Learning wood turning: recommendations & resources?

Cavediver · Post by **Cavediver** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:42 am

Hello all,
After many delays, it's almost time to put my Greenie to use as a lathe. I've turned a few things in the past, but that's near to ancient history, so I guess I'm starting from scratch.

How do I learn to do this? I've got a DVD on the way (Turning Wood by Richard Raffan), and I know that will help, but what else should I do?

My immediate goal is to turn some smaller items; bottle stoppers, pepper mills, that sort of thing. Maybe even some pens after a short while.

A few days ago, I attended a local demo by a wood turning club, and I've found a couple more area clubs to check out. The demo was pretty good, but it was geared towards more advanced turners (as it should be), and not an absolute newbie like myself. While I learned a few things from the presenter, and was able to watch and learn a little about stance & tool motion, I know there's a ton of info I'm missing. I also know that lathe work can be somewhat hazardous if you pick the wrong tool for the job, etc...

Back to the question: should I be able to learn the basics on my own and by reading / watching videos, or do I need to find a local class or mentor for some actual instruction.

Thanks!
Jay

Cavediver · Post by **Cavediver** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:48 am

.... And another thing: sharpening. I'm not bad when it comes to sharpening my hand tools (waterstones), but my grinder skills leave a little to be desired.

Do I need a sharpening jig like the Wolverine or the one from PSI? How difficult is it to sharpen the gouges and fingernail profiles by hand?

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 12:02 pm

Cavediver wrote:.... And another thing: sharpening. I'm not bad when it comes to sharpening my hand tools (waterstones), but my grinder skills leave a little to be desired.

Do I need a sharpening jig like the Wolverine or the one from PSI? How difficult is it to sharpen the gouges and fingernail profiles by hand?

I'd say to use the wolverine jig for sharpening. Ya get repeatability, spend more time turning, than sharpening. Go here to find a AAW turning club here, where ya can get a mentor to help ya learn.

http://www.woodturner.org/search/custom.asp?id=1509

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 1:39 pm

Safety first!

Make sure you have a good full face shield and make sure it's in place before you turn on the lathe.

Stay out of the line of fire.

Sharp Tools

keep your machine is in proper working order.

You can start learning on your own along with some you tube videos. But if you have a turning club near by and can find a mentor, you will improve faster. I recommend some spindles to start with then graduate from there as you confidence and skills improve.

Cavediver · Post by **Cavediver** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 1:47 pm

beeg wrote:I'd say to use the wolverine jig for sharpening. Ya get repeatability, spend more time turning, than sharpening. Go here to find a AAW turning club here, where ya can get a mentor to help ya learn.

http://www.woodturner.org/community/cha ... apters.asp

Nice! There are a couple more chapters around than I had thought. Thanks!

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... at=1,42207

terrydowning wrote:Safety first!

Make sure you have a good full face shield and make sure it's in place before you turn on the lathe.

Will this one suffice? Face shield
I hope so; I've been using it for the last year with my other power tools and really like it.

Thanks guys!

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 2:19 pm

Cavediver wrote:Nice! There are a couple more chapters around than I had thought. Thanks!

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... at=1,42207

Yep that shield should do ya fine, besides ya already have it. Pick a club that's closest to ya and attend a couple meetings to see how like em. If knot, try another one or all of em around ya before deciding which one ya want to join.

Mike907 · Post by **Mike907** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 5:11 pm

Hi Jay,

You might try to find a local club here. I would also recommend joining the American Association of Woodturners, just for their bimonthly magazine. I'm a rank beginner, but I've taken beginning and intermediate turning classes that my local club offers.

When you watch the Shopsmith Demonstrators, they are always using the skew chisel, but using the skew is a bit intimidating to me, so I bought a DVD on skew chisels by Alan Lacer. I also bought his Woodturning, Getting Started Right DVD. It's excellent. I have the Richard Raffan video, but I think that Alan Lacer's are better.

Have fun and Good Luck,

Mike

edflorence · Post by **edflorence** » Mon Sep 16, 2013 5:28 pm

Cavediver wrote:Hello all,
After many delays, it's almost time to put my Greenie to use as a lathe. I've turned a few things in the past, but that's near to ancient history, so I guess I'm starting from scratch.

How do I learn to do this? I've got a DVD on the way (Turning Wood by Richard Raffan), and I know that will help, but what else should I do?

Thanks!
Jay

Hi Jay;

You might have a look at "Practical Woodturning" by F. Pain. Its a bit old-school in style, but the information is solid and useful.

derekdarling · Post by **derekdarling** » Sun Sep 22, 2013 5:12 am

Build a heavy shelf solidly attached to the legs, near the bottom, and load it up with bags of sand. Amazing how smooth this makes it!