Courses \ Lessons

[woodfarmer]

I have every little experience as I didn't start turning until just before Xmas. I have learnt a few things and see them from a beginners point of view. The tool choices to learn first will depend on what you want to make first. for me it was bowls and I spent some time with my favourite tool, a 1/2 Crown bowl gouge. big heavy confidence inspiring tool. You might find working through the book by Keith Rowley the way to go. I have to say I still find I am wary of the skew. In fact I tend to use it for scraping, and breaking the edge of corners plus cutting the mortices in the base of bowls for my chuck.

When it gets difficult to cut or you start making dust its time to sharpen.

If you can spend time with someone who knows a bit it will help you to hit the ground running.

 

[Spindle]

Only snag is the end heats up pretty dam quick if you're not careful. And I mean heat to the point of drawing the temper.

Hi

If it's high speed steel there is no chance of you heating it to the point of harming the temper - C 600 degrees celcius, which is red hot. You may well blue the tip, (C 300 degrees celcius), but this is not an indication of drawn temper.

If you're using carbon steel tooling then it's a different story

Regards Mick

 

[Bodrighy]

When parting I have noticed a lot of turners seem to just shove the pointed end into the wood. Ideally you need to back up and make a 2nd incision alongside, doesn't have to be much, just enough to stop the tool from sticking. Also don't just push, insert the tool just above centre and lower into the wood, much easier than brute force and a cleaner cut as well.

Pete

 

[Rhossydd]

I started by going on a two day beginners course (at Peter Child) and would highly recommend it as the first step in turning.

Why ?
Firstly the mechanics of the craft;
1. You get to use good well maintained kit.
Some of the dire secondhand rubbish people try to start with on the forum make their first steps in turning unnecessarily difficult.

2. You start with good quality, properly sharpened tools and shown how to sharpen them correctly.
How often do threads start here with beginners trying to work out if they need to, and how to, sharpen their tools.

3. You get decent wood to work with.
A good course will provide decent, well seasoned wood that works well and allows you to learn the craft, rather than try to fight unsuitable timber.

Then there's the skills element;
A good teacher can take you through the basics, teaching you all you need, and want to, know at your own pace.

By the end you should have grasped the basics and most importantly understand what it's important for your interest and what isn't. Not only should you be better placed to actually practice the craft and help develop your skills faster, but also have good idea of what hardware will be needed and how it should perform.

or you could just blunder along wasting expensive timber, buying unnecessary tooling, watching poor quality videos that might give dreadful advice and never appreciate how to progress properly.

 

[Silverbirch]

You might like to get hold of one or two DVD`s. Many of the well known pro turners have produced them and they are generally much better presented (and more reliable) than what you will find on Youtube.
Not having any turning clubs in my area, and with a shortage of available tuition, I have found them very useful, together with demos at shows, books and magazines and of course, UKW!
DVD`s can be sold on quite readily, once they have served their purpose, which helps to recoup some of the initial cost.

Ian

 

[joethedrummer]

Rhossydd,, a 2 day course for all the reasons you identified does move you on,, I went to Chris Childs also ,, shown better ways to do things and also somethings not to bother with till later,, mastered that bl,,,y skew chisel,
I had turned for a year or so first on my own with help from the books and videos and felt comfortable with the basics,, the course gave the knowledge and confidence to move forward,,
,,,,,,,,,,,joe,,

 

[Rhossydd]

The key advantage of a course, unlike DVDs & Books, is that the tutor will spot if you're doing something wrong and tell you how to do it properly immediately, often before you've even made the mistake.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Whilst the benefits of one to one instruction are accepted it is worth mentioning that courses can be rather expensive if one has to factor in travel, accommodation and food on top of the course fees. Therefore I would recommend anyone with a reasonable aptitude for self learning begin by going down the book, DVD, practice, local club route in order to identify where 'course time' can be best employed.

Regards Mick

 

[Grahamshed]

Hi

Whilst the benefits of one to one instruction are accepted it is worth mentioning that courses can be rather expensive if one has to factor in travel, accommodation and food on top of the course fees. Therefore I would recommend anyone with a reasonable aptitude for self learning begin by going down the book, DVD, practice, local club route in order to identify where 'course time' can be best employed.

Regards Mick

I would agree with that completely. I think their needs to be something specific you need to learn or improve on rather than hoping to just learn 'everything'

But it has to be said that with the average day rate for a professional tutor being around £100 - £140 (isn) thats bl@@dy good value. They are not going to get rich on that are they ?

 

[SteveF]

i am looking forward to spending a few hours with Derek

I can always consider lessons at a later date
but i feel confident that he is more than capable of teaching me the basics
thankyou all for your input and thoughts on this..it is much appreciated

Steve

 

[Woodmonkey]

Practice practice practice as others have said. Local tree surgeons are a good source of normally free wood, green of course but more forgiving to turn than seasoned and your more likely to have a go at stuff if you haven't paid to dollar for nice round bowl blanks. Also have a go at the monthly turning competition on here, it will encourage you to try stuff you otherwise wouldn't.

