Well, guys ‘n gals, I got signed up with the Port Townsend School of Woodworking to take a turning class at the end of this month. There was only 1 spot left! and I grabbed it. Just in time to get some Christmas gifts done.
I don’t suppose anyone else here is going to the same class? Really looking forward to it. Never had a problem with teaching myself how to use a saw, router, planer. But the lathe is a little frightening, feel like it’d be good to get some personal guidance.
Now, if I can just figure out where I hid that set of turning tools……..
forestgirl — you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the girl 😉
Edited 9/9/2009 3:06 pm by forestgirl
Replies
Turning is one of those things... I'm great in the class, horrible when I get home. I'd like to blame the equipment, and perhaps that's what it is; but honestly there is an entirely different vibe at my shop.
Each year I give myself a woodworking theme/project, one that I work on between projects or try to incorporate into projects. Last year was to learn more about finishing, this year was to get proper dust collection, and I'm thinking next year will be to do more turning.
Anyway it's lots of fun. Good luck.
Perhaps they call turning "The Dark Side" because wool is pulled over your eyes in the shop? Huh!
I vote for turning as your 2010 focus, yes!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I vote for turning as your 2010 focus, yes!
Well then it's settled. Turning classes are one thing that Calgary is really good for. We have a wood store that caters to hobbyists, and the owner is a pretty skilled turner. He has a really nice classroom with Vicmarc lathes, they're all set up so that if you get a catch you trip a breaker and the power gets cut off.
For the last few years he's brought in Richard Raffan to teach a few classes. We'll see if he's coming in 2010.
Buster
Must be in the air. I'm taking a day long "intro to lathe" class this Saturday. Funny to be a complete newbie again. I'm psyched.
"Funny to be a complete newbie again. I'm psyched." Me too! We can compare notes. I'm going to ask permission to take pics.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Well, class was a complete blast. I was able to use a Jet 1642, which happens to be the lathe I've ordered for my shop. It's a very nice machine.
This class was basics of spindle turning (next one will be bowls). We played with some oak (not a forgiving turning wood) just to try out beads and coves and get the feel for the tools. In the afternoon, we made chessmen out of scraps of mahogany and whatever else was in the glue-block bucket. It's not very hard to make a bead or a cove, but it is much harder to do so right where you desire in exactly the right diameter. Even little catches or slips (like off the top of a beed in the wrong direction) can mess a lot of good work up in a split second.
All that said, I love this tool. It is really really fun!
Rank beginner practice junk:
View Image
Edited 9/13/2009 3:17 pm ET by Samson
Very cool, Samson! I'm looking forward to getting hooked. Let us know how you like the bowl-making. I really want to learn that and also make some candlesticks.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Keep us posted. I bought a used PM lathe from a friend last spring. A daughter who just turned 1 has kept me distracted. I am hoping to take some evening classes with the local turning club this fall. My lofty goal is to stay out of the emergency room. Anything else is gravy.
Randy
"My lofty goal is to stay out of the emergency room." Always the first goal! Let us know how the classes go. Don't want you to have to wait until kindergarten to get some Daddy Time in the Shop.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
In September, I always turn to the NFL!
I love fall. My favorite season.
Veteran's Day, Turkey Day, the NFL, and nothing growing! How could it be better? :)
I'm afraid to turn. I'd probably love it, and then there'd be a lathe to buy, another dust collection drop to run, more tools to buy, and...
Hey, wait, I wanna turn!
Are you afraid the way I'm afraid, or afraid to get addicted? Hah!
I'm not really afraid to turn, but I do feel the need for a little extra help. All other woodworking, I really prefer to be alone. So I can talk to myself if for no other reason. But I need a turning angel to guide me through the first dozen hours or so, 'til I get comfortable.
I hear The Dark Side never lets you go.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Well, let's get away from that 'fear' thing and get to 'comfort'.
(I took a turning class. The instructor asked if anyone in the class had never done any turning. "Me Stoopid! I put up my hand and the next thing I was standing in front of the class. I had never even turned a lathe on. I lived to talk about today. No harm at all.)
Now, back to 'comfort'. I suggest you get one of those turner's jackets: the ones that zip all the way up to the neck. It's hard to concentrate on the tool when you itch from chips down your neck.
Finally - if you do any sanding (Of course you will!) one of those helmet air filtering device is great. Without one, you will be appalled the first time you blow your nose and wonder what went past your nose into your lungs.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
"...you will be appalled the first time you blow your nose and wonder what went past your nose into your lungs." Brings back memories of Barn Boogers. Barn Boogers occur when one cleans the alfalfa hay loft, or unloads and stacks a few tons in a closed space. Hah hah!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Watch out as it is REALLY easy to get addicted! I think part of the attraction is starting and finishing something on the same day.
There is a real learning curve and the safety aspects are key. Every time I spin up a 20" piece of a tree that I can barely carry it makes me nervous!
Start with cheap (free) wood and stay after it and you will have fun!
