Lathe Fundamentals Workshop is a Woodturning Tools & Techniques skill based learning workshop focused on traditional steel tool usage, tool control and SAFETY while operating a lathe. Time permitting we will discuss the use of Carbide tools for woodturning.
Lathe Fundamental Workshop
The Lathe Fundamentals Workshop is a Woodturning Tools & Techniques skill based learning workshop focused on traditional steel tool usage, tool control and SAFETY while operating a lathe. Time permitting we will discuss the use of Carbide tools for woodturning.
You will take home some useful objects to include bowls, a tray, a carvers mallet, bench mallet and various furniture components, depending on your productivity. Most importantly the real take away is the knowledge to produce most any turning.
**Be prepared to wear short sleeve shirts while operating the lathes**
Topics covered in Foundations of Turning Workshop are:
- Lathe operation, selection and tuning.
- Sharpening and conditioning of all your turning tools.
- Spindle tuning of common objects ranging from knobs to table and chair legs.
- Wood selection, preparation and the use of green wood to turn bowls.
- Turning of bowls from green and seasoned wood.
- Faceplate turning of flat surfaces such as making of a serving tray.
- Chucking methods from shop built to commercial chucks
- Sanding and finishing
You do a lot of turning in this week. You have time to really practice newly learned skills thereby having them become habit. You leave with some nice projects to wow the folks at home, but most importantly you will be able to tackle furniture parts and to turn bowls that will please all.
You will need to bring
Lunch for each day. The shop is too far from any eatery to make it efficient for you to go and come back for lunch. Also bring your favorite non-alcoholic beverage. Alcohol and woodturning do NOT mix. There will be plenty of water, coffee and tea available all day.
Tools (one of each). If you do not have any of these they can be purchased through various vendors (e.g. Craft Supplies, Peachtree Woodworking, Packard Woodworking, Woodcraft, Rockler, Doug Thompson Tools). Typically these are made of high speed steel (HSS) or better grade. The price of each tool will vary considerably depending on the tool but expect to pay a minimum of $35-100 for a new tool. Tools made from lower grades of steel will cost less but will dull faster and can more easily lose their temper during sharpening and are therefore more difficult to sharpen and use.
1. Parting tool, sometimes called a cutoff tool.
2. Spindle roughing gouge, 3/4” to 1-1/4”, the bigger the better
3. Spindle Detail Gouge 1/2”. Size is not critical. I use a 5/16” myself
4. Bowl Gouge, 1/2”.
5. 1/2” scraper, square, This will be reground to be a very useful tool for making jam chucks or dovetails for your chucks.
6. 1/2” scraper, round nose
7. sandpaper, sheet of each grit 100 up to 220 grit will be fine. We don’t do a lot of sanding since we will be using mostly wet wood.
8. Face shield.
9. Dust mask.
Nice to have:
1. Skew Chisel, 1” or wider.
2. Calipers, 4” to 6”
3. Dividers, 4” to 6”
4. Pencil.
5. ruler, 12” steel or folding. (not a tape measure)
6. Notebook and pencil
West Michigan Woodturners 