A good starting point for beginner turners.
Though I intuitively knew these basic woodturning principles I have to give Andre Martel credit for pointing them out at his workshop that I attended in Ottawa. Thanks Andre.
Safety First
- Get into safe habits.
- When trying new techniques start on soft woods and small pieces.
- Wear (eye protection at the least) a face shield, and even a dust shield when sanding.
- Do not have loose clothing near turning spindles.
- Do not wear gloves.
- Turn the lathe by hand before turning on the power to check for possible contact points between the work and the lathe.
- Stand aside when first turning on the lathe - just in case you forgot to tighten something or a piece that did not appear loose turns out to be.
- Do not use large rags to buff or apply finishes on the lathe - paper towel works well for this or if you must use a rag, use very small pieces - I use 4 square inch pieces. (Remember oily rags can spontaneously combust due to heat build up as the oil oxidizes.)
- Be aware of the lathe speed. It is easy to forget and turn on the lathe when it is set at high speed and the work mounted is meant to start at slow speed.
- When using the tailstock continually tighten as the grip can work loose.
Basic Principles of good woodturning:
1. Always cut with the grain. In end grain turning (like most vases) this usually means moving the tool from small diameter to large diameter on the inside and large diameter to small on the outside.
For cross grain turning (like most bowls) move the tool in the reverse to endgrain directions.
2. Rub the bevel. Not always possible but if the bevel is not rubbing then you are probably scraping - though there is nothing wrong with scaping, it will not leave as good a surface and will not remove as much material.
3. Shear cut. Present the cutting edge of the tool at an angle to the work. This is hard to diagram but imagine cutting meat by just pushing down with a sharp knife. Now think of moving the knife back and forth. This is similar to shear cutting where the blade is held at an angle to the cutting action. If you have to scrape then shear scrape.
Other principles to keep in mind.
- Take very small cuts and increase shear angles to the maximum when making final cuts, so as to smooth as much as possible before sanding.
- Start sanding with the highest grit number that will allow smoothing the wood of tool marks. (Coarse grits leave lines on the wood that need to be removed with ever finer grits.)
- Increase sandpaper grit number by half: If you start with 100 grit then the next grit should be 100 + 50 or 150 grit. If you start with 80 grit then the next grit should be 80 + 40 or 120 grit. I generally use the following grits: 100, 180, 220, 400, 800, and 1200. Often I start right in with 180.
- When thinning an edge remember to leave enough bulk near the lathe attachment point to support the wood as it is tooled down. Tools will not cut well in wood that is flexing under bevel pressure.
- Vibration is to be avoided. See lathe stability page.
- Get into safe habits.
- When trying new techniques start on soft woods and small pieces.
- Wear (eye protection at the least) a face shield, and even a dust shield when sanding.
- Do not have loose clothing near turning spindles.
- Do not wear gloves.
- Turn the lathe by hand before turning on the power to check for possible contact points between the work and the lathe.
- Stand aside when first turning on the lathe - just in case you forgot to tighten something or a piece that did not appear loose turns out to be.
- Do not use large rags to buff or apply finishes on the lathe - paper towel works well for this or if you must use a rag, use very small pieces - I use 4 square inch pieces. (Remember oily rags can spontaneously combust due to heat build up as the oil oxidizes.)
- Be aware of the lathe speed. It is easy to forget and turn on the lathe when it is set at high speed and the work mounted is meant to start at slow speed.
- When using the tailstock continually tighten as the grip can work loose.