Advice to begin turning.

[Bryan Berguson]

Okay folks, I'm really getting interested in this turning stuff. The big stuff unfortunately, like the bowls, platters, and whatever else can be made. Is it wise to jump into the big stuff or should I start with some small pieces? I've never turned a thing in my life. I have a small lathe that was given to me but I've never hung a motor on it and until I found this site I was fixing to give it away.

I have no desire to make a pen (no offence to the pen turners) and don't care much for turned legs. Should I try some small bowls and go from there?

Some from the hip advice please.

Bryan

[Dario Octaviano]

Bryan,

First thing is to learn how to use each tools properly. For me it is best done with spindles, usually referred to as "bonkers".

I did that a few hours and then proceeded to a bowl. Big or small doesn't matter, as long as you are not paying for the wood. It can get expensive that way. Also turning wet/fresh/green wood is easier and produces the nice curlies that is encouraging.

Expect some "catch" and don't let those discourage you.

Reading books, watching videos and watching an actual turner in action will make the learning curve less steep. I learned from books alone and only later watched videos. There are lots of videos online even sorby and oneway have some "commercial" videos that you can watch and learn from.

Stay safe and always wear your faceshield and a dust mask at a minimum. Remember that sharp tools are safe tools...and pleasure to work with too.

Good luck!!!

[Gordon Seto]

Bryan,

The best advise you can get is find whether there is a local AAW chapter that you can attend.
http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/members.pl?submit=Chapter+List
They usually have library material for member to borrow. You may be able to get some free hands-on mentoring.

Gordon

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bryan.......Dario gave you some pretty sage advice! Start with spindle turning and learn to use each tool. The main mantra you need to learn, live and chant is "Ride the bevel". Keep in mind that you never touch the tool to the wood without the tool touching the tool rest first. A book to consider "Woodturning - A Foundation Course" by Keith Rowley....first class book aimed at the beginner....well written, organized and illustrated.

Videos I'd recommend......"Turning Wood" by Richard Raffan......"Turned Bowls Made Easy" by a Creeker Bill Grumbine.

As stated above, join a local turning club, AAW chapter and you'll find that turners are the most generous kind of people.......because poverty loves company and turners stay broke!

Welcome to the Abyss!

[Richard Madison]

You could practice on some ordinary southern yellow pine construction lumber. Inexpensive, and free scraps are usually available from nearby homebuilding sites. You could glue up larger blanks from 2x material. It can be challenging, due to disparity in hardness between winter and summer wood, but still good and cheap practice wood.

[Bill Boehme]

The lowly southern yellow pine (marked SYP on the end) can be turned into something rather beautiful. I happen to know a fellow named Richard in Madisonville, Texas who had some beautiful and very large turnings displayed at SWAT last year.

Bill

[Gary DeWitt]

I second Gordon's advice, find yourself a club right away, there is no better resource for starting to turn.

[TYLER WOOD]

My advice?

Back away slowly! Don't make eye contact with those trying to draw you in. Just ease yourself back out the door. This will save you lots of money and time wasted thinking about your next project.!!!

JUST JOKING welcome to the vortex. I am one who said I could avoid the VORTEX, WRONG!!!! There is no avoiding it, plunge in.

Get a cheap set of chisels to whittle on while you learn to sharpen, then buy a good set. Buy the largest lathe you can afford! Get in touch with a tree trimmer in your area and you will more than likely get more wood than you could turn.

[Gordon Seto]

In our region, we don't see SYP in big box store. We only have SPF (Spruce, pine, fur). Those are whatever they are selling; most are likely to tear out, chip, crack and has plenty of knots, defects. They have uneven growth; they are likely to chatter also.
They are unforgiving, but the best material for practice on. If you don't do it right, the wood will tell you right the way.
Be careful, they are likely to throw off the lathe also.

Gordon

[Mike Vickery]

I will be the odd guy and say if you want to start with bowls go ahead. I would recomend starting with small shallow bowls. It is a lot easir to cut around the outside on smaller diameter bowls and a lot easier to hollow the inside on shallower bowls.
The good thing about starting with bowls is you can start with 1 bowl gouge so it is pretty cheap from a tool stand point. I would say a 3/8ths bowls gouge to start would be a good choice, a 1/2 would be fine but might be a little more difficult for a beginner.

