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 …
How to secure wood to your lathe
In order to turn wood on a lathe you have to secure the wood to the lathe. For spindle turning the wood is held between the head stock and the tail stock. For bowl turning I will show you how to mount a bowl blank with a face plate. These two methods lets the lathe …
5 Lessons I Learned from Mark Twain about Woodturning
I’m reading my Dad’s copy of “The Family Mark Twain” published in 1935, 25 years after the passing of Mark Twain. “Life on the Mississippi” is the story of Mark Twain being a riverboat pilot on the river. “Mark Twain” comes from the measurement of depth on the river. It means two fathoms or twelve …
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Wooden Ring Holder – A Woodturning Project
A wooden ring holder is a variation on turning a small bowl. It is designed to be used on a bedside table or the top of a dresser. Everyday jewelry can be dropped into the bowl, with the rings on the holder, and necklaces in the bowl. Everything is kept safe from falling on the …
5 Money Mindset Issues Artisans Face
I tend to focus on the physical part of turning. Holding the skew chisel and remembering not to go past half way otherwise I get a catch. OR Focusing on shifting the weight from one leg to the other as I’m doing a long spindle cut. But when it comes to taking our turnings out …
