Using the Termite

Herman de Vries

	This is the Termite tip. You can see that the outer rim is slightly beveled. Both edges, upper and lower, are sharpened. The lower edge is much more aggressive due to the bevel, so most cutting occurs with the upper edge. All of the pictures that follow show this edge cutting.
	This is a piece of red oak, about 10” in diameter and 3½” thick. You can see that the cut will be straight into the end grain. The hole is plunged into the center using a 3/8” gouge. In this picture a slight hollow has been turned into the bowl. There’s still a hole in the center, it just happens to be plugged with shavings.
	The cut starts at the hole, dead center. The cutter is vertical when I place it into the hole, and then turned clockwise until the cutting edge begins to slice the wood. At this point I have the tool turned from 12 o’clock to about 2 o’clock, and I am pulling the cut from right to left with my left hand. The speed of the cut is directly proportional to how hard I pull.
	Half way through the cut. You can see a sizable shaving coming from the cutter. Keep in mind that this is red oak. The lathe is turning fairly slowly, only about 250 rpm. Experiment with speeds, as the Termite often cuts better at a slower speed. Note - the cutter is just above center. Hint – play with the height of the tool rest. That can make a huge difference as it changes the angle where the edge meets the wood, ever so slightly.
	Finishing up the cut at the rim of the bowl. You can see that this was a fairly aggressive cut. There is no way I could hollow out this end grain as well with a bowl gouge. To get the inside of the bowl this far took less than 2 minutes, with Karen taking the pictures. That was some time ago. Nowadays (2007) I could hollow the whole bowl out to final touches stage rough in about 90 seconds. Practice does that.
	Flattening out the bottom of the bowl. You will probably want to turn the cutter over and use the aggressive edge, but be careful. To use the “mellow” edge, as I have done here, you have to cut below center unless you raise the tool rest. Start the cut just under the nub and raise the cutter into the wood, Taking light passes. This is worth practicing.
	To thin the sides of the bowl, start where the bottom meets the side. Note that the Termite is vertical. It cannot cut in this position, nor can it catch.
	Just starting the cut. The Termite has been turned to about 2 o’clock here, and I’m using a very light touch to begin with. People complain about the hole in the tip clogging up. Two things cause that. There are loose shavings rotating around the inside and they are clogging the tip, or the cut is wrong. The wood should go through the hole as the cutter peels it off. That keeps the hole open.
	Once the tool begins to slice the wood, I bear down, pushing down on the handle, raising the cutter up the wall to cut more aggressively, since the wall is still quite thick here. The cutter, at this point has been turned to between 2 and 3 o’clock. The more you rotate the cutter clockwise, the more aggressively it will cut. You have to find the right “sweet spot” for the wood you are using.

I hope this short tutorial will help with using the Termite. It is a sweet tool for end grain turning, dry or wet wood, and I often use it for cross grain as well.

Tips if you have a problem getting it to cut:

Rotate the cutter clockwise – The more horizontal the cutter is held, the more aggressive it becomes. Lay it completely horizontal and you are asking for trouble.
Raise the tip of the cutter – The cutter becomes more aggressive as the tip is raised. Experiment with it.
Raise the toolrest – The tool rest height can make a huge difference as it slightly changes the angle at which the cutter meets the wood. Raise it an eighth of an inch at a time until you learn by experience how far to raise it.
Wrong wood – It might just be that the wood is too wet, too dry or simply is too “splintery” as some are. Quite often it is a matter of the tool working well with the end grain of the wood you are using, but not well cross grain.
Tool is dull – If nothing else seems to be the problem, trying sharpening. The tool is very, very durable, but a few pieces of sand, metal or some kinds of wood will dull the tip more quickly. Tip – do not over sharpen the cutter, and use the available jig to sharpen it on the base of your router turned upside down, or in a router table. No router, use a drill press at high speed.
Practise some more – Don’t give up on it.

There are places where the Termite is not the best choice of tool. These are:

Through a small opening – Although I use the Termite to take the center out of a hollow form, I no longer use it through a small opening to finish inside. In a catch it will throw the handle sideways as the cutter rotates momentarily with the piece. That causes the handle to destroy a thinner, small, opening. This is different than a catch with a scraping type of tool, because the scraper will catch in the wood and release much more quickly. You’ve seen how a slicing tool, like a spindle gouge or a skew, can catch and maintain contact with the wood long enough to cut a spiral thread into the wood. The Termite is also slicing tool and will do the same, except it is trapped on the inside.
Under the rim – The Termite does not go into the space under the rim of a hollow form or vase, even if the opening is large enough. The Termite uses only a straight shaft, although I have heard of some trying to use it on a bent shaft with an arrested bar system. Frankly, using the Termite in an arrested bar system would be risky, since a catch would almost certainly rip the piece off the lathe.
On the outside of a piece – You can try it, but I would ask “why?” since there are so many tools better suited for that purpose. It is designed primarily for end grain turning and works best for bowls or through a large opening in a vase, urn, etc. I use it for small boxes, too, with the small tip, but for the large vases I turn (up to 26” deep inside) I will always reach for the Termite.