[Dario Octaviano]

Mike,

I just hope he won't expect that the bowl gouge will do everything for him start to finish. I know the best turners may...but not a beginner (I think).

I personally still need (at the very least) a parting tool, and scraper in tandem with the bowl gouge.

[Bill Grumbine]

Some good advice here. The one thing I will add though, is that bowl turning and spindle turning are two different things. The big difference is the way the wood is oriented on the lathe, and that makes for different cutting techniques and to a certain extent, different tools. If bowl turning is what you really want to do, start with bowls. I would suggest you start with small bowls first though, since they are easier and faster to turn, and the mistakes you make will be smaller as well. If you get a hankering for spindle work - hollow forms, boxes, goblets, stuff like that - then start on your spindle techniques.

Some tools will work well for both types of turnings, some are not a good idea. For example, a side ground bowl gouge is just thing thing for bowls (which you might expect), but it also does a good job on roughing spindles. A spindle roughing gouge works well on spindles, but is a real bad idea for bowls. George will probably be along to disagree with that shortly, but that doesn't change my opinion. Parting tools will work well for various operations on both types. Skews are bad news on bowls with the very narrow exception of putting in decorative grooves. Of course, someone may write in to say that they have no problem using a skew on a bowl, but most likely they are using it as a scraper. Spindle gouges are good for spindles, and marginal for bowls, at least for beginners. Once you get some experience, then you can use a spindle gouge for some operations. Scrapers can be used for both if they are ground back sharply, which is not the case from the factory. An angle approaching 30 degrees is good. Before you grind one though, check this if you are not sure exactly what is meant by that statement. Depending on which face you use for reference, it could be 60 degrees you are after. It might help that from my point of reference, scrapers are often ground at 10 degrees or so.

Good luck with it. There are a lot of people here with lots of experience to help you along.

Bill

[Mark Patoka]

I'll also add that when you begin turning, you will need to have a way to sharpen your tools. You won't make it through your first piece before you need to touch up the edge and if you don't have a sharp tool, you're going to get very frustrated because you'll be fighting the tool and the wood the whole time.

I would also start with bowls or vases or weed pots. That way you don't have to be so concerned with getting something to an exact dimension such as a pen. You have more freedom to just turn whatever you feel and a chance to try different techniques and tools.

[Richard Madison]

Thanks Bill B. Good picture. For those on the left coast, have been told that douglas fir is the usual construction lumber of choice. Love the stuff and have made some nice little bowls from it.

[John Hart]

Ya know, if it were me starting all over again, I'd go with small platters first, then gradually get bigger and deeper...working my way into bowls...then eventually bringing the sides up and around into Hollowforms.

....if I were starting all over again.

As it stands, I did everything in the wrong order. Fun ride though!!!:D

[Bill Wyko]

What everyone says here is true. I started turning in december and have made great progress. There's plenty of pro's here that can help you with any question you can come up with. Here's a pic of my 8th piece I ever made.

[Andy Hoyt]

Lots of good stuff in here. And allow me to emphasize what Gordon said.

A local AAW chapter will indeed be a wealth of knowledge. From the library to the demos to the mentoring possibilities to the comraderie to the exposure to different techniques and tools and turners - it's all good stuff.

Take your time, investigate everything, and choose wisely.

[Doug M Jones]

Bill,
Wow, I am a newbee and know very little about woodworking in general and less about turning but I am impressed with your 8th piece. Could you post pictures of the first seven so I can see the progression. Nice Work.

[Bill Wyko]

click on my name then click on threads I put up. I think there all there.:D

[Dale Gregory]

What everyone says here is true. I started turning in december and have made great progress. There's plenty of pro's here that can help you with any question you can come up with. Here's a pic of my 8th piece I ever made.

Just an important note to point out, Bill is not the norm!:eek: Most of us only wish our work looked that good!:)

Dale

[Bill Wyko]

Thanks:D I was a home builder for 8 years and I've been in car audio for 20 years. I'm always building something outrageous that requires similar attention to detail so I kinda had a head start. I did what everyone is recommending though, I bought a book about Ray Allen and a book from Malcolm Tibbetts to learn how to do segmented turning. These guys are incredible and whats even better....they give away plenty of their secrets.:eek: I think in some cases (and in their pictures)more than they know. Malcolm is actually a regular visitor here and always has good advice for us rookies. You won't find a better bunch of people than the ones here. I wish you the best of luck and if I can help in any way please feel free to ask.:rolleyes: The one in this pic I think was my 4th piece.

