How long did it take??? Learning Curve question

[Doug M Jones]

I know everyone is different but what is the logical progression in turning. I have some nice square scraps of oak to play with but is it bonkers, pens, spindles,boxes, bowls, HF, segmented bowls?? What should a newbie try and what should be left alone until some experience is gained. I have a habit of jumping in over my head at times. I'm thinking more from the safety standpoint. I don't want pieces of wood flying at me.

Also, I'm headed to the library to pick up some books but is there a way to sharpen tools without one of those $400 grinders?

Thanks for all the good advice I have been given.

[Mike Vickery]

I am not sure their is a natural progression. I started doing pens and bottle stoppers and now do mostly bowls and am starting to do hollow forms.
Do what interestes you, I will say if you start with bowl make things easy on yourself and start with small diameter shallower bowls and move from thier.

[Neal Addy]

Agreed. Everyone is different when it comes to how fast they progress. But you never stop learning.

I turned a lot of bowls before it seemed to "click" with me. The first 1.5 years or so were spent learning the tools, techniques, tricks, etc. Somewhere in the second year it started coming together for me. Now I feel like I can concentrate more on form/design (still working on that) and less on the basic mechanics of turning. I'm approaching my 3rd year in April. Still learning every day.

That said, I've seen some folks reach that same "click" point after six months. Everybody is different.

My approach has always been to continually try and push myself beyond my capabilities. I've done several pieces that I really shouldn't have been able to do at the time. Experience is the best teacher.

Just don't push to the point where you become a danger to yourself.

[Bill Wyko]

The first thing I did was jump in over my head with segmenting but it "turned out" to be right up my alley.:D

[John Hart]

If you don't like pieces of wood flying at you.....well...um....time to find another hobby?:confused:

Just kidding Doug...:) Get a faceshield....let the chunks fly!

Did some spindles....handles, doo-dads..etc for a few weeks....then went straight to hollowforms. Beat myself to death. Whacked myself in the face a couple of hundred times....learned what makes wood crack....ruined a bunch of projects....experimented with finishes. Failure after failure....And that was just yesterday!;) Two years...and no end in sight in the learning department. Which I'm happy about, by the way. If I had nothing to left to learn, I fear that I'd fall into uncontrollable dispair.

[Rich Souchek]

... is there a way to sharpen tools without one of those $400 grinders? ...
YES.
A regular 8" grinder will is prefered by most turners over that wet, slow $400 grinder you refer to.
Most turners like a 8" grinder with white wheels and a jig to align the guoges and skews. One of the most common jigs is the WOLVERINE, which runs about $80. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=130-4100
One of the more common grinders is offered by Woodcraft and cost $95. It goes on sale often and comes with two aluminum oxide wheels for the4 HSS steel in turning tools. http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=4605
Asearch on sharpening turning tools will get into the details.
Rich S.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Doug....this is just my newby opinion. I've been turning a little over a year. I bought a book...."Woodturning - A Foundation Course" by Keith Rowley and used his progression described there. A bonker is a spindle. I started with spindle turning as it teaches you to turn coves and beads which is what most turning is. Get any "free" wood you can....neighbors blown down tree limbs..anything.....and turn........practice those coves and beads....practice using all of your tools. You can turn beads with gouges, skew and parting tools......practice making coves and beads.....pactice making grooves using all your tools......A great beginners video is Richard Raffan's "Turning Wood".....practice the spindle work...then I'd do pens...then bowls.

Right now I'm getting a lesson in humility. I'm turning 12 bubinga knobs for a fellow Creeker. It's a lesson in humility. Those knobs are just coves and beads...but trying making 12 exact duplicates..I'm using a couple of dial calipers for measurements...it's not as easy as it sounds........I talked with John Hart about it the other day...he commented...."Now you know what Navy stood for..."....:confused: "Never Again Volunteer Yourself" said John......turning those knobs is a humbling experience.:o

Turn.......practice!....Enjoy!

[Don Orr]

...usually varies for everyone. Practice is the key. Play with those scraps you have to learn how to use the tools correctly. Use the books and videos to help you learn the tools. Use this site and a local turning club to help with everything. Especially, learn to sharpen your tools. And no you don't need an expansive $400 machine to do it. A decent bench grinder, maybe a stationary belt/disc sander can do the job well. Some prefer to free-hand sharpen, and some use jigs. I mostly use jigs but can free-hand if I need to. The object is SHARP. If you start with less expensive tools, you can grind away without worrying about messing up a fancy tool.

