club librarian looking for rec's

[Archie England]

greetings, esteemed ww's....

Our club wants to expand our DVD and book holdings for turners. Though we have some renown turners in the decade old group, most of us--including me the librarian--have a lot more to learn. That's where you might could help! Assuming that there are three classes of turners--beginner, journeyman, and master--what texts and DVDs would you recommend. An example for you, we've recently had a shop teacher join. He's looking for all sorts of literature to help him plan curriculum for high school kids. Nearly a dozen of our newest members have joined before even purchasing a lathe, so they need the most basic stuff. Our former club president, still very active, has added a boat load of great tips and tricks for all of us; but still, I need to get better organized and identify what's truly "classical" versus "trendy." Since I'm not that well read in the field, I'm hoping that you will chip in and help.

many thanks:rolleyes:

[Steve Schlumpf]

Archie - the first DVD that comes to mind is Bill Grumbine's 'Turned Bowls Made Easy'. It covers everything from harvesting the wood to finishing and has something in it for every level of turner. If there was only one DVD to have - this would be it!

[ROY DICK]

I agree with Steve. Good luck with the club. Stress safety with everyone.

Roy

[Roger Wilson]

For DVD's goto www.smartflix.com (http://www.smartflix.com), search on "turning", and you'll get a very good representative list of turning videos by Grumbine, Raffan, Darlow, Clewes, Lacey, Mahoney etc. You can buy the DVD's from smartflix.com or elsewhere.

For a club library you need DVD's that cover all the basics but also the odd or unusual as well so the more advanced folks will be interested.

As for books, I'd think them less important but ones by Raffan, Conover, Ellsworth, Rowley, Darlow are good. goto amazon and search on lathe or woodturning and you'll get a good representative list. Again for more advanced people some of the unusual books might be useful.

You might also consider (since the club seems to have money) having club subscriptions to the turning magazines (other then AAW as most clubs require membership in that first).

It's been my experience that for woodturning, DVD's are more useful then books and magazines, although in the very beginning everyone should read one or two basic books (Rowley or Raffan are good).

Another idea would be to have someone download a lot of the YouTube videos on woodturning (search on woodturning, turning and lathe), put them on a DVD and loan them out. As long as you aren't charging for the loans, fair use should cover any copyright issues with this. Alternatively assemble a link list to them and you don't have even potential copyright issues.

Something else the club should do is video tape it's meetings and demos (both club member demos and paid guests) and make those part of the library. A digital camera, microphones, tripod and some lights aren't that expensive. Since not all club members attend each meeting and demo this would allow viewing at a later date. They could also be made available on the club website providing your server space and hosting contract allow. Club members should also be encouraged to make videos of their projects and make those part of the club library. A YouTube channel could be set up for the club and used for this, although the need to break up videos into 10 minute segments is painful.

Since you have a number of beginners in the club there should be a rather heavy emphasis on safety. You might consider putting together a club safety video covering all the usual issues and requiring that all new members (regardless of experience) view it at a club orientation meeting, at the end of which they receive a copy of the DVD. There are also out on the web sets of written safety rules that you might consider adopting and giving to each new member.

As for your shop teacher there is a new book coming out called Shop Class as Soulcraft by Mattew B. Crawford PhD. It deals with his idea that working with your hands is as satisfying and socially useful as getting a college education and then sitting in a cubicle in the "knowledge" industry. Chapters from it could be xeroxed and given to students (colleges do this all the time. Permission from the publisher may be required), althernatively make the book one of the texts required for the class. There are also a couple of free pre-word war II books on the web that he could print and use. Those safety rules might be useful for him as well.

[Scott Conners]

+1 Bill Grumbine's Turned Bowls Made Easy
All of Richard Raffan's DVDs, especially the Turning Wood DVD and Book combo.
Anything by Stuart Batty, Mike Mahoney, or Alan Lacer.
Our club has a decent library of videos of past demonstrations, which have been quite useful, I particularly like Stuart Batty's live demos.
Cindy Drozda has a few great finial DVDs out recently, good for more advanced turners looking for a next step.

I am primarily self taught via the internet and DVDs, and these are all ones that have helped the most.

[Archie England]

many thanks for the great ideas. Looking forward to accumulating more wisdom.

thanks for your support!

[Tony Kahn]

What if we somehow got a site together for the turning club librarians to exchange demonstrator dvd's between clubs. i.e. our club videos all demo's and burns them on dvd for members to check out or purchase. that would make for some great club libraries if they could exchange dvd's between clubs to build the collection.

[Roger Wilson]

What if we somehow got a site together for the turning club librarians to exchange demonstrator dvd's between clubs. i.e. our club videos all demo's and burns them on dvd for members to check out or purchase. that would make for some great club libraries if they could exchange dvd's between clubs to build the collection.

Good idea. You could post the demo and meeting videos on a website perhaps protected by a login/password. There are a number of sites out there for posting video.

This about.com page lists a number of sites that will host video:

http://websearch.about.com/od/dailywebsearchtips/qt/dnt0627.htm

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bill Grumbines videos....

Richard Raffan's videos.....

