The last cut you make when turning a bowl will determine how much or how little sanding needs to be done before applying finish to your creation. A quality cut at this point in the process will not only decrease your sanding time, it will also increase your pleasure at the lathe. The final cut should be made with a freshly sharpened tool, a light touch and total concentration. This technique ensures a bowl that is as free of tearout as possible. Indeed, your finished bowl will be able stand up to the intense scrutiny of your fellow woodturners!
Inside or Outside Considerations
There are many approaches to turning a bowl. Some turners prefer to turn the outside of the bowl first, then the inside. Some are more comfortable turning the inside first, then finishing the outside. I do a combination of both by partially turning the outside shape of the bowl, then completely finishing the inside of the bowl. The final cuts on the outside of the bowl are done last, when I am refining the bowl's shape.
I like this approach because I get a better interior cut when the wall thickness is more substantial. The thicker wood provides firmer support for a clean cut. As the wall of the bowl becomes thinner and consequently more flexible, cutting becomes more challenging.
 |
As you rough out the shape of your bowl, practice making a clean "final cut." It will make your actual final cut easier to perform successfully.
|
 |
| When roughing out a bowl, it is common to get some tearout. As you get closer to the bowl's final shape, take care to reduce that tearout. |
 |
| Use the cutting edge on the side of the gouge for a shear-scraping final cut. |
Hollowing the Interior with a Short Bevel
When forming the inside of a bowl, especially one that is rather deep, use a bowl gouge that has a relatively short bevel - one with about a 40° angle. This short-bevel angle will help you make that most difficult of cuts: the transition between the side of the bowl and the bowl's bottom. This is the area where many beginning turners have problems. Heck, it's even a problem area for experienced turners! It's problematic because the position of the tool (specifically its bevel) needs to transition from cutting on the side to cutting on the bottom, which is why the shorter bevel angle helps.
Practicing the Final Cut
While you are turning your bowl, practice making that quality final cut, especially when you're close to the desired wall thickness. Practicing now will help prepare you for the actual last cut. You'll find that it will take you longer to turn the bowl, but you will be glad you devoted attention to making a clean cut at the sanding stage. Over time, this practice will decrease the amount of time you spend turning. Practice makes perfect, as long as you are practicing good techniques, of course.
If you have difficulty achieving a clean cut, try positioning your gouge a bit differently as you cut. You can't expect better results by employing the same approach!
Stick with the Same Tool
Use the same bowl gouge for the final cut that you used to make the practice cuts; this is not the time to be changing gouges. If you were to pick up a different gouge to make the final cut, that's often when a catch or dig-in will happen, usually on the inside of a bowl and especially for beginners.
The exception to changing bowl gouges would be on the outside of the bowl. For this, you might want to change to a bowl gouge with a longer side cutting edge and/or one that has a longer bevel. They provide a more substantial length of cutting edge for making a shear-scraping cut.
Sharpen Your Gouge Before Making the Final Cut
When you are ready to make that final cut, take a trip to your grinder and put a fresh edge on your gouge. Don't change the angle of the bevel. You'll want to be able to replicate the practice cuts you've been making.
Depending on the size of the bowl, type of wood, how sharp your tool was to begin with and what you had for breakfast, you might only need to sharpen your tool once before you make the final cut. Or, you might have to do it a couple of times. I am still amazed at the number of turners who are surprised by the fact that tools need to be sharpened throughout the day! I've said it before, but it's worth saying again - always use sharp tools - it's safer and, in the long run, quicker.
Keep the Final Cut Light on the Inside
On the inside of the bowl, the final cut is made pretty much the same way as rough cuts, the only difference being that the cut is very light. Take off just a slight amount of wood. Keep your bevel rubbing (but don't burnish the wood with it) and the flute pointed in the direction of the cut. I "ride the bevel" to get a feel for bumps and ridges, sometimes backing up slightly to pick up the cut if it peters out. If you end up with slight ridges, those can be easily sanded away. It's much more difficult to sand areas of tearout than small ridges.
The final cut should be made in one motion - a sweeping curve from the rim of the bowl, down the sides and flowing to the center of the bowl. Easier said than done, but with enough practice you will be able to make this cut without difficulty.
If you have a problem with engaging the cutting edge of your gouge right at the rim of the bowl, that can be prevented by making sure your bevel is rubbing, which means starting the cut just below the bowl's rim. Catches happen in this area because the bevel has nowhere to "ride" to start the cut.
 |
 |
 |
 |
By using a steep, shear-scraping cut on the outside of the bowl (left photos), the author was able to create a very clean "quality" final cut. This means less sanding and more fun!
By comparison, on the interior of the bowl, she "rides the bevel" of her bowl gouge (right photos). The trickiest aspect of this cut is transitioning from the side walls to the bottom. Here's where a short bevel can really help. |
Shear-Scraping the Outside
After you get the final exterior shape roughed out, sharpen your gouge or switch to a gouge with the bevel ground longer on the side. The longer side bevel is optional, but use one that has a fingernail grind.
On the outside of a bowl, I employ what's called a shear-scraping cut. This cut is made with your gouge held almost flute-down on the outside of the bowl. The direction of the cut should be from the bowl's bottom to the rim, pulling the gouge toward you. A light cut is what you're looking for.
The cutting is done with the long edge of your bevel - the one that's trailing the cut. Make the cut so that it's pulling just slightly downward. You can angle the gouge handle slightly to the right or hold it nearly vertical. I usually try both positions to see which is making a better cut in the specific wood I am turning.
It might take several passes before you are satisfied with the results, especially if you've created a lot of tear-out making your rough cuts. The area that is most important is the end-grain. That's primarily where the tearout happens, and it's also the area that's most difficult to sand.
Stop the lathe and check your bowl in the end-grain areas to see the results. If more cutting is needed, make another pass, taking an even lighter cut.
This cut is also helpful when you are turning a bowl using the glue-block method and need to make cuts on the bottom, outside of the bowl. With your gouge held in the shear-scraping position, you can get into a fairly restricted area with much more ease than when holding it in the cutting position. You will be making a type of cut that does not require you to ride the bevel, so make sure your gouge is held so the flute is open toward the bowl. If you let the gouge rotate so the flute opens more toward you, a dig-in will happen.
Practice, Practice, Practice to Improve Your Success
Sometimes, no matter what you do, your wood will tear out. This is especially true for punky wood. The wood I selected for the photos is air-dried elm. It tended to bruise (technically called "cell compression") in the end-grain areas, and it took a number of shear-scraping passes before I achieved a cut clean enough to begin the sanding process. With time, you will figure out which woods cut cleanly and which are more of a challenge. It took me quite a while before I was able to consistently achieve a clean final cut on a bowl. With practice, you will be able to do so, too!