Thanks for your comment about Dustin Coates. I am glad to hear of someone who appreciates his skills and personality as I do. He is very much self directed and that is something that appeals to me.

Edwards

Chris

Nantucket, MA

Chris

Nantucket, MA

Bowl coring is not very difficult. Dustin showed me how. I use the McNaughton bowl coring tools. You will
need a set of the small and medium tools plus the special tool rest that fits in your lathe banjo. This will handle
most of a turner’s needs. There are video’s that show how but I never used one. Just go slowly until you get the
hang of it.

The McNaughton system gives you the most flexibility of shapes so all your bowls don’t come out the same shape.
I have gone through the bottom of a bowl only about three times out of a couple of hundred of corings. This means
that you can get two to four bowls out of a single blank depending on its size. It is also faster and easier than taking a gouge to remove all the waste wood.

I never did use the handle for the tools. If you are frightened of holding the tool directly in your hands as I do, then you can use a set of vise grip pliers to hold it. The special tool rest has a restraint to keep the tool in place and takes the risk out to a large degree.

The McNaughton tools are available from Craft Supplies USA. Their web site is http://www.woodturnerscatalogue.com. Good luck with coring and let me know how you come out. Keep your tools sharp. I use diamond hones for mine. Coring works well in dry or wet wood.

Edwards Smith

Another caution and that is to use a respirator when using the material. The solvent is potent and not so good for health. Your respirator should have a cartridge for chemical solvents. I tend to do my patches the last thing in the day and then leave the shop and allow the air to clear overnight. As soon as you use it you will notice that your shop smells like an auto body repair shop.

Being a retired medical man I am very health conscious. Dust and fumes are not good for the lungs and I always wear a respirator for dust when I am in the shop and I put on the chemical cartridge when I work with solvents.

Another solution is to use epoxy mixed with fine wood dust from your sanding. One worker I spoke to at a craft show referred to this wood dust as “maple flour.” To this you can add colored pigments of any variety. Use a spatula to push the mixture into the defect and allow to dry. You may need more than one application but the sky is the limit as to colors you can achieve.