Wood Turning Methods

Spindle Turning

Spindle turning is the term used for all work done on a lathe where the stock to be worked upon is held tightly between the live and dead centers. There are two methods commonly used in spindle turning: first is the scraping method and second is the cutting method. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages; however both need to be practiced to develop an expert turner. Care should be observed, but each method must be used in its proper place.

The first is slower, harder on the cutting edge of materials and less skill is necessary to have an accurate work; the second is fast, easier on the cutting edge of materials and the accuracy of results depends upon the skill a wood turner has. As skill is the one thing most sought for in several works, the use of the cutting method should be practiced thoroughly for all spindle turning.

Eccentric Turning

The term eccentric is provided to a rotating machine part that is used to throw a mechanism eccentric with its center line. Eccentrics may be said to include all crank movement, also many cam movements. In overall shop terms, but, an eccentric is a machine tool having an outer circle that is off center or eccentric with its shaft.

Crank-Shaft turning

This is a kind of eccentric turning in which the throws are called crank pins and the remaining bearings are the shaft. It is customary to rough turn the bearings to machining the crank-pin seventh bearing. The order of operations include locate, drill and ream work centers in ends of the first and second bearings. Square ends on the first and second to the overall length. Rough turn the third and fourth bearings. Rough square the fifth and sixth bearings. Place attachments of the eighth bearing on the ends of the third and fourth in position to machine crank-pin seventh bearing. Rough turns the seventh. Rough and finish square ninth and tenth to gap dimensions.

Turning Shafting

Shafting is often turned 1/16 inch less than the actual diameter because the iron of the actual diameter that is 1/32 inch over size can be used. Before you turn a length of shafting, the rough bar should be straightened. After the center holes have been drilled and the piece placed in the lathe, the work can be rotated and the eccentric parts marked with chalk. After, the bar should be removed from the lath and sprung back into the alignment. It is good to take two cuts in finishing shafting, one for finishing cut and one for roughing cut. The tool for the latter part of the work should be kept placed with oil.

Wood Turning Projects for Beginners

All the following projects are fairly easy for the beginning wood turner to do. Each one will also give you an idea about turning.

Tealight holder

Start with a block of wood from the scrap pile that will turn a piece about three inches in daimeter and two inches high. Have a piece of maple and flatten the bottom in preparation for a glue block.

Heat up the glue gun and hot glue a block to the wood. Use a piece of scrap wood on a face plate because it works well. Turn the block round and face it off. This will be the top of the tea light.

Measure the insert to probably 1 ½ diameter by 3/8 deep. With the lathe running, let the left point of the divider by moving the left point until the right point will be on the inscribed line.

Turn sides using any decoration you like. Sand and finish a turner?s polish. Hutt and Mylands are good or you can make your own from each side of shellac, boiled linseed oil and denatured alcohol. Brush it on while the lathe is turned off, give a wipe, turn on the lathe and polish it until dry.

Wall clock

The clock work is simple using an AA battery. This is sold in most craft store. The shaft of the clock will depend on your wall clock?s size. Use a wood blank that is two inches thick. Turn the form to round. Then turn the recess to fit the clock. As you turn, check the depth using a depth gauge and flatten the bottom of the recess with a scraper. Use oil or wax for the finishing touch.

Kitchen Spatula

Spatula that is made of wood is safe for all cooking surfaces. With a comfortable and strong handle it is simple to use and can be utilized for everything from frying to mixing.

Start with a log and re-saw a series of ¾ inch boards about 12 inches long and at least 2 inches wide. Draw a pattern of the final spatula. Go back to the band saw and cut them out. Make sure that the blade is 90 degrees to the table for the establishment of a right angle the next time you re-saw. At the band saw cut the waste off of the sides.

Wood Turning Training

If you are a novice in the great art of wood turning, then this article is created to help you learn the basics of the such art work. Yes, it?s true that nothing compares to learning from working hand in hand with an expert, but this article will at least help you avoid the most obvious pitfalls commonly encountered in wood turning.

Know about the Danger

First things first, before anyone dives into something he should make sure he knows the danger side of the activity he?s about to enter. Safety measures of wood turning should always be taken seriously. First, beware of loose clothing or any object or part of the body that could get caught up in the revolving machinery. Second, see to it that the lathe and other power tools are properly guarded and that the guards are securely in place.

