Thread: Which one of these woodturning books would you choose?

-The Practical Wood Turner by F. Pain (1974) Old style but it is a good read and the principles still apply.

The best book IMHO for beginners is "A foundation course by Keith Rowley."

Books - and I have a few - are fine.

If I had my time again, I'd be investing instead on some lessons with some of the experts here on the board and elsewhere. I missed my chance with Vic Wood when he got crook a while back, more the pity.

Or try finding a good turning club or just borrow some books or DVDs. (I have a few that I can send if you're interested).

But there is nothing like having someone stand next to you and just quietly tweak the chisel (without intrusion), just to get the tool cutting right. (Thanks ).

That said, I've just ordered another 3 books on turning!

And more, I've just watched Ken W for 6 hours on DVD and have learnt heaps too.

It does get hard though when some of the wise ones preach different ways.....

MTBW anyway.

Jeff

Thanks for the quick reply, .

Keith Rowley's "Woodturning A foundation Course" is the one I have seen recommended the most along with Raffan's stuff, I was on the look out for that one from this particular seller, but, unfortunately, I don't think he has it.

How would you say "The Practical Wood Turner" stacks up to "Woodturning A foundation Course"? Is it a case where I'd be likely to get close to the same quality of information from the former, albeit in a less interesting/ presentable or quickly/ easily digestible manner?

I think I'd do best with a book that offers the most condesed format of efficient summarization and illustrated detail. I don't know if any of the above books offer that, but if I can find a book that is as to-the-point as possible while being easy to read and has a lot of nice pictures to look at, then I'm hoping that would be enough.

Wouldn't get too hung up on the higher end books just yet.

Personally I think Mike Darlow's books are as good as any and much better than most. His videos are also first rate.

It was by following, assiduously, Mike Darlow's instructions from the video "Taming The Skew" for using the skew that I overcame my fear and became fairly proficient fairly quickly.

Originally Posted by sawtomaticman

Thanks for the quick reply, .

Keith Rowley's "Woodturning A foundation Course" is the one I have seen recommended the most along with Raffan's stuff, I was on the look out for that one from this particular seller, but, unfortunately, I don't think he has it.

How would you say "The Practical Wood Turner" stacks up to "Woodturning A foundation Course"? Is it a case where I'd be likely to get close to the same quality of information from the former, albeit in a less interesting/ presentable or quickly/ easily digestible manner?

I think I'd do best with a book that offers the most condesed format of efficient summarization and illustrated detail. I don't know if any of the above books offer that, but if I can find a book that is as to-the-point as possible while being easy to read and has a lot of nice pictures to look at, then I'm hoping that would be enough.

Keith Rowley.

Originally Posted by jefferson

Books - and I have a few - are fine.

If I had my time again, I'd be investing instead on some lessons with some of the experts here on the board and elsewhere. I missed my chance with Vic Wood when he got crook a while back, more the pity.

Or try finding a good turning club or just borrow some books or DVDs. (I have a few that I can send if you're interested).

But there is nothing like having someone stand next to you and just quietly tweak the chisel (without intrusion), just to get the tool cutting right. (Thanks ).

That said, I've just ordered another 3 books on turning!

And more, I've just watched Ken W for 6 hours on DVD and have learnt heaps too.

It does get hard though when some of the wise ones preach different ways.....

MTBW anyway.

Jeff

Yeah, I can see what you mean about the lessons, and watching videos has definitely always proven to be more effective in teaching me something much more quickly/ easily than reading about it (whatever the subject may be.) That's one of the reasons I have put off buying books for so long...a short 5-10 minute video or two here and there, and I've got my answer. Lesson learned, more often than not.

But, when it comes to books, I was also always trying to avoid getting myself caught up in the collectors trap - which I'm highly prone to succumbing to when I'm really interested in certain things, and I knew books on woodworking would incite my hoarding tendency more than most other things I like. Buy one... then 10 more, then 20 more, etc, etc (I can feel it coming on already and I haven't even received my books yet.)

Most of all, I've always been afraid that the reading (and even the videos -if they are long enough) would take away too much from my Hand's-On time - which I enjoy the most, of course. But, that's where the big trade off/ pay off -balancing act comes into play, I guess (especially when you try to deal with all of the conflicting/ varying methods and information being fed to you from all of these different experts/ books/ videos- as you mentioned.)

What said.

Keith Rowley's Foundation is as close to a Dummy's Guide as it gets; using plain, down-to-earth language while getting across all the important points.

Best of all, he doesn't bother you with all the fiddly little details that many books do... details which are more the author's opinion than hard, cold facts and the sort of things that cause arguments any time you lock any two woodturners in the same room. (Isn't that what these forums are for? )

I still use it as a reference on odd occasions.

I guess I should have mentioned that, ultimately I plan on applying most of what I learn about woodturning towards use on a human powered lathe (treadle or possibly even spring pole for a while, at first.) So if there are any books out there that would suite my needs in that regard much better than any other, maybe I should be asking for that one above all?

I'm not anti-power tools or anything like that, but I don't tend to use them at all out of preference for the feel of hand-tools. I'm more of a Roy Underhill type when it comes to my outlook on working with wood and tools in general. I plan on eventually having my own little place off the grid (somewhere far away from these damn Canadian winters) where I can spend my days building things out of wood and living about as simple as simple can be.

You mentioned Roy Underhill.....his book "The Woodwrights Workbook" has plans for both a treadle and spring pole lathe.

Welcome to the forum

Originally Posted by Ed Reiss

You mentioned Roy Underhill.....his book "The Woodwrights Workbook" has plans for both a treadle and spring pole lathe.

Welcome to the forum

Thanks.
I'm buying The Woodwright's Companion (1983) off of this seller, right now. Next, I hope to buy Roy's latest book " The Woodwright's Guide: Working Wood with Wedge and Edge (2008)" which I believe has an updated section on Roy's treadle lathe plans, although I'm not sure if it's the same design as the one from "The Woodwright's Workbook (1981). I'll probably end up buying all 6 of his books in the end, anyway

Hi there sawtomaticman,
You are certainly a long way from here, no matter. I have all of those books, & as you have put the year date beside them, gives you an idea that they are a little out of date, meaning, that a lot has changed since.
Lathes are different, the Tools used in most of those Books are not HSS. as they are only Carbon Steel. Don't get me wrong, as we all use 1-2 of these Tools today. Tool shapes have changed, as with handles. Look if you think they are really cheap, go for then. I have the top 9. The 2 best as far as I'm concerned are the " Anders Thorin" one for shapes, design & ideas.
Richard Raffan's book. I say if it is good enough for Richard, then it is good enough for me.
Anything He does I do. He is "The Turner" as far as I'm concerned. I also know him to talk to, & that also helps. Well, they are my thoughts, all the best.
Regards,
issatree.

I have so far only read the Keith Rowley and Ritchard raffen books from that list and both were great. I have read a few others in the local library but can not recall the titles. I picked up sone tips from most of them.The Keith Rowley one got me started turning as I was luckey enough to get it with my first lathe. As to the question of what book is best I would just be aiming to read as many as opertunity presents and chances are every one will have something useful that you can try sometime.
Regards
John

The Mike Darlow videos put me to sleep - boring boring boring.

The info in them was pretty good, just the voice - yikes!!

Ended up watching them without sound!

Cheers,
Andrew

I also started with Keith Rowley's Fondation Course and then moved onto his Projects book. He explains all the basic rules you need to get started.

Ken