Woodturning Workshop: Creating a Staved Vessel

Now in its second season, "Woodturning Workshop" has become a national success story for a small public television station headquartered outside Tulsa, Okla.

Rogers State University Public TV, in Claremore, Okla., began preparing this series of programs about woodturning in late 2005. The National Educational Telecommunications Association distributed it to other stations in the Public Broadcasting System even before it aired on RSU. Now, the half-hour series has been shown in nearly 90 markets across the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Tim Yoder, the producer/host, began turning a dozen years ago. He's an Emmy-nominated TV photographer, but this is his first assignment in front of the camera. He engages his viewers through his expert knowledge of turning and his offbeat sense of humor.

Part One Yoder enlists the help of another Oklahoma woodturner, Bob Fulton. This "master of the jig," as Yoder calls him, has devised a simple jig that makes it easy to cut the staves for the vessel with a crosscut saw. Part Two Wth the staves glued up, Yoder shows how to shape the body of the vessel, then add solid wood elements for the base and neck.