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The Editors Mailbox

Watch someone turn a lamp shade (it's better than that sounds, really)

Matthew Kenney, senior editor

30 users recommend

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There are some great woodworking videos on YouTube. Most focus on instruction and can be quite boring. This is a great video, but you won't really learn any turning technique. However, you won't be bored, either. Some of the shots are simply beautiful. So, watch and enjoy a few moments of another person working wood.

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Comments (27)

p_4204 writes: Most of you guys are just idiots! Can you do this on your lathe? I sure can't. Do your shavings peel off as a continuous ribbon? Mine don't. And the imagination of this guy to even thinks up this project.......AMAZING DUDE!!!!
Posted: 3:56 am on October 7th

TWhipple writes: Waste? Man are you kidding me? Thats just gonna be mulch for his organic garden.

Posted: 12:13 am on October 3rd

atulniya writes: The lampshade is indeed superb. But now with less plants and no much new cultivation, it is a criminal waste to make a lampshade out of such a huge wood piece.
Posted: 2:24 pm on September 22nd

Joinery writes: Why must the videos and manyn DVD's contain that annoying music? There should be a way to turn off the music without muting the dialog.
Posted: 10:03 am on September 21st

Joinery writes:
Posted: 10:02 am on September 21st

John_Como writes: I'm not a turner. It looks like it was turned while the wood was green. Will it warp out of shape as it dries?
Posted: 10:11 am on September 19th

turnertoo writes: Lets give credit where credit is do, not to down play this terrific video by Soren Berger but Peter Bloch in New Hampshire has made making wooden lamp shades an art form and career for years check out his web site:
www.woodshades.com
Posted: 7:43 am on September 18th

SkyValleyDave writes: I cannot believe all the whinning re the waste, absolutely unreal ! who are you people?
Posted: 10:37 am on September 16th

section1 writes: I can't believe he turned that size log on his lathe my lather would of been jumping all over the place and his lathe wasn't even bolted to the ground.
Posted: 9:32 pm on September 15th

Wixom writes: After looking at the main picture, but after watching the video, I realized that the turner turned away all of the wood on the inside, in which making a smaller lampshade incredibaly hard to do. I apologize.
Posted: 4:33 pm on September 15th

Wixom writes: With all this talk about waste, I did not find anybody noticing the big piece of wood left on the chuck. The turner might be making a smaller lampshade, and after that one is made, making a smaller one still, utilizing more of the log than you people give him credit for. It's still a nice lampshade. I wish I could make one like that, waste and all.
Posted: 4:29 pm on September 15th

rsteramoto writes: Reminiscent of James Prestini"s work at the Chicago Institute back in the 1950's and later at UC Berkeley.
Beautiful.


Posted: 11:51 am on September 15th

garyprott writes: What is with all this winning? To much waste????Are you kidding me? This piece of wood was on the way to a fire wood pile. By the way I drive a SUV and get about 22 MPG. So lets hear the neg. crap about that.
Posted: 11:18 am on September 15th

Kalikoka writes: OK, KaKid beat me to it. I spent a decade full-time woodturning in TN. Anyway, I cleaned up storm damage from yards and fence rows, sawed all I could into lumber, did turnings from all else I could, and split firewood for myself and gave away to friends. Still, I had an annual bonfire party to get rid of the stuff I didn't have time to get to or wasn't usable for whatever reason. This was almost always wood that a commercial mill won't take and was destined to be firewood- if not just dumped. And yes, the shavings created lots of great walkway mulch.
Posted: 9:25 am on September 15th

berferdt writes: pcoleman525 has a great idea. Why didn't anyone think of that already?! Verneer lampshades - I bet WalMart or maybe even Harbor Freight could sell all you can make in their collection of other decorative wooden products. Go for it!
But talk of waste, how much time have we all wasted reading this thread . . .
Posted: 9:24 am on September 15th

