tylerbjh

Ok so like my title suggests, I basically just heard about wood turning maybe 5 minutes ago when I found this part of the forum. I'm a finisher and have been looking for something that I can make to finish, but not having the room to build furniture I've kind of been stuck.

I'm wondering, is wood turning something you can do in a relatively small space? What exactly do I need to get started? From what I read I need a lathe.. not exactly sure what that is yet.. Is wood turning something I can teach myself by reading and following tutorials or is it a bit more involved then that.

Don't expect to be the best, just want to learn to make a simple round(ish) bowl.

oh yea I'm heading off to google to find out what I can about it.

wfahey

Tyler

If you have a Woodcraft by you or even a Jr College, I would highly recommend you take an entry level course to get a taste of woodturning. Not to scare you, but done wrong it can be very dangerous. Besides learning the safety aspect of woodturning, you will also get some hands on experience which makes learning even more fun. I will warn you though, woodturning can be VERY addictive. There is a good reason it is often called a slippery slope.

__________________
Bill
San Antonio, TX

tylerbjh

Just did a quick search and the only program I can find near me is a carpentry, joinery, millwork course which touches on wood turning.. not exactly what I need. I'll keep looking, thanks for the reply, the more I read about it the more I just want to go by a lathe and chisel set tomorrow and get started. I understand it probably isn't the best idea though, my fingers are pretty valuable to me.

Dvoigt

I'm in the same boat as you... I don't have alot of room in my 2 car garage with 2 cars in it. But I started out turning pens and now bowls and some other random stuff I got a midi lathe with an extention bed used off c-list, it is a turn crafter pro lathe from penn state industrys. It is a nice small lathe with a "10 swing that I sits on my table saw all the time (useless I'm using my tablesaw). I bought a cheap starter set of tools from there too. I would love to have a bigger lathe to maybe turn up to 14" bowls... but I'll take the trade off on size and price right now. I can turn 99% of what I want to.

I haven't taken any classes... besides the woodshop class I had in 7th and 8th grade, U-tube, fourms, and DIY episodes have been my teachers.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
See what we offer at HandmadeWoodGifts

Become a fan of our Facebook page

woodnthings

Vist the http://pennstateind.com/ site for an overview of lathes, turning tools, pencil blanks, etc. This will give you a big picture of whats out there. bill
BTW and check out "wood turning" on You Tube.

__________________
If you're not making dust, you're gathering it. After I reread my own posts, I agree with myself even more.

GJP60

Hi Tyler,
Turning is fun and it takes very little space and equipment compared to flat woodworking. My teenage daughter and I started turning about 2 years ago, mainly because she seemed interested and I wanted to encourage her to do something related to woodworking. I couldn't find a class in my area that would take a 13 year old due to liability, but I was able to find a local turner to give us lessons. I found him through the local turning association. In my area it's Central Connecticut Woodturners, and I'm sure there is a similar organization near you that would be happy to direct you to somebody. You can probably get a reference to the turning group through the American Association of Woodturnersw, http://www.woodturner.org/. There is also a forum for turners similar to this one that might be helpful. It's URL is http://www.woodturningonline.com/. Turning is relatively easy, but like anything else relating to woodworking where sharp blades and high speed machinery is involved it probalby best to have someone show you the ropes and point out some saftey issues. I bought both of my lathes from local CL listings: A good sized General with variable speeds and a Jet Mini-lathe. I actually bought the lightly used Jet for about 1/2 the retail price. It was for my daughter because she is a bit nervous around the bigger lathe, but I use the Jet much more frequently than the General. Just another thought, there are lots of 2-day weekend classes available throughout the country, you could turn an intro to turning into a fun weekend.
Good Luck,
Glen

LadyoftheRavens

Hey Tyler, Just thought you'd be interested in this. Being from Ottawa you might want to check out the Valley Turners. It's a group here in ottawa that specializes in turning. http://valleywoodturners.userworld.com/

Personally I'm already a member of the Ottawa Woodworkers Association. I've not been to any of the Turners meetings but many of the members are members of the group I'm part of and a quick look at their website shows that they do have training courses you could take that could teach you the basics.

Hope this helps,
Jessie

woodnthings

Where is near me? If we knew we could help...maybe..... bill

__________________
If you're not making dust, you're gathering it. After I reread my own posts, I agree with myself even more.

john lucas

I've been woodworking and turning for a long time and have a nice big shop. A few years ago I thought I was going to lose it all. I took stock of what I would really need to keep doing woodworking with an absolute minumum of space and tools. I was looking at a house that had a 8 by 8 foot shed.
I figured I could take the mini lathe, bandsaw, router, grinder and the hand power tools and my planes and carving tools and that along with my workbench I could do most of what I do today. It would take a lot longer but would be a lot quieter because I would be doing a lot of hand work.
If you have a garage a really nice workshop can be created along one end. You might have to back the car out while working but most tools can be stored under a long work bench and pulled out when needed.
There was one guy on another news group that turned in a closet using a mini lathe after his divorce. If you want to bad enough you could turn almost anywhere.

don716

Tyler,
Where are you from?
Donny

del schisler

i turn when the mode strikes The best thing to do is buy GOOD turning tool's like henry taylor or their are other's that are up to the standard If you buy good to start than you only buy once? I wouldn't take sear's tool's home if you gave them to me My 2 cents Also get a good dust mask Work where their is air flowing I turn in frount of a 36? exhoust fan so not much dust get's on me And get a good grinding stone The white wheele i belive is the best I think 600 grit It's been a while sence i bought one Their are different turning speed's also So a good turning book or a class on turning ? Good luck