My first three months experience of turning
Kyle McGill
A bit of background
My first experience on a lathe (a Harris mini-tabletop lathe) was about 2 years ago. I was let loose on the lathe, with no instructions. I made three things, a phone charger stand, a mallet, well, half a mallet. Now, the third thing that I made, was a complete mess of the tool rest. By that, I mean, I broke the tool rest. Yes. I broke a cast iron tool rest, right by the fastener to lock it in place. Sorry Gramps! Thus, only half of a mallet made.
I hope the broken tool rest is not an omen of things to come.
My first ever project - a piece of spalted birch saved from the firewood pile
To be fair, with hind sight in my corner, I remember setting up the banjo about a country mile away from the work. The work was most definitely off centre, and I so many catches that I could well have been playing cricket.
Fast forward, 18 months, and I fancy myself getting more involved into it. Watching people on YouTube, such as Frank Howarth, Andy Phillips, Matt Estlea, is very inspiring, and I would spend countless hours on Pinterest and instagram looking at turned objects and the ingenuity of the people. Turning was (is) a pursuit I wished to take forward for the long term. Little did I know the world I would be getting into was so vast! Much more so than what you see online.
Getting started
I moved to the area in May 2019, and I decided to see what was happening in my local area in terms of turning and the conservation work. (I’ll talk about that in another blog). I found the Association of Woodturners Great Britain https://www.awgb.co.uk and ran through the number of branches around me. I noted Billericay, Colchester, and Chelmer Valley Woodturners, who are all of a five minutes drive from me. I contacted the secretary, giving a bit of a background as to who I was, why I was interested etc, and I had a prompt response inviting me to go along, first session free. Lovely.
I was told to arrive at 7, as I did, to find a hall full of about 40 people watching someone turning on a lathe. There were two big projects on either side of him, proper on a stage. In front of the lathe there was a safety screen with two cameras which were running to the projector.
A shop was at the back with an assortment of sanding papers, pen blanks, cufflinks, clock parts, books, finishes. I was like a kid in a candy store. It was (is!) fantastic.
Everyone was so welcoming and free with their knowledge. Baring in mind, I am 26, and the average attendee is going on for 40-50 years on top of that, it could be quite intimidating. I tell you what, everyone was so easy going and easy to talk to. They showed me some of their projects, talked about techniques and invited me to their workshops to get some experience. I couldn’t believe it.
I went over to one of the members workshop, he has a nice little set up with a bandsaw, sharpen stones, a lathe (funnily enough) and a lot of cabinets filled with wood, finishes, projects in various stages of completion, and a wall of his tools. We started with an explanation of the tools and their various uses, as well as the stance and movement, which is something you don’t see on Youtube. Pretty much every movement comes from the movement of the hips and legs, you lock your arms and legs and in effect, sway, along the tool rest. Watching him demonstrate was like watching poetry in motion. The only way that makes sense for me to describe it, is like watching a surfer surf. When you get a cut that flows, it does feel the same as a surfer catching a wave. It also feels very much life a surfer getting caught by a wave when things go wrong!
Since then, I’ve had nigh on weekly session with one or two member of the club, both of whom are incredibly patient and understanding of where I am. In the time, both inside and out of the sessions, I’ve turned tool handles and made my own small scraper, turned a small box; a honey dibber; an apple; Wands; an Elephant; a Christmas tree; and a small bowl. I’m pretty sure I’ve missed a few things, but I’ve made a lot of stuff, and learned a lot of skills in the as I’ve gone. The club have loaned me a lathe, a lovely little Axminster (M330) which is great, and has given my lady a lot more free time…
My mentors are right in saying that spindle turning is the place to start, and I’ve learned a lot of tool control, and the ways tools have multiple uses, key concepts such as the rubbing of the bevel of the tool to start of the cut, and how to fix and service a lathe (the bearing was bad on the club lathe).
Plus, going back to the start of the article, I know how to set up the lathe and I am confident(ish) in what I am doing on it. Well, I’ve not broken another tool rest. Yet.
Kyle McGill
https://www.fromtreetoturned.com/ reproduced with permission from Kyle’s Website