Bells are a traditional Christmas ornament. They are part of the Christmas narrative. Jingle bells, sleigh bells, silver bells, I think you get the idea. A turned wooden Christmas bell will be a lovely ornament on the tree. A bell shape is fairly straight forward and a quick search through my Pinterest board, featurning 100+ …
Turned Wooden Snowman
It is December and there is snow on the ground. Do you remember trying to make your first snowman? I can recall thinking the snow was perfect and running out to make a snowman. Then as I rolled the snowball and accumulated snow all of the leaves that hadn’t been raked were sticking to the …
Yarn Bowl
A yarn bowl keeps a ball of yarn from rolling all over the floor. You take a regular turned bowl and add a curved slot for the yarn to go through. Slide the yarn into the slot so that the ball of yarn can roll about in the bowl without jumping onto the floor. Design …
5 Tips for a Positive Attitude at Craft Shows
5 Tips for a Positive Attitude at Craft Shows I’m writing in the middle of Christmas craft fair season. It is November 17th and Christmas is still a month away. This is after the big Fall fair in Rock Creek, BC, Canada, and the small community Christmas craft fairs are starting up. Doing so many …
9 Shop Safety Tips for Woodturners
Wood turning involves spinning wood and sharp tools. Spinning wood can lead to dangers and injury. But following some simple shop safety tips you can avoid common injuries associated with wood turning. Let’s start by looking at your woodturner shop. Did you notice that I said “your shop” and not mine? There’s a reason for …
Teaching woodturning to children – 3 preliminary questions
One of my greatest joys as a woodturner is to watch children who are fascinated with wood turning. Goblets, or other projects, that have a captive ring always create conversation about woodturning. Children are fascinated with wood and can be allowed to touch most turnings without damaging the piece. Spinning tops and other turned toys …
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Muddler – A woodturning project
Woodturning projects can have funny names. You can turn a garden dibbler, a spile, or a spurtle. Now you can turn a muddler. What is a muddler? It is used for muddling the flavors of fruits and herbs in alcohol and is a straight forward woodturning project. Design Considerations for a Muddler The purpose of …
Parting Tool – More versatile than you thought
The parting tool is one of the first tools that most turners get with their lathe. The obvious purpose is to help you “part” the turning off of the lathe. However the tool is much more useful than just getting the wood off of the lathe. So let’s take a look at two different parting …
Fish Bonker – A Woodturning Project
As an occasional fisherman I don’t always have all the fishing gear that I need or want. However, I always have a fish bonker. A fish bonker helps the fisherman speedily and efficiently dispatch a fish that has just been caught. There are lots of names for this type of wooden club. Common names in …