Alan Lacer's videos.....

Cindy Drozda's videos....

[David Walser]

I own a number of turning DVDs and have watched several from our club's library. Here are my suggestions:


Technique: There are several good videos on how to use a particular tool, such as the skew. Amongst these, I really like the following:

Alan Lacer's skew chisel series The Skew Chisel and The Son of Skew is a wonderful learning experiance. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Videos___Techniques___The_Skew_Chisel___lacer_skew _vid?Args=
(http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Videos___Techniques___The_Skew_Chisel___lacer_skew _vid?Args=)





http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Videos___Techniques___The_Son_of_Skew___lacer_son_ vid?Args=



Stuart Batty's father, Alan Batty, also has a DVD entitled The Skew Chisel. The title is misleading. In addition to showing how to use a skew, Alan also shows how to use a roughing gouge, a spindle gouge, and a parting tool. It's a very good introduction on how to use the common spindle turning tools. It was shot as part of a public television series in the UK (I assume it was the UK). From the lighting and graphics, it appears to have been made a long time ago and has the appearance of a shop safety video made in the 60's or 70's. Despite the lack of production values, Alan Batty conveys a lot of information in a short amount of time. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Videos___Techniques___The_Skew_Chisel___batty_skew _vid?Args=



Misc. Projects: Some videos don't teach technique as much as they tell you how to turn one or more projects. Among these, there are several very good videos. I'll recommend one series and another video from Alan Lacer. I recommend these because each disk has a variety of turning projects and should keep a turner busy for several days if he or she trys to make each project.

Rex Burningham and Kip Christensen have a series of four DVDs on turning various projects on a lathe. For example, volume one covers bud vase, Christmas ornament, green bowl, spinning top, wall clock, and curly frys (the kind you can eat). The videos are well made and provide clear instructions on how to make each project. In addition to these project videos, Rex and Kip also have a very good pen making video series. http://www.learningturning.com/site/page/pg4047-pn_Woodturning_Project_DVDs.html
Alan Lacer's videos all have excelent production values. His Projects along the Woodturning Trail is no exception. Alan spends more time on each project than do Rex and Kip. If you're just wanting to know how to make something, Rex and Kips series is a better bet. Alan spends more time teaching technique which makes this the better learning experiance. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Videos___Projects___Projects_along_the_Woodturning _Trail___lacer_trail?Args=


Bowls and Boxes. Most of us got into turning to make bowls (or pens). In addition to bowls, boxes are a very popular turning project. Which explains why there are so many, and so many very good, bowl and box videos. Bill Grumbine's and Mike Mahoney's videos have already been mentioned. I'll endorse them, too. In addition, consider the following:

Lyle Jamieson's Bowl Basics the Easy Way is my altime favorite turning video on any topic. In this two disk set Lyle shows you how to turn a bowl, but he also shows you how to set up your lathe, sharpen your tools, discusses the various chucking methods, etc. Lyle has strong opinions about just about everything related to turning. He shares them on this video and explains why he holds those views. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Videos___Techniques___Bowl_Basics_the_Easy_Way___j amieson_bowl_basics?Args=
Richard Raffan's Turning Boxes is a classic. It should be in every club's video library.
As much as I like Raffan's box turning DVD, it does not cover the topic nearly well enough. Ray Key's three DVD set does a better job of showing how to make different style boxes. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Videos___Projects___Ray_Key__set_of_3____key_set_v id?Args=



HTH

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ditto what Ken said.

[Archie England]

What if we somehow got a site together for the turning club librarians to exchange demonstrator dvd's between clubs. i.e. our club videos all demo's and burns them on dvd for members to check out or purchase. that would make for some great club libraries if they could exchange dvd's between clubs to build the collection.

Outstanding idea.

What would make this beneficial to all would be participation by the publishers of ww-ing literature and DVDs.

I'll pass on your ideas and suggestions.

thanks,

Archie

[Brian McInturff]

Lets not forget Lyle Jamieson's "Hollowing Made Easy" Excellent dvd.

Books, Keith Rowley - "Woodturning a Foundation Course"

Phil Irons - "Woodturning 2 Books In One" Excellent book for the beginner

One book that I like that may be a little obscure is by Peter Childs - "The Craftsman Woodturner"

These are in addition to the ones already mentioned earlier in this thread.

[Marc Himes]

I would add Mike Mahoney's video "From the Tree to the Table" which shows the process for turning bowls all the way from cutting pieces off the log to turning them green and finishing the dried piece. It also shows coring using the McNaughton System.

Marc Himes

[Archie England]

many thanks to each of you who have responded! I'm compiling a list from the suggestions and getting ready to compare it to our present holdings, and then check that against what is all available.

Perhaps some of us can make SMC the hot spot for such information--to the point that every woodturning book or DVD would be sent to our forum as a form of info/mercial, perhaps with a several minute "youtube" type clip of selected contents. This way, all clubs could access the growing database of materials via this forum. Perhaps that would bring greater sharing of information as well. I haven't been to AAW yet, so I'm not aware of whether such things exist or not.

again, thanks.

Archie

[Archie England]

bump for afternoon crowd