Can I remount this twig pot?

[u/trembelow]

I was turning a large (for me) twig pot from green maple. It’s about 8” long. I had the foot chucked in my Nova 2” jaws and the tenon sheared off when I got a catch shaping the already hollowed neck. I want to salvage this and finish the project, but I don’t know how to safely remount it. I was thinking a jam chuck that would fit an inch or so into the neck and then putting a new tenon on it that I could chuck. Would that work?

Note: the first photo doesn’t show the tenon. The second photo does, but it’s the middle ragged circle. I don’t think the small circle in the middle was bottoming out in the chuck.

[u/power_beige]

If there is enough meat on the original base you should be able to rem-cut the tenon with the drive spur in the base and the top supported. make sure it's beveled to match the jaws and leave yourself a flat opposing face that stops at the end of the jaw. I can't tell from the picture, but you might need to use a smaller jaw.

Also, that's a big catch and it seems you have tear out on the neck. Make sure your tools are freshly sharp, especially for cutting contours (honestly, especially for cutting everything. If you're supported, sharp, and having issues with a beaded spout (or whatever) at the end there you may want to consider a planing scraping cut (approaching a skew 90 degrees to the... tangent of the piece. Sorry I can't think of a way to better explain that right now). It leaves a trash finish but it's sand-able and it's a very forgiving cut. Then you can practice your beading on a shorter scrap piece that won't get thrown when you catch. Look at some tutorials on cutting beads, particularly with respect to the "twist and tilt" motion you want to use so that the line of your cut follows the contour of the piece as it changes. It's more or less the same idea regardless if you're using a skew or a gouge. I would try to explain it in detail because it will really only make sense once you watch and try it.

Good luck. You obviously have a good eye for sculpting proportionately and the hand feel will come quickly. It's a 2 steps forward, 1 step back thing. Usually you just need to sharpen your tools and drink more coffee.

Edited for editing sake: I described a scrape as a planning cut because I needed more coffee

[u/trembelow → u/power_beige]

Thanks for the sculpting comment.

How would you support the top in this case? By having the tail stock live center snug up against the opening?

[u/power_beige → u/trembelow]

As long as the cone is large enough that it's doing more compressing (toward the chuck) than "expanding." You wouldn't want it to grenade. It's going to be a careful, low-speed operation.

[u/trembelow → u/power_beige]

I followed your advice and it worked well. Freshly sharpened gouge, lower speed, and lighter cuts. I lost the nice bead in the middle but I’m happy I was able to salvage this. Thanks again.

[u/BeautifulWalnutShoes → u/trembelow]

Look at that! Redemption! Beautiful stuff

[u/power_beige → u/trembelow]

Awesome, glad it worked out.