Third, never try to change the speed of the lathe while it is in motion. Fourth, remove all items such as chuck keys before starting the lathe. Fifth, when starting the lathe always stand to one side in case something flies off. Sixth, always start the lathe at its lowest speed to allow you to check if everything is secure. Seventh, don?t ever for forget to read the instructions for the equipment before starting to use it. And lastly, wear protective clothing especially safety glasses.

About the Rules

Now that we are done with the safety precautions, we can now proceed with the basic rules of wood turning:

? The speed of the lathe should be adjusted to suit the size, length, balance and condition of the project being turned. The bigger the work diameter, the slower the lathe speed should be. If the object you?re turning is out of balance, then it is a must that you start at a slow speed until you have evened it out a bit.
? The tool should be placed firmly on the tool rest before it is brought into contact with the rotating wood. It should never be taken off the tool rest as long as it is in contact with the timber.
? All the tools used in wood turning are ground with a bevel to produce the cutting edge. The bevel must always come in contact with the timber while the tool being cut, thus providing support to the cutting edge and controlling the depth of cut.
? The portion of the cutting edge in contact with the work must be in line with the point of contact with the tool on the tool rest to gain adequate support. This guarantees that the tool will not be rotated by the force of the timber.
? Always cut the wood in the way it likes to be cut, which means always cutting ?downhill?. That is, cutting from the biggest diameter right up to the smallest number for a diameter.
? Always keep the point of cutting below the center line of the work piece when working on the outside and above the center line when working on the inside when using scraping tools.
? Eliminate waste from projects, first. If you?re turning off a corner, start eliminating wood at that corner and slowly work your way back along the work piece until you?ve attain the preferred form.
Tools and Equipment

If you still don?t know and understand the terminologies yet, it would all be clearer as we get to know the tools and equipments used in wood turning.

? Lathes- are primarily used to machine metal and wood. It is actually a certain kind of tool that is able to rotate different kinds of objects and shape materials by cutting it.

? Roughing gouges- are primarily formed from high-speed steel and are approximately U-shaped in cross-section. Its purpose is to get rid of the stock relatively quickly, moving in on either direction, but naturally leave a poorly polished finished product.

? Skew chisels- are used to ?plane? objects to a nice smooth finish. This is a very versatile tool for it can also be used for cutting across the ends of spindles to make them level, for making grooves and even some things they were never intended for.

? Spindle gouges- are primarily used to form rounded grooves in the surface of the wood.

? Parting tool & Beading and parting tool- the former is used for forming square-bottomed groove while the latter is generally used for shallower cuts and is more useful when forming ?beads? ? convex humps on the surface of the work piece.

? Scrapers- Unlike the above mentioned tools, scrapers are used with only the tip of the cutting edge touching the work piece surface without substantial bevel rubbing. It is primarily used to produce a fine internal finish to work pieces and to refine its internal shape.
Since you have taken the trouble to get this far, then it is probably safe to assume that at least you have enough basic knowledge and training regarding wood turning. Above all, enjoy yourself and stay safe.

Wood Turning Tutorial Online

If you want to learn woodturning basics that are hassle free, online tutorials are for you. There are websites that provide a list of all the projects they offer for free and with fees. The goal of online tutorial is to try to make it easy for you to select projects that might interest you while sitting in front of your computer. There are photos available and detailed explanations of the project. Below are some of the projects that online tutorials offer.

Baby rattle

Baby rattles are one of the projects that are fun presents for your family or for a gift. They are ordinarily spindle turnings and can be made from a wide variety of woods. Hard, tight-grained wood with no oil or smells are advised. Maple is one of the best.

Baby Rattles usually use captured rings that are a fun turning exercise and something that keeps people surprised trying to figure out how to do it. They should be made thick and strong.

There is a safety issue with baby rattles that everyone must be very sensitive to. The size of the rattle and any loose pieces must be a threat to any child. There are some guidelines in making safe rattles.

Wood bracelet

A wooden bracelet is a superb accessory. Wood, being a natural product has a pleasant feel to it and its weight is almost often proportional to its appearance. A wooden bracelet is normally a wonderfully balanced piece of jewelry.

Bracelets are turned as a faceplate turning, which means with the grain running perpendicular to the lathe. Some turners use standard tools including bowl gouge and parting tools. You might choose to use some detailing you can find in stores.

