Frequently Asked Questions

What is woodturning?

Woodturning is done on a wood lathe.  A piece of wood is placed between the headstock and the tailstock.  These two components of the lathe hold the piece of wood in place.  When turned on, the lathe spins the wood piece and the woodturner trims and shapes the wood into the desired form, using specialized tools designed for woodturning.

How is woodturning different from carving? 
Woodturning essentially is carving, where the wood is dynamic (turning) and the tool is stable.  While in carving the wood is stable and the tool is dynamic as it carves.

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What stimulated your interest in woodturning?

My father taught me the basics of woodworking during my adolescence.  In junior high shop class, I learned how to turn a small bowl.  As an adult I enjoyed woodworking, but I never could seem to measure things correctly.  Items like picture frames never turned out with the correct angles and lengths. So, I started woodturning, as I could put s piece of wood on the lathe, not have to measure anything - just turn and create!

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How did you get started woodturning and how did you develop your woodturning skills?

I was at an auction once and an old, very heavy lathe came up for sale. I bid on it and low and behold, I got it!  How I got it home, I ‘ll never know.  Once I got it hooked up, the first time I put a piece of wood on the lathe and began turning, I felt this artistic, creative rush through my body!  This sounds crazy and weird, but that’s actually what happened.  I was hooked!  I took a beginner’s turning class, read books, bought a few tools, got some wood and started turning.  Initially, I turned pens and small bowls.  I joined a woodturning club, watched others turn, and I visited really good turners in their shops to learn their techniques.  I attended an international woodturning symposium and bought a better lathe and some professional tools. I watched (and still do) YouTubes daily to learn new and different techniques.  Professional turners offer online courses for a small fee, and these are often quite helpful.  Probably, the activity that has helped me the most to become an expert turner is practice, practice, practice.  Every piece I turn is viewed as practice to improve my skills.

 

Since wood is spinning on the lathe, is woodturning dangerous?

Yes, it can be.  The wood is spinning at a high rate of speed, so it has considerable centrifugal force and energy.  If the wood piece is cracked, or if the turner mistakenly digs the tool into the wood (called a catch), then the piece can fly off the lathe, Now days, most turners wear a safety shield that covers the forehead, eyes, face and neck.  Even very experienced turners occasionally will have a piece of wood fly off the lathe.  We all have experienced that!

 

Where do you acquire the wood you use?

I obtain the majority of my wood from tree trimmers and from friends who know I collect wood.  All this wood is from trees trimmed or felled for other purposes, not for woodturning.  Rarely, I will purchase and use processed wood.  The woods I mostly use are hardwoods, such as elm, maple, black walnut, ash and Manitoba Maple (Boxelder).  Also, I love to turn cedar because of its pleasant odor and its rich reddish color. When I obtain freshly cut wood, it is very wet and very heavy.  After chain sawing the logs into 12 – 20” sections, I pile it up for storage.  When I want to bring one of these wet log pieces  into the shop, I use a dolly and a motor hoist to get the piece into position on the lathe.
 
Can you turn wet wood, and if so, how do you dry the wood that comprises the final dry piece?

Wet wood is a pleasure to turn.  Usually, I rough out a form, place it in a plastic bag and turn the bag inside out every few days.  It’s amazing how wet that bag can be.  If the bag is not rotated, the wood may become moldy which makes it unusable.  Drying wood in bags usually takes several months.  The drying process can be accelerated by using a microwave.  This is safe if the microwave exposure times are kept short, 30 seconds for small pieces of wood and 1- 2 minutes for larger pieces.  Once removed from the microwave, a piece is bagged so that it will not dry too fast, as fast drying will usually result in cracks in the wood.  The microwave – bagging process can be repeated every few hours, until the wood is dry, usually in a day or two.

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What kind of wood art do you produce and what do you do with your finished turnings?

I give some away as gifts. In addition, I display my wood art turnings at local galleries, Facebook and on this website. Customers seem to be most interested in bowls, so this is what I mostly turn.  However, I also produce urns, wall hangings and other wood art forms.  A new artform style for me is to imbed wood into epoxy-resin to produce colorful, food safe platters and bowls.  I price items reasonably, not at the high prices often seen on various virtual sites or in supposed ‘high end’ galleries. A high price does not necessarily indicate higher quality.

Where do you get your ideas for turnings? 
I get ideas from watching YouTubes, reading, interacting with other woodturners and taking online courses.  Sometimes, my designs are unique.  Other woodturners are not offended if someone duplicates their work.  This is often taken as a compliment – in that someone finds one’s work worthy of imitating.  Plagiarism is not an issue, because the pieces made using another turner’s ideas are never completely identical.

 

How long does it take to produce a salad bowl, as an example?

