I've Enrolled on a Wood Turning Course!!

[=Adam=]

Hi everyone!

Well I have taken the plunge and have enrolled on a wood turning course at my local (ish) college (coleg sir gar for anyone that is interested), the decision was made after I failed to find a course that was actually running for Computer Aided Design City and Guilds Level 3, this was intended to go alongside my degree (civil engineering).

I have fancied doing the course for a while, so when the news came back that the CAD courses werent going to run, I thought it was the ideal opportunity to start on the wood turning course as it would benefit me in the long run (hopefully).

I had my first lesson last night and I have to say that it was absolutely great! I was surprised at how many people were actually there and at how many experienced people were there! I spoke to one gent and he had been going for 7 years!!! The reason he had been going for so long is because he liked the lecturer and enjoyed "doing some turning with the boys" which I think is a great thing and is an excellent first hand view of the course! Now I didn't turn anything too exciting, we did a basic garden dibber in pine however I learnt a lot about the proper way to make cuts with the roughing gouge, spindle gouge and a little bit about the skew. I thought that I was competent with these tools prior to this lesson however it opened my eyes as to how much I could improve and finesse my cuts.

Basically all I want to post is that if anyone is thinking of doing one of these classes but is in two minds about it then there is no question, you MUST do it! It is well worth the time, money and effort! Some people may think that it is daunting, however don't be put off, I am the youngest in the class (by a long shot) and feared that I would be looked down on and treated as a kid however by the end of the lesson I didnt feel any such age/experience gap as everyone was welcoming and they must have known what it was like to be in my position at one time or another.

I would love to get some pics up of what I have made but I dont have the dibber on me at the moment so I will post some up later!

If it is acceptable then I was wondering if I could keep this thread to use as a progression log to track my progress? Would anyone be interested to see this?

Cheers everyone!

 

[Grahamshed]

I would certainly be interested in seeing your progress.

 

[henton49er]

Adam,

I think it would be a great idea to post pictures of your progress, particularly if you post pictures of failures as well as successes - keep it all in one thread and then all can see (including yourself) how you progress over time.

 

[=Adam=]

Thanks for the replies guys! I certainly will post all that I can! I will try and dig out some pics of pre course work to kick it all off!

 

[gregmcateer]

Great news, Adam - and you're damn lucky they actually still offer WT courses!
Make the most of it, fellah

 

[=Adam=]

Right, let's start from the beginning!

I bought the lathe in January and went all the way to mid Wales to collect it from a very nice gent who was very kind and gave me a stack of turning mags to go with my new hobby!

I got home and set about making a bench to mount it to along with my grinder, this was the outcome:

On one side I have these storage boxes:

The other side is for timber storage:

Here is my lathe and grinder in situ, in the corner of the pic is my girlfriends fathers scroll saw(the lathe is kept in their house to we share a workshop):

The lathe is a record cl3 36 and runs as sweet as a nut!

This is my first attempt at turning.... It was a piece of 3x2 cls that I had left over from the bench build, I then used some sort of bees wax stain that was in one of the cupboards to see what it did (uh oh):

One of my first actual products on the lathe was a handle for a knife, the shape didn't really suit the knife in the end however the finish on it was worthy of taking a pic (the timber is sapele FYI):

Recently I have gotten into pen making, the first few pens werent that great as they weren't too comfortable to hold and looked too thin, this is one that I made for my dad for fathers day, it is a slimline kit and made from cocobolo:

I then made another pen for my girlfriends grandfather's 80th birthday, this was made from spalted sycamore and is a slimline kit again (I also made a box to present it to him):

I don't have any more pics of crafty items that I have made although I did make a spindle for a customer in work, they snapped one of theirs and needed one to match. The one I made was ever so slightly smaller in dia in some parts but it it 99% there IMO:

That's it really, I have made some other bits and bobs such as light pulls, rolling pins etc but I haven't got any pics of them unfortunately!

A bit off topic with regard to turning but here are some other projects that I have done:

Beech and Sapele butchers block made for my girlfriend's mum's birthday:

An iroko side table that I made for my uncle when he moved house, it was small but all he wanted was for somewhere to put his phone that was out of reach for my little cousin:

Well that's it really!

Thanks for looking, comments are welcomed (good and bad).

Cheers guys!

 

[woodyturner]

Well it looks to me as if you are well and truly on the right track all nicely turned and finished some people who have been turning for years would have a struggle matching the copy of that spindle and you seem to have nailed it well done you keep em coming

 

[=Adam=]

Thanks woody!

It took me about 2 hours in total to do the spindle which included time to adjust the lathe setup (had to unbolt and drill new holes in the bench to allow full extension of the lathe). I was chuffed with the final outcome of the spindle and so was the customer!

 

[=Adam=]

I have managed to get some more pics of my work!

Here is a light pull that I made for my bathroom (my hands aren't actually dirty, my phone camera just makes them look stinking!). It is made from oak and is finished with some friction polish, followed by a coat of bees wax:

There was no pattern for this light pull, I just went with what looked "cool", I tried to add a bit of detail whilst making it semi useable.

Now this image is my first college project that I turned yesterday, as I said before it is a garden dibber which (for anyone that doesn't know) assists you when you plant seeds by indicating what depth you plant them. It was turned from a piece of 3x3 pine and the holes in it are from some nails that were in it. Not the best piece of timber by a long stretch however it was easy to turn/shape and gave a nice finish. I think the holes add a bit of character

Now the end product is different from the original pattern that I had to work to as the handle was shorter and there was a straight length between the handle and the taper which didn't really flow, and thus this was born, although I will admit that the new design was not intentional, I forgot to mark out the straight part..... Oooops.

Thanks guys for the comments by the way!

 

[boysie39]

Best of luck to you and well done on taking on the course , woodturning is a great leveler ,if you show your intrest and are making the effort to learn you will be treated with respect for your imput and the age barriers will disappear

 

[tony]

Well done Adam , especially with the spindle , keep it up ,cheers Tony

 

[=Adam=]

Thanks tony! I was pleased with how the spindle turned out, especially when my boss didn't believe that I had made it haha!

Just a bit of an update:

I have swapped to a Tuesday evening class now as my timetable for university clashed with the turning class, I mean who wants to be doing a health and safety module at 6:30pm on a Thursday evening!

So last night I did a bit of practice with the spindle gouge in the form of making beads, it went well (in the end) however there were a few fumbles! Don't worry I will post a pic when I can.

Next week we are moving on to the proper technique for coves and how to link them to beads!

I must admit that I am thoroughly enjoying the course and I can see the improvements in my technique transfer to the finished product!

 

[=Adam=]

Here is a pic of my bead and cove practice at home.

The first two beads were a bit heavy handed and the cove hasn't been finished but all in all I am impressed with the results!