There are a ton of other websites out there with lots of tips and techniques and project plans, Google away. This is an outstanding site for questions like the one you just asked. Keep 'em coming if you have more. Turners just love helping other turners:D , and most anybody else for that matter.

Most important, BE SAFE and HAVE FUN !!!!!:D

Good luck and show off what you come up with.

[Dario Octaviano]

I started with "bonkers" using what ever I can grab and actually sawed off some limbs from my tree to practice on....that took a few hours, just to familiarize myself with my tools.

I then started with my first bowl...I was so new at it (totally clueless :D ) that I did it w/o using a chuck or faceplate (though I have one) and turned it between centers :eek: . Most of the "hollowing" was done with a parting tool too. LOL :D It came out okay though and I still have it today. :)

After a few bowls, I bought a bowl gouge and that made things a bit easier. Pens followed and now hollowform.

For me, the choice was actually restricted by the available tools.

[Rich Souchek]

Doug,
I just jumped right in, and tried to do whatever interested me.
This maybe the school of life, but we don't get graded on our learning and output (WELL, MAYBE Neal Addy does on his hollow forms...)
I found platters to be a blast, 14" and 16" bowls put huge grins on my face and make my chest puff out, the pens are fun to use at work and to give to special friends, boxes are great to hide little treasures in, the first stool will be a family heirloom......
I don't know what I really enjoy till I try it, and often it takes a while even then.
Just jump in and go. Don't let little flying objects scare you. I've surely lost my share, I just laugh at them now.
Guess one more hint is in order. The BIGGEST single improvement in my turning happened when I found a turning club, got involved, and got some instruction.
Rich S.

[TYLER WOOD]

Well I started with one or two bonkers, then did a bowl, a couple of pens, now a platter. next up Hollow form!!!!!
I think the prgression is how comfortable you are with the tools and what interests you. If pens and bottlestoppers is what you are interested in, you may never turn a bowl. If bowl and hollow forms is your drug of choice, you might no see the innerds of the pen kits in your shop.

Find you spin crack and get after it!

[Bill Wyko]

;) I knew everything yesterday but I forgot it last night.:eek: Gotta start from scratch again.:D I'm actually one of those guys that's more lucky than good.

[Daniel Heine]

Doug,

A good way to sharpen without spending a ton of money is to buy an inexpensive Grizzly/Harbor Freight vertical belt sander. You can build an adjustable device underneath it to secore the bottom of your tool so that the angle where the tool edge meets the belt is where you want it, and it will give you a perfect edge. Even on eof the various permutations of the wolverine jig will work with a belt sander. The other advantage is that you will get a flat grind instead of a hollow grind. Stronger and will hold the edge longer.

For me, it was wear proper face protection, and start pushing the envelope. If you have digital cable, there is a woodturning show on their a couple of times a week. You can learn a lot watching.

Good Luck,
Dan Heine

[Doug M Jones]

Daniel,
I've seen a show on DIY network, I think it's called Woodworks but never seen an episode about turning. Is there another show/channel?

Thanks everybody for all the help.

[Jeff Towle]

Is anyone using the JoolTool sharpening system? Looks pretty slick in the demo video on Woodcrafts site.
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=5807

Any thoughts pro & con?

Jeff

[Jeff Towle]

Daniel,
I've seen a show on DIY network, I think it's called Woodworks but never seen an episode about turning. Is there another show/channel?

Thanks everybody for all the help.There used to be 2 shows called "Woodturning Techniques" & "Woodturning Basics" on on Saturdays but they look to have been dropped. Basics took a complete novice and showed how to get started in turning. Techniques was the series that followed with info more for the intermediate level turner.

[Ron Ainge]

Doug, I started about 4 years ago now and I was a bit luckyier than most guys. I found a guy that both gives lessons for Woodcraft as well as free lessons every Thursday night at our local Woodcraft store. I never thought about there being a logical progression of turning things because I would go to the Thursday night demo's (still do) and then I would go home and try to duplicate the same thing. The first ones were not really good but I did progress some along the way. I was lucky enough to take one of my natural edge bowls to the local chapter club meeting this week and win the turning chalange. This was the first award I have recieved with my rurning and as you may well believe I walked out of the meeting on cloud 9. As others have said take all of the free wood anyone will give you even if you don't think you will do anything with it but make a fire out of it. You will not believe how much free wood you will get. It does not hurt to make a small project and give it to the wood supplier. I was lucky to find a tree trimmer who supplies all of the wood I will ever need, but I do accept wood from anyone who will give it to me because you never know when one supply will dry up and you will need the other.

