"william_b_noble" wrote in message
news:1120567948.330ae5eebfc6b9a691571cd8173f3e45@t eranews...
sounds like dull tools to me, that would be the first thing to check -
once
you get deep tearout, sanding is really hard. If the tools are sharp,
then
(other than using wax or laquer or CA glue to harden the tearout areas for
better cutting)I have no other suggestions
"Bill Gooch" wrote in message
.. .
I was given a half dozen large chunks of basswood - 4ft lengths about 10
inches round. It's green and I'm not having much luck turning it. Either
its the wood or my technique but I seem to be ripping the wood apart
rather
than getting the nice curls coming off the gouge that I get with ash etc.

Wet and soft wood is a double task. Answer is to present a sharpened edge
properly. Scraping is suicide, as are angles which provide a short portion
of the edge across the fibers. I have best luck using large-radius gouges,
and yes, this includes roughing gouges on the outside, because they allow
more edge in the cut to slide the wood along, allowing it to sever itself.
It's the same as in carving, little forward and downward pressure, and
sliding sideways produces the cleanest cut. With the lathe doing the
sliding for us, we only have to do the A-B-C so that it cuts, rather than
scrapes and tears.

Of course, things will improve once the wood is dry, so it's not as
important if you're going to turn later for circular.

Then there's that old paradox of how lacquer and CA, both harder than the
wood fibers, are lumped with a lubricant which is not.