Woodturning Techniques
Woodturning is a way to make wooden projects using a lathe. The wood is generally turned by a motorized lathe while a tool us used to shave, gouge, and shape it into different objects. Woodturning is commonly used to make bowls, furniture, bats, instruments, wooden toys, game pieces, spindles, chair or table legs, and plates. Of course, as with any woodworking hobby, woodturning can be used in a lot of different ways. The project is only limited by the imagination and skill of the woodturner.
Projects usually start with a blank piece of wood. For spindles, toys, tool handles, doll house parts, and other small projects, you may be able to start with wooden dowels. This can simplify the process for you. If you don’t start with a dowel, you will need to use a woodturning tool designed to get the blank into the basic shape that you want to work with.
Most projects start with a roughing gouge to round the wood blank into a spindle. The spindle can be smoothed using the razor sharp edge of the skew chisel. However, if you are making a bowl, which is the most popular woodturning project, you will need a special bowl gouge that is designed to turn the inside and outside of the bowl. You may also need a hollowing tool to cut out the deep sections of the bowl, especially if the bowl is narrow, or you’re turning something like a vase. A tool called a bowl saver is popular because it allows you to cut a smaller bowl out of a larger one, saving your wood pieces for later projects.
You can work with a blank while the wood is still wet or green to more easily get it into the basic shape that you want without having to wait for the entire block to dry out. Turning on wet wood is actually easier and creates less sawdust than dry wood. However, you may not want to turn your whole project while the wood is wet. This technique of cutting on wet wood is usually used only to get the wood into the basic desired shape so that it will dry out faster. Wet wood that is turned will distort a little as it dries and shrinks. You want to make sure that you have enough wood thickness left to work with so that you can remove the rough exterior and any distortions once the wood is dry. Drying out large pieces of green wood can result in cracks, so many woodturners prefer to rough turn their pieces while the wood is newly felled.
There are many different styles of woodturning that can help you to create artistic and functional pieces. Pool cues, wooden eggs, candle holders, and platters are some other commonly turned items. You can use <a href=”http://www.goodwoodinc.com/”title=”Dowel”>dowel</a> rods of varying thickness to get you quickly started on a lot of different projects. Research which type of wood is better for your project before you order or make your dowels. You can purchase birch dowels, maple dowels, red or white oak dowels, cherry dowels, poplar dowels, ash dowels, or walnut dowels, giving you a large selection of woods to choose from for your woodturning project. Some companies will even turn wood that you provide into custom diameter dowels so that you have complete creative control over your project.
About the Author
About the Author: Dave Murphy is the founder and president of Good Wood, Inc. which manufactures wood products in Ohio. Good Wood, Inc. makes dowels and dowel rods, wooden balls, wood knobs, wooden toy parts, custom wood parts, and more. They offer safe wood finishing, wood turning and can import dowels from off-shore suppliers when necessary. Visit http://www.goodwoodinc.com for your wood product needs.
Custom Woodturning Tool
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Bottle Opener Turning Kit $7.99 Create a custom bottle opener everyone will talk about with this complete Bottle Opener Turning Kit. Turn your own blank to give it a custom theme like none other! Includes a chrome-plated opener and a 5/16” threaded insert that lets you remove the handle for quick and easy washing. Technical Details: Chrome-plated opener is built to last. 5/16” threaded insert lets you remove your blank for q… |
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Woodturners Genuine Leather Apron By Peachtree Woodworking PW7006 $69.99 This apron is perfect for keeping wood shavings and wood chips off of you and your clothes while woodturning. The soft leather apron measures – 37″ long by 20″ wide to cover most of your upper body. It also has two inside pockets as well as a left side breast pocket for easy tool access. The collar is made from a soft, comfortable materialand that can be adjusted to fit around your neck to keep t… |
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Dvd Sharpening Woodturning Tools Sharpening Woodturning Tools Dvd… |
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Woodturning: A Foundation Course DVD $12.95 Designed to improve your turning, Woodturning – A Foundation Course provides all of the basic turning techniques and practices in detailed step-by-step demonstrations as you follow along with author and turner Keith Rowley. Topics Include: |
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Skew Chisel: Darkside and Sweet Side $33.95 Learn the ins and outs of this sometimes ornery tool with Alan. He has taught and demonstrated the use of the skew to hundreds of individuals in all 50 states and 5 foreign countries. Reduce your fear and gain confidence with this amazing woodturning tool. Work with Alan to learn the basics of shaping, creating an edge and honing to refinement. He will take you through a dozen different cuts,… |
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Hollow Turning DVD $12.95 With a worldwide reputation as an acknowledged master of woodturning, and work in several permanent museum collections, John Jordan has traveled much of his life to share his extraordinary turning techniques. In Hollow Turning, turners of all skill levels have the opportunity to work beside Jordan and learn all he knows about turning hollow forms. He dispels the mysteries of this art form, and sh… |
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Wood turner’s Tool Roll By Peachtree Woodworking PW3332 $9.99 Store your lathe turning chisels, gouges, skews and more in this convenient Woodturner’s Tool Roll! Measuring 29″ x 19-1/2″ when laid out, the tool roll provides plenty of room for your lathe tools and more. The canvas roll has 14 pockets measuring 12″ deep and the pockets vary in width for different size tools. Two nylon web straps with buckles secure the tool roll after it is rolled up. The tool… |
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MSA Safety Works 817893 Adjustable Faceshield $15.99 Faceshield meets all applicable requirements of American National Standard Institute ANSI Z87.1-1989; This attractive faceshield is comfortable and functional. It features a high impact polycarbonate clear visor that is easily attached. The visor flips up, and stays put, when not in use. The ratchet suspension knob adjusts the size of the frame’s suspension to the user’s head, for a custom fit. A … |
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Uvex S8510 Bionic Black Matte Faceshield with Clear Anti-fog Hardcoat Visor $32.30 Complete assembly including Headgear and Anti-fog face shield. Face shields are easy to replace…. |
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SE 2 X 3/16 Flint/Fire Starter w/ Lanyard $0.01 Flint/ Fire Starter with Lanyard, size 2 in. X 3/16 in…. |
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