Getting wood to turn on you lathe can be a challenge. However the off cuts from a building site have great potential as practice turning blanks. Off cuts of commercial 2 x4s make good turning blanks for beginners. The wood is usually fir, spruce, or pine. These are soft woods rather than hard woods. The …
Woodturning Shop Notes
Shop notes are an often neglected tool of the woodturner. Planning your project helps you avoid mistakes and reduces your turning time. Keeping shop notes is easy with this template. Add them to your toolbox today. I can recall several occasions where I had turned a wonderful project. One was a seed pot maker and …
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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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 …
Introduction to Woodturning – What you need to get started
Welcome to the wonderful world of woodturning. If you are not sure what you need then this post will help you understand woodturning and the related woodturning equipment. At this point I need to make some simplifying assumptions. First you will need a powered lathe. The lathes come in a range of sizes from mini …
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5 Steps to Prepare Rough Wood for Turning
A very common question is where do I find wood for turning. The next challenge is, once you have collected some wood, boards, or branches, how do you get the rough wood onto your lathe? The key to successful woodturning is preparing the wood to turn, then securing that wood on the lathe so that …
5 Tips to Prepare Your Shop for Action
As I write this we are on the cusp of 2017. A New Year and a new season for turning. To help you get things together for the New Year, and anytime you need inspiration, here are 5 steps or tips you can take to prepare your shop for action. Preparation Get yourself lots of …
Woodturning Workshop II – Tips and Tricks
This is my second woodturning workshop. My first woodturning workshop is described here: Woodturning Workshops I – A great way to learn. I spent three days at Lee Valley Tools in Kelowna in October of 2016, taking woodturning workshops. I have been turning for around 20 years. The school of hard knocks was my first …
Is Your Woodturning Affecting Your Health?
I love woodturning. It is fun to turn wood into beautiful projects. Spending time at the lathe is both relaxing and productive. Yet woodturning can result in challenges to your health. How you turn and the environment you turn in can affect you. Here are 5 ways that turning can have an impact on your …
Five Common Turning Woods and Their Health Challenges
When we turn wood we recognize the differences between hard wood and soft wood. This has an impact on how we use our tools and what we will turn from the wood. Wood also has other properties that are important as well. This article looks at health challenges that can arise even from the most …
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Bluebird House Project
This is an easy woodworking project that only takes one board. That is what a bluebird house is. A simple plan is provided and step by step instructions are given so you can make your very own bluebird house. Bluebird House Project Bluebirds are that quick flash of blue that you catch out of …
