Thread: New starter...

Gooday and welcome to the board.

Your 1st step is to find a woodturning club near you and watch and talk to other turners there. It does not take long to work out the good ones. Most woodies are free with their info and like to help a newbie.

Next step is to get a few lessons with a reputable turner that teaches.

Then buy your lathe and tools because you have an idea of what you require. Try to imagine what you will be doing in 5-10Yrs time as far as turning goes.

Buy good quality gear, don't skimp because it will let you down. I have seen a lot of people with talent give it away because the tools and machinery wern't up to the task.

Richard Raffans books are excellent value as far as learning goes. Another one I reccommend is "Woodturning, a foundation course" by Rowley.

I hope this helps.

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Ian () Robertson
"We do good turns every day"

welcome Andrew.

I found this site to be a good reference site.
http://www.a1studio.freeserve.co.uk/

Kev.



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IF at first you don't succeed, relax your normal.

Originally posted by abungate:
Hi All,

Firstly, this is a great service. I've read over some of whats here, but I think I've only just scratched the surface.

In short, I'll be buying a lathe in the next month or two. Ive used lathes at a very basic level before, but nothing special. As technique is very important, I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good book (or web reference) on (very) basic technique?

I plan to do the beginning of my turnings between centres, but will branch out to face plate turning a little further down the road, so my aim at the moment is between centres.

Any suggestions are much appreciated

Andrew

Gooday Andrew,

you could also try viewing Mike Darlows 3 volume video set which he demonstrates concisely the do's and dont's of face plate &
centre (spindle) turning as well as the recommendations other woodies have posted to you.
In the video, Mike darlow demonstrates how to sharpen your tools, when and how to use various chucks, how to use bowl gouges, scrapers, roughing gouges, skew chisels, roughing down a square block ready for spindle work, making a bowl, cup chuck turning eg. egg cups and goblets, and design.

The videos set me back $160 from Carbatec in
Melbourne; this may seem a little steep for a beginner who needs to initially invest in a lathe and tools but in the long run the series is well worth the investment. (you keep refering to them).
Hope this helps.

Cheers
Evan

G'day Andrew - Trend Timbers run classes with John Ewart, one of Australias best spindle turning teachers. Go get some classes, they also sell lathes and accessories. But get the classas first.

The Richard Raffan and Dell Stubbs videos are excellent and make you want to run to the shed and turn till you drop. These are produced by Taunton Press and should be available for loan through your local library. Guaranteed not to put you to sleep.
The Raffan books should also be available at the library. If you want to spend money they should all be available at Woodwork Book and Tool, Carba-Tec or other turning suppliers.

Hope this helps

Cheers - Neil

Hey, great advice everybody! I especially like Robbos 3rd: Try to imagine what you'll be doing in five to ten.....could be five to ten.... Anyway, good machines, sharp tools, full safety gear, and a special affinity for wearing woodshavings...ahhh, the joys of woodturning!

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"Always cutting corners...!"