Book

[Gary Breckenridge]

:)I need to buy a basic book on woodturning. Lots of pictures and diagrams would be helpful.:) Any ideas? :)

[tim mathis]

hi, i get quite a few at half price books.
wood turning a foundation course- keith rowley $5.00
turning wood -richard raffan $ 11.00
at the one in centerville ohio, the last time i went there were alot from woodcraft some one had sold them.most all their books are almost new if not new. if there is one near you i would check there and look at the library.
tim mathis in centerville, ohio

[EDDIE GLAZE]

Enything By Richard Raffin, Books, Videos, Dvd`s

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Gary.....I'd recommend "Wood turning - A Foundation Course" by Keith Rowley. It's well written and illustrated and aimed at the beginning turner. He goes into detail on the how's and why's.

[Tom Keen]

I particularly like Richard Raffins books. I found a boxed set on Amazaon.com last year for less than $40. General turning, Bowls, and Boxes. Very straight forward practical info..

[Benjamin Dahl]

Gary, I agree with Ken that Rowley's book is a good one. another I like is Phil Irons' "Woodturning". It has a lot of pictures and goes step by step on projects.
Ben

[Gary Breckenridge]

Thanks guys. I picked up a Raffan book at Half Price Books. Now I have to find the time to read it and put it into prcatice.:)

[Dean Thomas]

Gary,

Where on what river are you?

The best money you can spend, IMO, is gas money to your nearest turners guild meetings! I know some folks who travel up to 2 hours to get to meetings so they can learn lots and ask questions where lots of opinions will fly. If you JOIN that club, chances are they HAVE all the books that you might want to purchase plus a dandy video library, too!

The second best money, again IMO is not on books, but on videos. Raffan, Grumbine, Bonnie Klein, and a few others for BASIC STUFF are really fine.

Third, do not neglect thine public library! What they don't have, they can usually get in short order via the inter-library loan program. Videos and books. I think that it's a great thing that we turners can benefit from our taxes in this way!

THEN comes book purchase, IMO, especially once you're looking for ideas more than for basic skills. Basic skills are frankly better caught by watching and asking a live body than by trying to translate ink on paper into 3D actions! :)

Again, one man's opinions, but the first one is shared by lots of folks in the vortex.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Gary I agree with Ken. Hands down is Keith Rowley "WoodTurning: A Foundation Course." I would get Bill Grumbines Turned Bowls Made Easy, Richard Raffans Woodturning Video and the companion book. Those are what I started with 2 yrs. ago. I have added some DVD's as I progressed. If you have a woodturning club or Woodcraft lessons would be the best but my problem was I didn't have anything within 3 hrs or more driving time one way.

[Tom Hamilton]

Hi Gary: I started turning in Sept 07 so I'm a fresh faced newby in this whole arena. I've got books by Raffin and Rowley and DVDs by several other well know turning instructors.

But, the fastest and most complete learning I did was with a teacher in my shop. The local turning club had several member who teach, for a fee, in the student's shop. My instructor taught me more in a day than I could read and translate in a week. Kind of like riding a bicycle, all the reading in the world won't replace Dad running along side with his hand on the seat.

So, I would suggest out check out the local club, select one of the local instructors and learn it right once and for ever!

Best regards, Tom, in Houston, with a second lesson scheduled in Feb.

[Jim Underwood]

Another vote for the Keith Rowley book here. I think he's very clear about the fundamentals. I have a boxed set of Richard Raffan's books, and they are very good ( I refer to them all the time) but I think Rowley establishes fundamentals in clear form that others only touch on as they explore certain projects.

I'll also re-iterate that joining a turning club is one of the best things you can do to be exposed to all kinds of things, and learning opportunities abound.

I've not seen the Bill Grumbine video, but by all accounts it's a very good resource, and it's always mentioned whenever someone asks about learning bowls.

Probably the very best thing you can do is get one on one instruction from a knowledgeable turner.

[Martin Braun]

There are also free video tutorials on youtube, thewoodworking channel, etc. in case one is not near a woodturners association. Granted some may not be the best, but they can be good for getting ideas on a variety of topics as one progresses.