Thread: Learning to turn wood.

Hi ... Why not join a club and go once a week. There are a lot of benefits ....

I found using a friendly and easy to work with timber a great start.

Still I made alot of mistakes regardless of the lessons ... Don't be afraid to make a start.

I suggest you contact the Laurels Mens Shed as they may have a woodturner among their members.
Address is 229 Main Street, Bacchus Marsh and the contact is John De Bortoli on (03) 5367 1061.
Golden riules are (1) never be afraid to ask and (2) never lose your sense of humour (you'll need it).
And enjoy this great hobby.

Gary

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There are a number of things that you can do The first I would suggest joining a club in your local area.

If you don't like that idea the second option would be to seek help from a turner on this forum. The third option would be to watch videos of turners. The problem I have of the last suggestion is that some youtube videos don't practice safe turning and unless you turn how do you know what is safe or not.

Thats why why it would be better to watch and ask question when you start turning.

Another suggestion and one that might be a little harder is to seek advise from the forum members. Preferably before you get into any strife

I think Roy Green at Get Woodworking in Kororoit Creek Rd, Altona teaches wood turning. I realise that it is not very close to the Marsh but would not be hard to get to.

Perhaps there may be a forumite who lives nearby that can get you started on the basics.

Best word of advice is to get some basic tuition very early on. It will make your turning far more enjoyable, save you a lot of time and perhaps quite a bit of grief.

So many new turners get discouraged because they can't figure out the basics and get frustrated or hurt and then walk away from turning.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Perhaps there may be a forumite who lives nearby that can get you started on the basics.

Best word of advice is to get some basic tuition very early on. It will make your turning far more enjoyable, save you a lot of time and perhaps quite a bit of grief.

So many new turners get discouraged because they can't figure out the basics and get frustrated or hurt and then walk away from turning.

I agree with the above. I started with a 7 inch swing Chinese metal lathe, a sharpened bench chisel and screwdriver, and sharpened them on a 1 inch wide belt sander. I had no instruction and did some reading and practiced. My early bowls took 30 to 40 hours. Lots of trial and error.

Now, admittedly with better equipment, I can put a dry blank on the lathe and take off a finished bowl in 3 - 4 hours.

Start slowly and carefully and pay attention to what the tool is doing and what you do to change what the tool is doing. Do good first, speed and ease will come shortly. Keep your sessions under two hours, shorter if you tire, cramp, or get annoyed.

Between 20 and 40 hours in front of the lathe, a couple hours a day, everything should get easier.

Turning, next to flying, is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

Originally Posted by Christos

If you don't like that idea the second option would be to seek help from a turner on this forum. The third option would be to watch videos of turners. The problem I have of the last suggestion is that some youtube videos don't practice safe turning and unless you turn how do you know what is safe or not.

First set of videos to watch is the set did on various safety aspects.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/safety-videos-161992