.

But for the inside of bowls, I change my method. Instead of trying to look at the very tool tip while it's in chaos of chips and shavings rolling out of the bowl, I find it easier to look at the opposite side of the bowl on the inside, following the 'pass' I'm on by watching the line of removal move deeper into the bowl. It allows me to stay back a bit out of the shavings wash rolling out of the vessel, and allows me to know just where my tool is even when I can't see it.

It just seemed so hectic to be in line with the gouge while the hollowing is going on as most of the chips are chasing one another back through the flute which, if I lean over to look at the tip, will be going right in my face. Another reason I find myself not being right down there with the tool is because of catches, I've seen that gouge come out of the bowl pretty quick and would rather not have it nail me in the face and spoil my rugged good looks. (more rugged than good).

Is this fairly commonplace, or am I the odd man out?

[fredbelknap]

I am real new at turning. I find when doing a bowl that most of the time am doing like you but when I am finishing the profile I look across the top. When doing the inside I use a flashlight that came with one of my cordless drill sets and just look wherever. I have a face shield but I have problems seeing through it, it fogs up and it seems to be a magnet to dust.
Fred

[TDHofstetter]

It all depends, for me, on what I wanna' see. When I'm - say - starting a cove cut, I'm looking intently at the tip of the tool. When I'm planing with a skew, I'm watching the cylinder just BEHIND the skew to be sure it's how I wanted it to be. When I'm roughing a bowl, I like to watch the phantom shape on the far top, far away from the gouge. As I refine the bowl (after it's round), I may look either at the tool's tip or at the top face - at the tip to change the shape of the bowl, at the top face to chase rings & troughs. As I'm hollowing aggressively, I may look at the tool or directly above centerline (with luck, the shadows will fall there). When I'm finishing my hollowing, I tend to look at either the 3:00 or the 9:00 positions to watch for rings & troughs. As I sand, I'll search for shadows & pay very little attention to the sandpaper except to verify that there's a steady stream of dust spraying out from beneath it - if that stream slows or stops, it's time to purge the paper or move to a cleaner, sharper spot.

I've been known to do SOME turning entirely by feel... deciding what the tool needs to do, then looking elsewhere while my hands follow the chosen path... like to find the next tool or that folded-over packet of 320 I misplaced or where in HECK did I put that dang bottle of BLO?

The eyes really oughtta' go where they need to be to see what you need to do about one second in the future. Until the mind automatically converts action with reaction, motion with result, the eyes should be pretty near the tool. After that automatic thing starts working, the eyes will pick their own places to be - the unconscious mind is a marvelous thing, pretty much knowing what it needs to do without conscious-mind involvement.

[Ruffnek]

I tend to look at the "ghost" while roughing just about anything, be it face plate or spindle orientation. Once it is round, I pretty much watch just behind the tool tip to see what sort of finish I am leaving.

When hollowing bowls, I watch the tip when starting the cut but then, like you, watch the opposite side as I swing the gouge in an arc. Once the bevel is rubbing on that type cut, it is almost self feeding and requires little attention or manipulation. As Bill Grumbine demonstrated on his bowl turning video, it can easily be done with one hand only.

When turning now, I often think back to when I first began and how difficult it seemed to properly present the gouge to the wood without getting a catch. I didn't think I would ever get proficient at it.

Now, I can't remember the last time I got a major catch and presenting the tool to the wood is instinctive...I don't even think about how to do it.

It all comes with practice and repetition.

[Joe Lyddon]

... but Halloween was last night!

[Doug B]

What? You guys don't just close your eyes and shove the tool into the spinning mass of wood and hope for the best like I do?

[admin]

At first, I sorta did, LOL.

[CajunRider]

Nov 3, 2009 2:14:20 GMT -6 Doug B said:

What? You guys don't just close your eyes and shove the tool into the spinning mass of wood and hope for the best like I do?

Shoving the tool into the mass and hope for the best is the thing I always do.