Ross Wilson from the Woodturners Guild of Ontario came up to give a nice demonstration for novice bowl turning. It was quite appropriate since our membership is starting to grow with many new turners.
Technique was the main emphasis. How to hold the tools properly, presenting the cutting edges to the wood and basic set up and safety were the focus of the demo.
Ross also gave some interesting insight on his approach to woodturning. He feels that every turning project should be viewed as a practice exercise. With this in mind, you can see the progress that you can make over time.
This makes sense. If you have an exotic block of wood, you could be more likely to worry about wasting it. You may getting nervous about the fact that you have paid for the wood and could end up with a disastrous error.
I think another point to ponder is not to put that exotic piece on right away, especially if you have been away from the lathe for a while. Throw something else on first to practice and warm up to remember your techniques. Then, when you’re ready, put that exotic piece and continue practicing.
I did that just last weekend. I had a wonderful log of cedar and practiced away. Since I thought it in those terms, I was more aware of what I was doing, where the project was going and how the shape and form were turning out.
We’ll see if I was successful when the rough turnings dry and I do the final turnings.
Until next time…