Getting Started in Woodturning - 18 Practical Projects & Expert Advice on Safety, Tools & Techniques

Woodturning is a fun, engaging, and tremendously rewarding hobby that will last a lifetime. But to enjoy it, you have to take the first steps and get started. With this collection of articles from American Woodturner magazine, you’ll quickly get out of the blocks with the best practices on safety, tools, and fundamental techniques. Along with the 18 skill-building projects for everything from bowls and pens to holiday ornaments and doorknobs, Getting Started in Woodturning delivers all the detailed, practical advice a beginner needs. 

Inside Getting Started in Woodturning, you’ll discover: 

• What to know when buying and aligning your first lathe



• Safety practices for dust collection, face shields, and the shop



• Techniques for sharpening and using your turning tools



• How to turn, avoid catches, and finish like a pro



• 18 useful projects to build your skills

List of contents

Intro 

Section 1: Getting Started 

Advice for Beginning Turners
Shopping for Your First Lathe
Turning and Aligning Your Lathe
Learn to Sharpen All Your Turning Tools
Sharpening Jigs
Are You Wearing the Right Faceshield
Collect Dust at the Lathe
Safety Checklist 

Section 2: The Tools

Choosing the Right Driving Centers
Faceplates
Sweet and Simple Chucking Strategies
Mastering the Four-Jaw Scroll Chuck
What Speed is the Best?
Get a Good Start with Lathe and Turning Tools
Your First Bowl Gouge
A Guide to Gouges
Spindle Roughing Gouge
Getting the Most from Scrapers
Using the Point Tool
Carbide Cutters
Humanizing the Skew Chisel
Parting Tool
Bandsaw: Safe Setup and Operations
Bandsaw: Safe Practices with Green Wood Grinder Wheels 

Section 3: The Techniques & Tips

Wood: Kiln-Dried, Green, or Air Dried
Twenty Ways NOT to Turn a Bowl
The Complete Spindle Turner
Twenty Ways to Master Spindle Turning
Quick Guide for Avoiding Catches
How to Avoid a Catch
Good Grip: Feel the Wood through the Tool
Sandpaper: The Nitty Gritty Guide to Finishing
Food Safe Finishing
Nice Turner's Finish Last 

Section 4: The Projects

The Honey Dipper is a Classic First Project
Egg Cup Introduces End-Grain Hollowing
Letter Opener: A Skill Builder that Makes a Great Gift
Basic Wooden Bowl
Out of a Limb: Natural Edged Bowls
Ring Holders Make Great Gifts
Classy Clocks
Turning Offset Handles Simplified
Pepper Mill: It's a New Grind
Scoop for Ice Cream
Napkins Rings
Salt and Pepper Shakers
Turning the Finger-Snap Top
Pen with a Wooden Grip
Holiday Tree Topper: Turn Something Special
Colorful Christmas Lights
Two-Part Goblet: Tenon Connects Bowl to Stern
Door Knob Upgrade 

 

About the author

The American Association of Woodturners (AAW) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is dedicated to advancing the art and craft of woodturning worldwide. The AAW provides opportunities for education, information, and organization to those interested in turning wood while and is focused on establishing lathe-turned work as a major element in the art and craft world. Established in 1986, AAW has thousands of members and a network of local chapters globally, representing professionals, amateurs, gallery owners, collectors, and wood/tool suppliers. The official journal of the AAW is American Woodturner, the leading publication on the art and craft of woodturning in the world. A wellspring of practical information, inspiration, and resources, American Woodturner is published six times each year and is one of the premier benefits of membership.

Summary

Woodturning is a fun, engaging, and tremendously rewarding hobby that will last a lifetime.

Whether you’re just getting started at the lathe or you’re a seasoned woodturner looking for nuggets of insight, you’ll find it all in the AAW's Official Guide, Getting Started in Woodturning, an essential reference of safety information, tool advice, woodturning techniques, and practical projects from the pages of American Woodturner, the journal from the American Association of Woodturners (AAW). Written by some of today's finest woodturners, including Richard Raffan, Jim Rodgers, Richard Kleinhenz, and Alan Lacer among them, Getting Started in Woodturning teaches shop-tested, best-practice fundamentals that make woodturning a safe, enjoyable, and enriching hobby that will last a lifetime. 

Divided into four sections - Getting Started, Tools, Techniques, and Projects, this treasure-trove of expert information will guide an aspiring woodturner to discover: 

• What to know when buying and aligning a lathe



• Safety practices for dust collection, face shields, and the shop



• Techniques for sharpening and using turning tools



• How to turn, avoid catches, and finish like a pro



• 18 useful projects to build your skills 

Getting Started in Woodturning is the only book a beginner needs to safely and confidently get started in the craft of woodturning.

Foreword

If you are reading this book, you have made the decision to get started in woodturning. You won’t be disappointed: woodturning is a fun, engaging, and tremendously rewarding hobby that will last a lifetime. This 224-page collection from American Woodturner magazine will help you get off to a great start with the best safety practices, tool knowledge, fundamental techniques, and skill-building projects available. There’s a lot of detailed, practical advice in this book, covering most of the problems, challenges, and questions that all beginners encounter. Alongside all this practical, skill-building information, two more currents run through Getting Started in Woodturning. First is the infectious enthusiasm and pleasure that woodturners take from their craft, which shines through every one of these articles and stories. Second is the shared understanding that none of this information would be available without the fellowship and open exchange fostered by the American Association of Woodturners. In fact, you’ll find the best advice in this book right here: join your local AAW chapter. The many members of this national association are willing to help beginners like you learn how to turn.

Product details

• Assisted by: John Kelsey (Editor)
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 12.05.2020
• EAN: 9781950934232
• ISBN: 978-1-950934-23-2
• Illustrations: Four color and black and white photography throughout
• Subjects: Guides > Hobby, home > Creative design; CRAFTS & HOBBIES / Woodwork, Decorative wood & metalwork, Crafts / Hobbies, HOUSE & HOME / Do-It-Yourself / Carpentry, DIY: carpentry & woodworking, DIY: carpentry and woodworking, Decorative woodwork