Woodturning Articles
"The interpretation of an object is Art. The execution of it's creation is Craft"
Here you woodturners will find some articles that we have written about various aspects of woodturning. Some are projects while others are more about tool making or just information about topics that woodturners or wood loving people might want to know about. In the future, we'll be adding the published magazine and book articles (with the respective publications' approval of course) here as well. So, enjoy yourself as you read these articles and we hope they help.
New A Wood Division Judges Thoughts - Want a few tips and thoughts from a woodworking/turning judges mind? This article is a little bit of a "brain dump" from an experienced judge after a highschool State competition got him (and several other judges) to thinking of what he saw.
Tips For Club Demonstrations - In this article you'll find some tips for demonstrators of woodturning "out in the field" so to speak. I don't mean demonstrating at club meetings to other woodturners. I mean public demonstrations at malls, craft shows, fairs, businesses, out in the street and galleries. You can even add your own tips to the end of this article !
Drill Bit Size Chart - Ever need to know what the nearest metric (MM) size of bit is to your english (IN) one? Do you have to drill a 7 millimeter (MM) hole but don't have a metric bit and want to know what english one will be closest? Want to know what tap is needed for a particular sized hole?
Click on the picture to see an animation of
process of hollowing out the hollowform.The Basic Hollow Form steps - Showing the steps involved in making a hollowform.
Shaving Horse Tapered Leg Joint - A brief description of the leg joint that I made for one of the shave horses. Shows the tapered joint and how it was made for my traveling demo shave horse that allows me to easily put it together and take it apart.
The Negative Rake Scraper (Adobe PDF file) - Just a short article introducing this specialty tool. A reprint of an original article from the October 2004 newsletter of Woodturners of Southwest Missouri woodturning club by Andrew Hilton
"Art should be a ? ... not an !"
The Log Lift - A simple, cheap, handmade / shopmade device to help lift heavy logs or other loads. This will, literally, change how you load those wood blanks onto the truck, trailer, or lathe! Stop straining and make this lifter yourself.
The Easy-lift Sawbuck - This is an upgrade to the Log Lift (article just above this one) giving it a Saw Buck feature. Very easy to lift the log or other piece of wood up to a comfortable height to cut on.
Basic Peppermill Method (Adobe PDF file) - A handout on how to make a basic peppermill from wood from my demonstration / class on peppermill and saltmill construction. Peppermill making instructions. This is method #: 3F for the Crafts Supply Duddley type of mechanism.
"Talent can only take you so far. With character and persistence, there is no limit"
The basics of Inside-Out Woodturning (Adobe PDF file) - The handout for the 5 basic procedures in making a 4-sided inside-out woodturning.
Making your own .... Pyramid / Point / 3-sided Skew Tool (Adobe PDF file) - The handout for making this compromise tool. Gives procedures and tips on how to make it.
Making your own .... Hook Tool (Adobe PDF file) - The handout for making this mainly end-grain hollowing tool. Gives procedures and tips on how to make it. Includes some design variations.
Making your own Turning Tools - Heat Treating (Adobe PDF file) - A handout for our "Making your own Turning Tools" demonstration / workshop / class - Give a general guide and lots of tips on the annealing, hardening, and tempering process of working with tool steel in a woodturning environment.
Making your own Turning Tools - FAQs (Adobe PDF file) - A handout for our "Making your own Turning Tools" demonstration / workshop / class - Some of the more frequently asked questions and our answers we get from this topic.
Basic Principals in
Drying Wood Chart
(click image to enlarge)Gouge Shapes - Incomplete but close to done - Want to know what makes a detail gouge what it is? What to see the shape and compare the tools?
Making a Travisher - A great little tool for chair or stool making. One of those "tools of old" used by woodturners and Bodgers
The Uses of the Woodturners' Mini Scorp Tool - A great little tool that does a lot. This is certainly a Woodturners' Heritage Tool.
Making a Big Peppermill - A classic peppermill but on a bigger scale. The basics are the same but lots of important differences with tips and tricks revealed. This is a "Series" article. As more of the project gets done, I'll post more about it.
Turning Project Notes - Drawings and procedures for some of my more often created pieces so that I can actually find them when I need them. A work in progress ... I have, literally, hundreds of drawings and notes that I have to put into the computer for everything I make.
Turning a Captured Ring - These are fun. Some of us add these decorative features to everything from goblets and weedpots to pens and even trembleurs. You could even do it on a bowl! Well, here's the basics of making these fun woodturning accents. You'll amaze customers and family while impressing your woodturning buddies with the skills to make them.
"Ideas are best served by those that are willing; not necessarily by those best suited."
Making a Globe Ornament (3 pages) - These things look great, sell well, and are a little addictive to make. This shows step by step how to do it yourself. It just takes a little practice to master this project.
Sharpening Disk - This is how I prefer to do it. And this is how you can make and use your own. It's cheap, easy and works. Who could ask for anything more in woodturning tool sharping tasks?
Tiny Hollowing - Incomplete
Diamond Parting Tool Sharpening - Many have asked about how to easily do it with repeatable results every time. Sharpen those parting tools (diamond shaped or not) like the pros do.
Shopmade Chatter Tool - Got chatter? Don't we all! Well, this is for those wanting to intentionally create decorative chatter on your woodturnings with the wood lathe. This article shows you how to easily make your own chattertool cheaply and easily while giving the same great results time after time as the expensive and flimsy commercial ones. Got chatter? GOOD!
Spalting, A Fungus Amongus - Want to know what spalting is? Confused with all of the conflicting information and claims about how to spalt wood? Just too blasted interested in the catchy title? Take a look inside. I spalt wood commercially. This is the real-world explanation of what makes wood spalt but without all of the latin and scientific terminology.
Projects from Limb Wood - Just a few articles from many years ago by a couple of friends that I'm hosting here now...
And another one from the same friends ... Small Kaleidoscope Project
String Steadyrest - Finally Complete ! Here's how to make and use those little wonders of modern vibration dampening conveniences. Great for finials, trembleurs or any long, thin, small-diameter spindle. A specialty jig, sure, but fantastic when you need it !
"Hold yourself to a higher standard than mere success"
Vacuum Chucking - How to make a woodturning vacuum chucking system. From the pump, to connections, to rotary fittings for the lathe and how to make your own vacuum chucks. Here's how I did it .... on the cheap ... without sacrificing power and performance.
Woodturned Basket - Credit where it's due: Tom Crabb. Tom showed me a small one he had made one time and I, being the inquisitive person I am, decided to try it for myself ... but even smaller. Then I was asked online how it was done. So, I made this article to show her. If you want to see it done in person ... and on a bit larger scale ... find Tom Crabb for a demonstration. Or you might coax me into it sometime too. They're fun and not terribly hard to do.
Wooden Skew Gift - Yes, me and skews. Everybody that knows me, knows my love of the skew. All kinds of them. Well, here's a project from the heart. Or at least from mine. A wooden skew you can make ... (wait for it ...) WITH a skew !
"I find the impossible ... infinitely more interesting"
Coming Soon ...
Shopmade / Homemade Lathes. I'll be showing off some of the many lathes I've made. Everything from the "Anyway Lathe" which is a VERY minimal motor powered lathe that (almost) fits into a briefcase to my mini- Bow and full-sized Spring Pole lathes that I use for demonstrations and the occasional traditional bodging craft in making furniture spindles.
"A truly great idea doesn't just solve a problem. It opens opportunities for other ideas."
