want to get serious

[chris ormsby]

I have had my grandfathers lathe for the last 20 plus yrs and have always had it on the list of things to tackle. It is made by "duro". It has a 10" dia swing and approx. 30" between centers. Of course no model or serial #. I have misc. spindle turning tools of all shapes and sizes. Thinking I was going to conquer the world I bought a set of sorby tools 5 or 6 pcs). I am guessing they are not ready to use off the shelf?? This brings me to my next question. Reading many of these posts, I guess you spend as much time sharpening as turning? I also acquired a slow speed grizzly wet grinder. How do I use the oneway sharpening system with this grinder. The pics online appear to be pedestal grinders. Can these attachments grind a fingernail form on a gouge?

I am intirested in bowl / faceplate turning. Pepper mills etc... With two young kids and all that goes with them, I need smaller project needing less financial support and time. No more entertainment centers and curio cabinets. I have a woodcraft store not far from home. Is it worth a one day turning course?? Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

[Neal Addy]

Welcome to the forum and the turning abyss!

Don't believe a Wolverine is going to fit that puppy. The Wolverine guides are made to fit under the wheels of a standard dual-wheel grinder.

If your local WC offers a basic turning course I think it would be worth the time if the price is right. Nothing like first-hand mentoring. Also check into a club near you.

[Dean Thomas]

Reading many of these posts, I guess you spend as much time sharpening as turning? I also acquired a slow speed grizzly wet grinder. How do I use the oneway sharpening system with this grinder. The pics online appear to be pedestal grinders. Can these attachments grind a fingernail form on a gouge?
As Neal already shared, Wolvy ain't gonna work here. Sorry.

No, we don't spend as much time sharpening as turning, unless we have carbon steel tools instead of HSS or better. The better quality the tool, the less time you generally have to spend sharpening and resharpening. :)


I am intirested in bowl / faceplate turning. Pepper mills etc... With two young kids and all that goes with them, I need smaller project needing less financial support and time. No more entertainment centers and curio cabinets. I have a woodcraft store not far from home. Is it worth a one day turning course?? Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
Actually, I'd strongly recommend getting into a turning club. The dues for a club will be LOTS less than a 1/2 day or whole day class at WC. In our case, the guy that teaches most of the long classes at WC is actually our chapter president this year and teaches most of the same skills every "open lathe Saturday" at our clubhouse. Plus the guys in the chapter here are plenty willing to share. Once you find someone whose teaching style agrees with your learning style, ask him/her to mentor you for a while. Almost certain to make a long-term friend.

Make some friends in the tree surgery business for appropriate sized trees or limbs. Make friends with a cabinet business to get scraps of hardwoods. Make each friend an occasional, spontaneous little gift to express your gratitude and you'll have all the stuff you'll need, kiln dried and green!

Chris, visit your profile and let us know where you are in the world. You might have someone right on this list who'd be willing to help.

[Jim Underwood]

You can probably find out all you want to know about your old Duro, on the Old Woodworking Machines website. They have pictures, sales brochures, parts manuals, owners manuals, and even a forum.

I second the idea that you should join a club. It's the single most helpful thing I did when I started turning.

You may be able to rig up something that would work with that sharpening system. But unless you like making jigs and stuff, I'd go with a regular pedestal grinder and buy that wolverine system to go with it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with all the above. Yes take classes at woodcraft. It is the fastest way to learn and not as much frustration trying to teach yourself. On the grinder above the wolverine jig won't work. My brother had one like you have and sold it. Bought the woodcraft grinder and wolverine jig like I did and is well satisfied.

As far as sharpening all the time I don't think most turners do. When I got my tools initially I did spend some time practicing and getting them ready to turn. While I am turning I might spend 30 to 45 seconds touching up the edge. If you get the better Cryo tools or the better steel tools (more money) they will last longer. I have a 1/2" cryogenic bowl gouge made of powder metal that I can turn 4 to 6 bowls before sharpening. Just gives you a idea no we don't sharpen all the time.

[Dean Thomas]

Actually, just reading Bernie's and Jim's comments below, and thinking about some other areas of my life, I can tell you why!

I'm a college trained musician. Loved music all through high school, during service and into college. Graduated in music education. Didn't teach for a number of reasons, but that's not the point. :)

As a young musician, I took lessons. Teachers drove me nuts with their constant correction of my hand position or my head position, or the way the mouthpiece sat on my face. Drove me NUTS! Somewhere in my sophomore year of college, I had an epiphany: the discipline (not punishment!) of correcting, correcting, correcting, was actually for my good. If you have lousy hand position, you can't play as fast or as accurately as you might with good hand position. Bad head position causes breathing problems. Bad placement of the mouthpiece causes lousy tone, bad articulation, and you can damage your mouth! One of my classmates would not listen to his piano instructor about hand position and nearly destroyed his wrist. Had tendonitis and carpal tunnel issues so badly from bad hand position while playing piano that his trumpet hands were nearly crippled. All from lousy hand position! I GOT IT!!!

As a turner, I was mostly self-taught, and even though I pick things up really quickly, I sometimes pick them up WRONG. I had someone watch me who told me very carefully and precisely what I was doing wrong. The catches and bad surfaces I was getting were already telling me that what I was doing was not enough, but until someone came along and said, "Do you want to know WHY the skew catches all the time?" and "Would you like to do less sanding than you're currently doing?" that I knew I was back in my sophomore year of music school again. Epiphany time again.

Since then, I've been blessed to have been able to mentor a number of folks. Most turners don't like to turn in front of other turners. I think that guys especially hate to be shown a better way. It's that d-*#&^ pride thing, y'know? We did an "all turn" at our club meeting a year ago and did nothing but tops. It was like pulling teeth to get people to turn other than the few who do most of the teaching and demonstrating. Once we got a couple up, sharing that we were there to help them with problem tools and cuts, and to help them learn better techniques just exactly the same way that we learned, by someone coming along side and being an extra set of eyes, some came along and admitted that they needed help. A 12-step program for turners was born. ;) I had a guy who had watched a Richard Raffan tape on skew usage. Several times, even! But somehow, he never got the idea of control by making sure that the bevel is in contact with the wood. Rub the bevel, glide the bevel, float the bevel on the wood, pick your verbiage, it ain't an axe and can't address the wood like an axe. Once I put my hand over his and adjusted the rotation so that the bevel was where it belonged, his cuts were great. His eyes were like saucers. Same thing showing a different guy how to use a bowl gouge without having to fight all the time. Something so very simple as dealing with that bevel, but until someone shows you or until you happen upon it by yourself and have that "voilà" moment--until your pride can get out of the way enough to ask for help sometimes--what should be a soaring pleasure can be a real drag!

Find a club or a competent turning buddy! IMHO.

[John Shuk]

I took a 4 week class at Woodcraft. Each Tuesday evening. It was well worthwhile for me even though it was a 50 minute ride.
A day long class would be good I think but a few half day classes might be better in my opinion.