Weight is good As a general rule, the heavier and more substantial the machine, the better. One thing almost every novice turner will notice is that they're so focused on following the above tips that they have a "death grip" on the tools. It covers such areas wood turning for beginners mp3 spalted wood, turning bigger and smaller pieces, adequate lighting, shop layoutsigning your work, and other general woodturning tips. Under-bench storage helps to give a stand useful extra mass. It comes under the same genus as Brazilian rosewood.

Back to the lathe and TADA — more shavings. Again, I had mastered the art of woodturning. There was nothing left to learn! However, a few seconds later, the same thing. Smoke and dust. For the next 14 minutes, I tried repositioning the tool in all different directions. No luck. With no confidence, I sharpened the tool again and returned. TADA — shavings. After numerous times sharpening, I eventually finished my first bowl as shown below.

I would eventually learn two important lessons. First, even tools that come with a beautiful cover can be dull. Secondly, turning tools can become dull very quickly. I should mention, that I would later realize that the tools that came with the lathe, were made from carbon steel.

These tools can become dull in as short as seconds. With this amount of cutting, carbon steel will not stay sharp for any length of time. I created a blank like my first bowl and mounted it on the lathe. Roughing out this piece seemed to go much faster than my first bowl.

When finished, I brought the bowl in the house to sit proudly next to my first masterpiece. Shortly after bringing the bowl in the house, I noticed a few small hairline cracks. With every passing hour, the cracks kept getting bigger and bigger. As the cracks were getting bigger, I was getting less and less interested in woodturning. Finally, about a week later, I took my masterpiece shown below outside and buried it behind our woodpile.

Again, I thought about cleaning up my lathe and listing it for sale. Most of my initial learning about woodturning was — through trial and error. Looking back, I believe it was these challenges that kept me interested in woodturning. After all, how much fun is there in doing something that always turns out perfect? Another aspect of woodturning that has kept me interested over the years is free wood. Living in a rural community with access to a free green waste dump, means plenty of free wood.

Before getting into woodturning, I spent a lot of time working with metal. Fabricating everything from indoor and outdoor furniture, metal fences, smokers, etc. However, with metal, I was starting to realize I could typically buy the final product for less than I was spending on just the materials.

With woodturning, this was not the case. Almost all the pieces I have turned over the years started as free wood. With Wood Turning For Beginners 60th free wood, I could financially come out ahead. I have also come to enjoy the transformation and creativeness involved in converting a free log into a beautiful piece. Many of the pieces I have created over the years have found their way into the hands of family members and friends as Christmas presents, wedding presents, baby showers, etc.

After creating my first bowl, I never would have thought there was so much to learn. After all, I already knew everything there was to know about woodturning! I would later read that mastery typically requires three to ten years 10, hours or more of practice and reflection on performance.

Even now, after turning wood for over 10 years, I still do not call myself a master turner. With regards to mastery, I would also add that reading and talking to other experts in an area can speed up the process. For example, I recently was talking to a local wood carver who has been carving wood for about 5 years. He has won numerous awards and contests for his work. When I met him once in his shop, I asked if I could look at the tools that he used to create his intricate carvings. I was amazed.

The only tools he had were from a local lumber store. His tools consisted of carpet cutters, utility knives, and pocketknives. I then asked him if he ever attended any workshops on carving, subscribed to any wood carving magazines, etc.

His answer was no. Hence, I gave him some of my catalogs on woodturning that also contained carving tools. The next time I visited his shop, sure enough he had a piece set of palm handled carving tools. Instead of using carpet cutters, he was now using carving tools with various sweeps and profiles.

By the way, I did eventually sell my first lathe. However, it was not out of frustration with turning, but because I wanted a bigger lathe with variable speed. This website started out as a collection of notes and pictures. Over the years, it keeps growing as I discover, read, watch, and learn about different ideas and techniques for woodworking and woodturning.

Because of my initial unfriendly experiences with wood orientation, creating clean cuts, wood cracking, and dull tools, I have written articles on each of these topics. I will be uploading these articles in the upcoming weeks. In particular, one article focuses on wood orientation. More specifically, how you mount wood on the lathe.

Is the grain running parallel to the lathe i. This article also covers the advantages and disadvantages of both methods of wood orientation. Another article focuses on tool orientation, methods of cutting, and creating clean cuts. Still another article provides an overview of wood, moisture, and cracking.