[John Hart]

....Skews are bad news on bowls with the very narrow exception of putting in decorative grooves. Of course, someone may write in to say that they have no problem using a skew on a bowl, but most likely they are using it as a scraper....

Now...just to clarify what Bill is saying here...if you did use the skew as a scraper, you wouldn't get very good results, and, as you rise up to use it to shear, you will be prone to catches. However, if it is used correctly, at an angle to shear downward across the face of the outside curvature of the bowl, you will get some wonderful results. There's lots of poo-pooing out there about skews, but in my shop, I work hard to learn this particular tool and find it useful. Gouges, on the other hand, give me fits. But that's just me. I haven't dedicated the time to them that I should, to become proficient. But that's what it takes for all tools I reckon.:)

[Gordon Seto]

as you rise up to use it to shear, you will be prone to catches. However, if it is used correctly, at an angle to shear downward across the face of the outside curvature of the bowl, you will get some wonderful results. :)

John,

Let me see whether I get the picture correct. It seems you are holding the skew at an angle to the toolrest to shear scrape.
If that is the case, why won't you use a regular scraper? The edge of the skew may be too fragile. And it is easier to maintain the burr of a scraper.

Gordon

[Rex Guinn]

Bryan;
I have just started in January. My suggestions are. Start by watching a video or two. I watched Bill Grumbines videos, and Dell Stubbs, they both do great work, but different. I took a one day class from Jamie Donaldson. That was the most help, then went back and watched the videos again. I started with a 1/2" bowl gouge ground to elsworth type grind, and a 1/8 parting tool. In the last month I have done about 8 bowls and was gone for two weeks.
IT'S GREAT FUN! You will Enjoy it.

[Hilel Salomon]

I sure wish I could give you advice, but every day I discover how far I am behind most of the contributors. I do benefit from the kindness of the turners in this forum though. The one thing that I can add is that making a bowl is one of the nicest most satisfying things in the world. Now....... living about half of the year in South Carolina, I have scores of yellow pine on my property and have access to tons and tons of it. Every turner here and in VA (my other home) tells me to stay away from it. They warn that it is full of pine sap which will gum up your tools. Not having tried to turn it, I will be happy to hear from those who are recommending it. Lots of luck with your plans. Hilel.

[John Hart]

John,

Let me see whether I get the picture correct. It seems you are holding the skew at an angle to the toolrest to shear scrape.
If that is the case, why won't you use a regular scraper? The edge of the skew may be too fragile. And it is easier to maintain the burr of a scraper.

Gordon

I think I know what you're asking Gordon. My skew has a rounded, oval-type shaft that essentially allows me to address the wood much in the same way that a bowl gouge edge addresses the wood. I have to stress though, this is not scraping...it is cutting, with the handle down and the orientation of the blade such that it follows the curvature of the bowl...pivoting that orientation as I move through the curve. I don't know anything about the strength of the edge though, and a burr on the edge would be detrimental when using it this way.....So I sharpen it differently than I sharpen a scraper....trying to create the finest edge I can.

Like I said....I really stink at using a gouge and have tried to learn to master the skew before trying to master the gouge. (I'm kinda slow, so I only concentrate on one thing at a time :o ) I still have quite a ways to go before I can say that I've "mastered" the dang thing, but I keep at it. :)

[Gordon Seto]

I still have quite a ways to go before I can say that I've "mastered" the dang thing, but I keep at it. :)
John,

I am afraid some of us may not live long enough to become "masters". Watching some masters like Richard Raffan, Stuart Batty and Jean Escoulen ... etc., I think we may have a better shot if we were child labor for fathers who were production woodturners.

Wood doesn't know whether it was being scraped or cut. Most importantly, the collectors do not care how the tools were used or even what tools were used. Only turners with ego will. I am for whatever works with less sanding. (I hate sanding.) With open mind, we have to agree that we may obtain the same goal with different tools.

Gordon

[Bill Wyko]

You've got one foot in the vortex......there's no escape now.:eek:

[Bryan Berguson]

Thanks for all the great advice. I guess the first thing to do is to see if I can get the lathe I have working. Second will be to get the tools I have sharpened. Some reading, some videos, more advice here... Thanks again to all.

Bryan