Learn
to Turn
A Beginner's Guide to Woodturning from Start to
Finish
by Barry Gross
Softcover
215 x 280mm
113pp
Published by Fox Chapel Publishing Co. Inc., East Petersburg PA USA
R.R.P.$24.90
ISBN 1-56523-273-9
ON BACK ORDER
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 124
While there are many books on basic turning, most assume that you know at least something about a lathe. But what if you knew absolutely nothing and still wanted to learn? This is the premise of Learn to Turn by Barry Gross.
Beginning with safety, the book works its way through the lathe and its components, lathe accessories, turning blanks, turning tools, sharpening, sanding and finishing. The text is easy to read and heavily illustrated with colour photographs, making it simple to understand the subject matter.
The bulk of the book is taken up with basic turning exercises and several turned projects - back scratcher, peppermill, pen, bowl, birdhouse, lidded box, natural edge bowl and a hollow vessel. At the end there are chapters on selling your work, a gallery and troubleshooting tips.
Though the projects are simplified, some are arguably a bit advanced for the novice. Nonetheless the use of colour photographs to illustrate the turning process step-by-step provides a good 'demonstration in print' of how turning tools are used and the shapes they can form.
If you attend even just one woodturning class, you'll probably learn much of the information provided in this book. However, if you're a total novice and cannot make it to a class, then Learn to Turn is a very good introduction to this popular hobby.
Photos: Colour
Units of Measurement: Imperial
Contents
Introduction
Section
1: Getting Started
Safety
-
Eye protection
- Dust control
- Fatigue
- Electrical Safety
- Hair
and Clothing
- Checking the lathe
- Finishing safety
- Hand and foot
protection
Basic Workshop and Tools
- Shop layout
- Choosing a lathe
-
Turning tools and lathe accessories
- Chucks, drive spurs and faceplates
-
Other shop tools
Choosing Wood
- Bought vs found wood
Trsnforming logs
into suitable turning material
- Blanks from burls
- Moisture content
-
Creating bowl turning blanks from a log
Sharpening Tools
- Grinders
-
Grinding Wheels
- Wheel Dressers
- Grinding jigs
- Sharpening your tools
-Parting
tool
- Roughing gouge
- Sharpening a side grind on a bowl gouge or a spindle
gouge
- Skew chisel
- Scraper Tool
Sanding
- Power sanding
- Hand
sanding
- Alternative sanding materials
Finishing
- Preparing the surface
-
Applying the different types of finish
- Salad bowl finish
- Tung oil
-
Spray lacquer
- Woodturner's finish and EEE cream
- Buffing system
-
Finishing safety
Section
2: Start Turning
Getting Ready to Turn
- Mounting the workpiece
-
Before you begin
- The ABC's of tool control
- Tool holding techniques
-
Tool rest position
- Making the first cut
Turning Tool Exercises
- Roughing
gouge
- Parting tool
- Spindle gouge
- Skew
- Spindlemaster
Spindle
Turning Projects
- Back scratcher or shoehorn
- Peppermill
- Pen
Faceplate
Turning Projects
- Simple bowl
- Ornamental birdhouse
- Simple lidded
box
- Natural edge bowl
- End-grain hollow vessel
Section
3: Marketing and Selling Your Work
- Marketing
- Point of sale
-
Listen to your customers
- Wholesale versus retail
- pricing
Section 4: Gallery
Troubleshooting
Resources
Glossary
Index