Bracelets can be single wood in either plain finish or they can be embossed with wood burning, inlays or even decorated with gems. They can also be of several wood species such as laminations or even segmented turnings. Since they are always worn for decoration, you can go crazy with ideas on how to dress them up.

Balls

Hand turning wood balls is a fun and tough project. It is a project that starts as a spindle, between centers. When you are done step one, you have a rounded shape with thin tenons. Then you have to discard the tenons so you trim them with a handsaw, mount the wood between custom turns wood cup chucks and turn the tenons off. The last step is to rotate them one more time into axis 3 for the last turning.

Woodturning Drying Methods

Wood freshly cut from a tree is still wet or green. Wood fibers are more flexible because of the sap and water present which allows the wood turner to create nice patterns and designs. The disadvantage to turning wet wood is that it takes a long time to dry. One rule is to rough turn the wood to half an inch thickness and then place it inside a brown paper bag four to six months until it reads 10 percent in the moisture reader.

Microwave drying

Microwave drying works amazingly with little cracking. Rough turn first the work piece into half an inch thickness and then put it inside the microwave for a minute. Take it out and let it set until it is completely cool. Take a pen and put a mark on the bottom and put it back inside the microwave for another minute. Do this several times until it is dry and remount on the lathe for the finishing turn.

Boiling to dry

Experimentation has been made by wood turners and the final conclusion shows that this strategy works better on certain types of wood with a little checking. An advantage to the technique is that you can go with large wood pieces that cannot fit inside the microwave oven. Use 50- 70 gallon drum containing oil. Cut the lid and use propane stove ideal for cooking crabs and lobsters as the source of heat. Boil the wood for an hour. Do this several times until you achieve the appropriate thickness. Let it drip after removing from the hot water and place it inside a brown paper bag and seal it for some months until it completely dries.

Alcohol drying

This technique is faster than boiling. Rough turn the work piece to a thickness of one inch. Put the bowl inside a plastic bag and fill it with denatured alcohol to thoroughly submerge the wood. Allow it to soak for a day to have a good absorption. Take the work piece out and let it dry for one hour. Cover it with a brown paper bag and place it on the rack upside down. The denatured alcohol can be recycled for the next work piece you have.

Conclusion

Choose which technique is appropriate for your woodturning projects. You can try all the three of these and notice the differences. The three techniques also have added advantages of killing microorganisms that might be present in the wood.

Woodturning Workshop: Learn the Fundamentals and Techniques

A workshop is one of the best sources of knowledge and skills for woodturning. Whether you are a beginner or with experience, after attending a workshop you will gain the ideas you need and start turning with new enthusiasm.

Len?s Smith woodturning workshop

This is a hands-on workshop for each student of the basic spindle cuts. Designed by Len to share and show details of subjects often overlooked and not covered thoroughly in books. Beginner and advanced turners are welcome to attend the workshop. With regular practice on the techniques, your confidence and skills will surely improve.

The workshop is Len?s one way of introducing woodturnings and books. Each participant will receive her very comprehensive 30 page course notes. These have been specially written by Len for many years to give detailed instructions and recap all the subjects discussed during your time in other workshops. Just bring yourself because tools are available for demonstration and practice. If you want to attend one of her free workshops, visit her website and ask for a registration form.

Fundamentals of woodturning by Anderson Ranch Arts Center

Anderson Ranch Arts Center is known for its various artworks. They conduct classes for woodturning and workshops during spring, summer and fall. There are workshops with and without fees. Try to visit their website for the list of workshop topics that you may wish to know more about.

Workshop about fundamentals of woodturning aims to build your confidence with a solid knowledge of fundamental woodturning techniques. Learn to choose the appropriate wood, the right tool and joint. Whether you are a novice or have experience, you can join the workshop.

Johannes Michelsen woodturning workshop

This is a three-day workshop in Johannes Michelsen?s newly renovated Vermont Barn Studio. Don?t be intimidated because all skill levels are welcome. Johannes will show and teach all you need to know to create your very own wooden hat. The class size he wishes is just small for his studio to accommodate. Instead of waiting a long time for the instructor to notice that you need assistance, you can hop over to Johannes workshop and get the attention you want.

Johannes will increase you knowledge of wood and hone your woodturning skills. Your woodturning will be changed for the better in just three days. The workshop registration for May and June are still ongoing.