It takes approximately 20 hrs. to turn and finish a mid-sized bowl, 1 – 2 hrs. for the turning itself, several hours for sand it to a smooth surface, and several hours for a finish application to completely cure.

 

Why are different woods different colors?

The inner part of a tree is called the heartwood, giving the tree stability, and it is usually dark, but the portion of the wood between the bark and heartwood, the sapwood, which carries the soil nutrients and water up to the leaves is often light colored.  Wood art pieces that combine both the heartwood and sapwood are especially attractive.  Different colors observed in different wood species is al least partially due to an interaction between invading fungi and the wood.  For example, Manitoba Maple (Boxelder) and cedar often are very red inside because of this fungus/wood interaction. Wood art pieces with this coloration are stunning.

 

What kind of finish do you use on your bowls?

I use a variety of finishes on my wood art.  I usually finish the outside of a bowl to a gloss finish, which gives the piece a shinny surface.  Sometimes, I lighten the outside of a bowl further with wood bleach, a strong bleach that leaves the surface a very light shade. Non-yellowing lacquers and polyurethanes are used to finish the bowl outside. For the inside of a bowl, I use FDA (Federal Drug Administration) approved food safe products such as shellac (the outside finish on M & M’s), walnut oil, or other food safe products.  
 
Can your bowls be used for food?

Yes, as stated above, I use food safe finishes on the inside of my bowls.  However, the bowls are not totally water proof, so I would discourage the placement of liquid foods into the bowls.  One should not leave natural decorations, such as pinecones, inside a bowl for extended periods, as the chemicals on or inside the pinecones will stain the wood an unpleasant dark color.  However, this discoloration can be sanded away and repaired.

 

How does one care for one of your bowls?

I think it goes without saying that my bowls are for inside use only.  They should be kept out of direct sunlight, as sunlight will fade any colour that is present within the wood.  If the inside of a bowl needs cleaning, it is best to use a mild detergent with a small amount of water, wiping or drip drying the piece dry.  Never place one of these bowls in the dishwasher.  Occasionally, the bowl may need to be oiled.  It is best to use a butcher block type oil, not cooking oils as most cooking oils will not cure to a dry finish, potentially leaving the piece gummy and or sticky.

 

Do wood art pieces change shape with changes in temperature and/or humidity?

Yes, wood can ‘move’ with changes in temperature and/or humidity.  The most glaring example of this happened to a large diameter wall hanging I sold to a couple.  One winter, they took the wall hanging from my rather cool shop directly into their house which had dry heat at 72 degrees F.  A few days later I received a distressed phone call telling me that the wall hanging had opened up a large crack.  I brought the wall hanging back to the shop, repaired the crack, and instructed the couple to place the piece in their cool sunporch until Summer before moving it into the house.  This worked.

 

How does one get into woodturning?

It is best to take a beginner’s class to start woodturning and join a local woodturning club.  The best online teaching classes are taught by Cindy Drozda.  The best YouTube teacher is Richard Raffan, who has also authored woodturning books.  
I would not recommend buying an expensive lathe until one discovers they would like to immerse themselves in to this art form in a major way.  Mini lathes can be purchased for a few hundred dollars.  Used lathes are occasionally available, but I would not recommend purchasing one of these unless it is only a few years old.  Sometimes, very old lathes are put up for sale on buy and sell websites. These should be avoided as they are not safe in my opinion.  The best metal component for tools today is M42 hardened steel. Also, I would not recommend buying used tools, unless they have been produced within the last few years.  Old tools can be hard to sharpen properly and may be dangerous.  I do not recommend buying a woodturning tool kit, as some of the tools within such kits will rarely be used.  One needs a bowl and/or spindle gouge, or both (usually 1/2 or 5/8 size), and a parting tool.  These two or three tools are all that are needed to start turning.  I prefer buying unhandled gouges and inserting them into a long sturdy metal handle. This combination produces a very stable tool that is useful for rough and fine turning.  A growing popular choice is a three-piece carbide tool package.  Use of hardened steel tools requires having a sharpening system, whereas the carbide tools do not require the use of a sharpening system.  For these tools the carbide cutter is periodically replaced, not sharpened.

 

Do you teach woodturning?

Yes, I do – inside my heated/air-conditioned shop.  For lessons I supply the lathe, tools safety equipment and wood.  I prefer to teach one-on-one, as this allows me to observe the student continuously in order to teach the fine points of turning in addition to the basic turning techniques.  It takes approximately 5 hours of instruction for a student to become proficient enough to produce a bowl.  Carbide tools are becoming popular, and I teach the use of these tools. Of course, I instruct the use of classic hardened steel tools.  Safety is emphasized.  I charge $40/hr. for this instruction, supplies and equipment.  I do not teach anyone under the age of 18.