Scott
"Every time I spin up a 20" piece of a tree that I can barely carry it makes me nervous!" Geeez, ya think? I've turned once, Dennis up in Everett giving me guidance on his very nice Powermatic VS lathe. Little bowl, perhaps 4" diameter. It was fun, but can't say I was really relaxed about the whole thing.
Would like to get good enough that I'd feel confident taking a hunk of the L. vitae that's residing on a shelf, turn a mallet out of it. No mistakes allowed on that one.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Once you learn how to safely work and get some tool skills you will have tons of fun! Even David Marks said that there is a real learning curve on the lathe.
If you want to turn a mallet, get some firewood and make a prototype before you use the expensive stuff! If you turn green wood be sure and clean up your lathe after each session since that wet wood (especially oak) will rust lathe beds in no time.
Here are some pics my daughter took of me roughing out a bowl from a green oak blank. Took off the face shield after I got it round for the pics.
http://web.me.com/danielle.kelley/Site/My_Albums/Pages/Wood_Working_%28bowl_work%29.html
Scott
Yarp!My one experience with turning is when Scott hooked up some off-balance LOG, switched it on, and said "watch THIS!" and touched something to it.I think it exploded, there was wood flying everywhere.I didn't see most of it, because I dove under the bench.
"I didn't see most of it, because I dove under the bench." Hah! I'd'a been right next to you, ROFL!
I thought I was being oh-so-generous one day when I took part of a small Juniper log to a friend of mine who had recently bought a Jet mini-lathe. Turned out (s'cuze the pun) to be the exactly wrong piece of wood to give him. Don't remember exactly what he said happened, but it scared the b'jezus out of him.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Yeah...Sometimes you never know.I gave a friend an old benchtop tablesaw once.The next thing I knew, he wouldn't return my calls, then he moved to Utah. :)I would be more concerned about it, but he left his wife behind, and she's a babe.
FG
Juniper is very poisonous! But my tree rats I feed seem to like them!
I have a bunch of trees squirrels I feed peanuts to. It is very funny watching a tree squirrel trying to open a walnut shell.
I have one that will come to me for the walnut and will run up the tree and drop it onto the sidewalk! A big Maple about 30 foot tall? Or maye higher?
He/She will try untill it OPENS..
FG,
I took a turning class a couple of years ago because, like you, I was concerned about operating a tool that I had absolutely no knowledge of. I had heard stories of people who bought lathes and were so traumatized with the catches that they put them in the corner and left them alone. I'm glad I took the class because they introduced the subject in an intelligent way...stressing the safety procedures and initially running the lathe at a very slow speed...and before I knew it I was turning a bowl. I bought a lathe after that and practiced at home and can honestly say I've not had any real problems turning on my own. It's addictive, though. After a long day trying to get something just right, sticking a piece of wood in the lathe and having at it is a great way to relax.
Good luck with you class and let us know how you like it.
Jin
Have fun with the class.
I'm not sure why turning seems to be so much more addictive than other aspects of woodworking, but that certainly seems to be the case for many folks. After a while, they invest $50 in materials to turn pens that look almost as good as the $0.49 ones from the five-and-dime. ;-)
Turning is, however, a handy skill for lamps, furniture legs, and such.
GREAT NEWS! Have FUN!
One of the things I like about turning is the relative speed of projects. You can complete a bowl in a weekend without too much trouble. Like almost all of woodworking, tool sharping is key and learning how to quickly put a new edge on a tool is really important. My next skill to learn is the off set turning to do pad feet for tables. Always something new to learn and work on. Enjoy the class. And by the way, I have never turned a pen (just haven't gotten to it).Dan Carroll
Quickly completed projects is a characteristic I'm definitely interested in. Since I've gone back to my first love, training horses, any kind of extended time in the shop is near-impossible to get, but I miss woodworking. Turning seems like a good way to get some projects done in the kind of time I have available.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG.. I will soon be in residence on the island. I've got a very weighty box of turning tools that I won't be using anytime soon. I'm sure they'd like a chance to get into some action. See you soon.
Cool! Thanks!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
If you're turning spindles at home get a Steb center and the catches won't be nearly as devastating. I think there may be a few imitators out there. I'd get the one by Sorby:
http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/12221
The first thing you need to do, under supervision, is experience a catch or two with a skew and with a gouge. A skew catch will be a pulse-quickening event without a Steb center.
FWIW, I've come to appreciate Sorby Spindlemaster tools. I rec'd one as a Christmas gift a few years ago and bought another one a few months later. I use them for almost everything - you never have to grind them, just hone the flats.
http://www.woodcraft.com/family/2005024/2005024.aspx?refcode=07INAFFL
http://www.robert-sorby.co.uk/spindlemaster.htm
Edited 9/14/2009 5:52 pm ET by CStanford
Thanks, I'll check out the Sorby's and the Steb center. The tools that I put away "in a safe place" are Delta's. I'm sure they are OK, but probably not much more than that.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 9/14/2009 8:17 pm by forestgirl
Get a Steb center. I promise you won't be sorry. You really probably need a couple of sizes depending on the size of the blanks you'll be turning between centers.
Edited 9/15/2009 5:32 pm ET by CStanford
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