[Bill Boehme]

You never stop learning and the path that you take is whichever way that your interests lead you. No two people have exactly the same interests. Maybe what you are really asking is, "how do I learn?" Absorb as much information as you possibly can especially reading a lot. Work on developing an awareness of what is good advice and what is not when you listen to other turners or peruse the online forums. Never miss an opportunity to get instruction from a well respected turner. Belong to a local AAW chapter if at all possible even if you can only make a few meetings a year.

Bill

[Jeff Moffett]

Here's the sequence of projects that Craft Supplies teaches in their week-long beginner's workshop:

Bead and Cove Stick
Egg
Bud VaseAll of the above projects were bead and cove practice on spindles. Next, we tackled bowls:

Bowl (wet)
Bowl (wet)
Bowl (dry)
Bowl (dry)And finally, we did three projects that were a little more advanced:

Goblet
Box
PlatterI thought the sequence was a nice progression through various projects.

[Jason Slutsky]

I've only been doing this for a few months. As so many of the others say, SHARP tools are a must. I already had a grinder and belt sander and while some of the tools are simple to sharpen and can be done freehand, others are tougher. Here's a link to a site where I got plans to build a jig that's similar to the Wolverine jig. I spent about $10 on materials and it will serve me well until I am ready to buy a more expensive jig. Also wouldn't hurt to buy yourself a diamond sharpening stone.

http://www.aroundthewoods.com/sharp.shtml

WOODTURNING: A FOUNDATION COURSE by Keith Rowley (about $20) is a great book to start with.

Videos by Richard Raffan and Bill Grumbine are excellent.

Your most valuable resource will be other turners. Either here, at other forums, or in person. Search for local turners clubs in your area.

Welcome to the abyss!

Jason

[Curt Fuller]

There's an awful lot you can learn from classes and other hands on sessions. Joining a turning club is a great help if there's one nearby. But nothing teaches better than putting the tool to the wood. The more you spend time at the lathe the faster you'll learn. Get wood from the firewood pile, the local green waste landfill, anywhere you see someone cutting a tree. Don't worry about how fast your learning, just keep at it and you'll see the results of your efforts.

As for sharpening, there is definitely a knack to it and it makes all the difference in the world once you learn how to do it. But like turning, you have to have a little instruction for starters and then you just have to do it on your own until you finally get it. But there's nothing like watching the shavings fly from a sharp gouge. Well, maybe a few things.:rolleyes:

[George Tokarev]

First, the obvious. Grain is grain, and a gouge is a gouge, so the methods used on spindles translate perfectly into faceplate turning of convex shapes. Whittle your way to circular and learn how to support and swing your edge in steep to make an entry cut and then lower the angle to make a peel along the grain. You'll learn about down hill and down grain that way. With a bit of forethought, you can do most of the cutting even on a long-grain hollowing as a shallow peel. Concentrate on what makes shavings, not dust.

Since you want to avoid situations where you can get broadly underneath, keep the working part of the tool above centerline when working convex, cutting along, in and downward, keeping the rest as close as you can so the tool can't travel into a wedge position between the rest and the work. That's why the standard rest drops straight down, or even leans into the work at the top, so it won't hit the piece below. Even works that way below center when cutting the inside out of a bowl. You can get closer with a properly angled rest, so always move it as you stage into your cutting for best tool control.

Four basic moves are cove, bead, part and plane. Something that has all of them is the standard old Shaker peg. They had a lot of them all over, and a lot of apprentice turners, so I'm betting that's what they learned on. Recommend them as cutting practice.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

...I have a habit of jumping in over my head at times. I'm thinking more from the safety standpoint. I don't want pieces of wood flying at me.First Doug if you are here and you are you need to understand the Abyss is over everyones head. I think that is why we're all here. Secondly, If you don't have something flying at you at times it is like riding a roller coaster without the hills and banks. Don't listen to me however, I'm just nuts!:D