 

[Dalboy]

i am looking forward to spending a few hours with Derek

I can always consider lessons at a later date
but i feel confident that he is more than capable of teaching me the basics
thankyou all for your input and thoughts on this..it is much appreciated

Steve

Look forward to meeting you Steve

 

[Rhossydd]

I would agree with that completely. I think their needs to be something specific you need to learn or improve on rather than hoping to just learn 'everything'

As a novice, two days ought to give you a good grounding in all the core skills and tools. From that you should be able to practice and refine your skills in almost any direction.

But it has to be said that with the average day rate for a professional tutor being around £100 - £140 (isn) thats bl@@dy good value. They are not going to get rich on that are they ?

I'm continually amazed at how cheap woodworking courses are. Get rich ? I'm astonished they even manage to break even.
Given that, Mick (aka spindle) describing courses as "rather expensive" seems a little harsh. In the context of how much you might spend setting yourself up, a couple of hundred quid for a course might not be a significant amount overall.
In the wider context of spending on hobbies and interests, it's really not a lot. Compare it to going to a football match, theatre or just a TV subscription like Sky it hardly registers on the balance sheet. Plus you'll actually learn something and probably take a finished article home too.
Choose the right course in the right location and it's easily considered a cheap and enjoyable holiday.

 

[leisurefix]

Self taught is definitely possible, but will take longer, and you will need a lot of wood. If you have to pay quite a lot for wood, then it will become pretty expensive using all those blanks for training. May be cheaper in the long run to pay for a course. It's safer as well to have someone observing you and telling you if you are doing something slightly wrong, rather than learning the hard and potentially dangerous way. Becoming proficient more quickly following a course may save frustration caused by the much longer process of becoming self-taught.

Personally I think the most important part of turning is learning how to sharpen the tools properly, a few tips and techniques done in person will be incredibly useful.

Regards, Andy

 

[Bodrighy]

As someone scraping a living from woodturning I can safely say that woodturning is not going to make you rich. Most pros that I know make a living from tuition, demonstrations etc as well as the actual turning. Most hobby turners live within range of a pro if they look for one and the cost of a days lessons is, in my biased opinion, likely to save you money in the long run apart from hopefully getting you on the road a lot quicker than being self taught. I learnt to turn in school and came back to it (as a hobby turner) in isolation on Exmoor but if I had lived closer would have jumped at the chance of some lessons. £100 a day is usually 9-5 with lunch thrown in and compared to some of the other crafts that is cheap.

Pete

 

[Spindle]

Given that, Mick (aka spindle) describing courses as "rather expensive" seems a little harsh.

Hi

What I actually said was that a course can become expensive if you have to factor in accommodation, travel and food - I agree that £90 / day is not expensive but adding another £100 or so a day makes a difference.

Regards Mick

 

[SteveF]

i am not adverse to paying for a course
and i agree they are not overpriced
practise wood is cheap it grows on trees (hammer) (hammer)
Steve

 

[Rhossydd]

What I actually said was that a course can become expensive if you have to factor in accommodation, travel and food - I agree that £90 / day is not expensive but adding another £100 or so a day makes a difference.

That's probably the absolute worst case. I'd guess most people live near enough a tutor that would mean they would only need a single night away, many could be commutable.
From what I've seen, most woodturning courses are in rural locations and always seem to have a list of decent, cheap local B&Bs. It doesn't have to be an expensive proposition.

Ultimately it comes down to whether you regard something like this as an enjoyable short break or not. This is meant to be a leisure activity after all.

 

[merlin]

Hello Steve,

I started turning in January and soon after had a day with Steve Giles, it was well worth it as it gave me the confidence to carry on - it was a good day learning and we had a laugh.

I have bought a few books and would say the most enlightening has to be the basics by Richard Raffan, together with the DVD it has helped a lot as seeing a master at work together with the noises things make more sense.

I have only just scratched the surface of the skill and although working with wood for 30 years it is the most difficult for me to pick up. (getting old probably doesn't help)

As far as the Skew - well what a tool - fantastic when you get it right but bloody difficult to use. I only use mine at the moment for planning but have bought a set of the Richard Raffan skews and wow what a difference, they are slightly curved and thicker and although they still catch every now and again they are far easier to use.

I am still flicking through the books and every now and again a penny drops, oh and by the way I haven't even started on bowls yet!

I make porches for people sometimes so that is why I have started turning, the first paying pieces I turned were over 6' long but I got there in the end.

Merlin

 

[Bodrighy]

Nothing like starting something new with that sort of lathe LOL. Most people start with things like dibbers and maybe a bowl. Definitely jumping in the dep end there, looks good though.

Pete