This article also includes numerous methods to reduce or eliminate cracking. Other articles focus on sharpening tools. More specifically, methods to determine the sharpness of a tool , features of a good sharpening system , and how to sharpen various tools.

Another article focuses on general woodturning ideas, tips, and trade secrets. It covers such areas as spalted wood, turning bigger and smaller pieces, adequate lighting, shop layout , signing your work, and other general woodturning tips. I will also be including step-by-step instructions for creating some interesting and fun woodturning projects.

When woodturning, safety is important step. For this reason, you will find safety mentioned in numerous articles on this website. The banjo slides along the bed of the lathe and supports the toolrest. It allows you to adjust the toolrest and place in various locations, making it possible to hold the turning tool in the most convenient location for removing wood.

Most modern lathes allow you to tighten and release the banjo quickly with a locking handle. The bed is the horizontal part of the lathe that joins the headstock and tailstock. On many lathes, you can position the headstock, tailstock, and banjo at any point on the bed. The steel mesh guard provides protection from flying chunks of wood and debris.

You should always use the guard in operations that allow its use. You should wear a facemask when turning without a guard installed. The headstock holds the material that you will turn. It transfers power from the motor drive mechanism to the workpiece. Typically, the motor is below or to the side of the headstock and powers the spindle with a belt. The spindle is the shaft in the headstock. This shaft is supported on both ends by thrust bearings that allow the spindle to rotate, yet prevents the shaft from moving in and out.

The spindle typically has threads on the end which allow various attachments e. On the inside of the spindle, there is typically a Morse taper. This Morse taper can securely hold various attachments such as a drive center or a pen mandrel. The tailstock slides along the bed in alignment with the headstock. You can use the tailstock to help support the workpiece. This is especially helpful when the workpiece is either long or slender. You can also use the tailstock to hold drilling and boring tools for machining a hole.

The tool rest supports the turning tool as an operator cuts into the wood. You can adjust the tool rest for height and angle to the work. Most modern lathes allow you to tighten or release the toolrest quickly with a locking handle. There are many different sizes and shapes of toolrest available. For example, some toolrests are straight, some toolrests have a curve to assist with turning the interior of a bowl, and other toolrests have a curve to assist with turning the exterior of a bowl.

Funny article…. I bought a large Jet lathe last year. I had quite a catch…. Your article hit home, for sure. Glad I came across your article. My first lathe is being delivered in three days.

The greater the distance between the two points of contact, the less support that is provided to the tool. One key to safe woodturning is to remember to always keep the bevel behind the sharpened edge of the tool resting on the wood.

Following this rule will help keep the tool from taking too much off at one time, or worse, grabbing the wood and perhaps ripping the tool out of the woodturner's hands. When beginning to cut with a tool such as a gouge, while keeping the tool on the tool rest, lay the back edge of the tool onto the spinning wood so that the point of contact is on or behind the bevel, but that the tool's cutting edge is not yet cutting.

Once contact is safely made, use your right hand to slide the tool backward toward the body, away from the lathe until the cutting edge begins to engage the wood. Throughout the entire cutting process, the bevel should remain in contact with the wood.

When woodturning, one should always work "with the grain. For instance, when hollowing out a cove, cut from the edges toward the center. Cutting from the center out toward the edge of the cove would be considered as cutting uphill, which is far harder to control and could easily cause the tool to grab since it is very difficult to cut uphill and still keep the bevel of the tool on the wood.

When working with gouges, chisels, parting tools, and other cutters, the rear hand the one on the handle should always be lower than the forehand on the tool rest. This will keep the tool a leading position, where the wood will be turning into the cutting edge of the tool. However, a scraper should be used in exactly the opposite manner.

A scraper doesn't cut like a chisel but works more like a butter knife. As such, the rear hand should be higher than the forehand, which will allow the cutting edge of the scraper to be beneath the tool rest, and be in a trailing position to scrape the wood. As with any skill, it takes a lot of practice to become a good woodturner. An experienced woodturner makes it look easy, a point that will be driven home the first time the novice begins to turn.

One thing almost every novice turner will notice is that they're so focused on following the above tips that they have a "death grip" on the tools.

The grip on the tool should be firm and in control, but one should avoid "choking" the tool. After a bit of time on the lathe, the novice turner will begin to relax their grip on the tools, and at that point, they'll find woodturning becomes a little easier.

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