kakid writes: When I first started turning I too thought about all that beautiful wood going to waste. Then I realized that most of the wood that I (and other woodturners) use is salvaged and/or picked up along the side of the road. For example, over 95% of the wood I turn I have collected wood from trees that were downed by ice storms, tornadoes, construction projects, tree trimmers or by the power company. This wood was destine to either: 1)sit by the road side and rot, 2)be taken to the dump/landfill, or 3)be turned into firewood. Yes, we do create a lot of shavings but many of us use it for compost, mulch or give it to someone that can use it for other things. So lighten up on us turners. We are actually using wood that no other woodworker would bother with.
Posted: 9:13 am on September 15th

bill117 writes: Do all you people, worried about too much waste, eat carrot tops, egg shells, and tomato vines? Maybe we should just make every thing out of plastic. Oh wait, you don't like that either.

Posted: 8:23 am on September 15th

harry1936 writes: This video shows an example of fine workmanship.Please give its due.As to waste,Turning produces a lot of waste.I have that much every week and I try to use every small piece.My car also gets 35mpg.
Posted: 8:01 am on September 15th

Brian_Nystrom writes: Well, the process is certainly fascinating to watch and the end result is definitely beautiful. Very creative.

However, I have to agree with the others that the amount of waste is just appalling. Sure, all woodworking produces waste, but this is the only process I can think of where the waste is apparently in the 95%+ range.

There must be a better way to hollow a log that salvages a substantial percentage of the wood. Perhaps we can put our collective heads together and come up with creative solution...

And for "evandene", I drive a car that gets 35 mpg. What do you drive?
Posted: 7:19 am on September 15th

NJLAD writes: Very cool to see how that was done. Excellent display of skill. I like the warm effect of the lamp. That would be great with rustic decor. Wonder how much movement that will have?

I thought the video was well produced as well. Speeding it up and adding interesting music (which I liked a lot) is much better for this type of thing than a slow tutorial style vid.

Too bad the comments got off to such a negative start. To think of all the wood laying in the woods rotting, thrown into fireplaces or made into disposable furniture. Keep in mind he's starting with the whole log. Not boards that end up producing an amount of waste when milled from the log, then again when milled in the shop.
Posted: 6:49 am on September 15th

krumvillekarpenter writes: Oh gee whiz fellas, you've got to lighten up. All wood working produces waste: saw dust, planer/jointer shavings, off cuts, etc. But we use this waste. I give virtually all of my shavings and small offcuts to those who have wood stoves; it's great tinder and kindling. It's also good for mulch and can be mixed in to compost. So this guy produces a lot at one time but how many turned shades will he really make? How many people would be willing to pay for what he would have to charge? There isn't much of an issue here.
Posted: 6:45 am on September 15th

thehistorydude writes: Obviously not woodturners commenting here. How do you think bowls are made? Most aren't cored. Ever see how much waste there is in sawing flat lumber? Did you know that woodturners typically use the bits of wood that mills or others leave in firewood piles because they're not straight enough, long enough, etc?
Posted: 6:35 am on September 15th

FarClaire writes: Lovely to watch something so delicate emerge, and the combination of strength and fine skills on the part of the turner. Not a waste, I'd say, unless everything is judged only by how practical it is.
Posted: 6:15 am on September 15th

bulldogts writes: I agree with all above, what a waste of good timber, 10 to 1 it ends up as the rest as fire wood.
Posted: 3:36 am on September 15th

evandene writes: Great job, great skills you must have to cut this out of firewood. The waste again is firewood.

The poor poster regarding using veneer instead doesn't know that one can't get veneer of this kind of wood, you have to waste the more exotic woods for it.
And regarding waste, most probably the poster is driving a 6.3 liter truck on 1 gallon per 5 km, damn hypocrites
Posted: 3:10 am on September 15th

ISAF2007 writes: I agree with pcoleman525, that much wood waste makes me sick to my stomach
Posted: 8:21 pm on September 14th

pcoleman525 writes: So much waste. Why not just wrap a piece of veneer into a circle and tack the ends together? Same effect.
Posted: 1:37 pm on September 14th

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