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Getting more confidence

Joined
Jan 24, 2010
Messages
3,058
Likes
900
Location
Cleveland, Tennessee
I must confess........the ornament kits I got at WC was for last year. But I put off turning even though the WC folks printed off the instructions which were very useful. I had no confidence in actually turning wood. I had made some custom fishing rods and made grips and reel seats. These were easy and required very little skill. Cork can be turned with drywall screen and sandpaper. Reel seats require only a skew and a parting tool.
I belong to the Dalton Area Woodturners Guild, Dalton, GA. The members have put on some great demos and have had several demonstrators, including our own John Lucas. Last night was a demo on painting turnings by DAWG VP, Joe Price. After pondering the past demos and Joe's items that he brought, I felt it was time to step up to the plate. One member sharpened some of my tools and that made a difference on the speed and quality of my turnings today.
I thank everyone on this forum as I have learned a lot and now plan on putting that learning to use. I might be be boring you with my turnings in the future. Will try to take some decent photos of the ornaments when I get all three completed. Nothing fancy but I hope that the family will pass them down saying, "Remember that old guy who made all this stuff?"
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
2,326
Likes
1,105
Location
Nebraska
John,

Just get a mixed box of wood blanks and mount them between centers and start turning.
You will learn a lot as you go and be able to learn from fixing the mistakes made with the lathe tools.
Once you have a few hours turning billets on the lathe and using a few of the tools you will have plenty of confidence to tackle most projects.
 
Joined
May 28, 2015
Messages
1,554
Likes
178
Location
Bainbridge Island, WA
Ditto to what Mike said, just turn, turn, turn, turn. AND -- take advantage of any mentoring your club provides. The only complaints I hear from our listed Mentors is that not enough people come to their shops to learn!!! How's your Tennessee location for "free wood"? Here in the Northwest, Puget Sound area, there's more wood laying on the ground each year than any one person can use. When wood is free, there's no excuse to not turn.:D
 
Joined
Jan 24, 2010
Messages
3,058
Likes
900
Location
Cleveland, Tennessee
Jamie, I have enough wood from small pieces to logs to build a small Craftsman style house. 99% of it was free which makes it even more valuable. I have heard of turners and WWers who make friends with tree services for extra wood. Most of it winds up as firewood.
I have several pieces of some type of cherry from a tree cut down next door last summer. Not sure what kind but a club member at our local WC store IDed it as cherry but no specific species. Cherries were mostly green with a tinge of red at the stem end.
 

Mark Hepburn

Artist & Chef
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
Messages
1,621
Likes
577
Location
Houma, Louisiana
I'll add that you won't bore with questions, posts or whatever way you want to interact. I can tell you from my own experience that there are tons of great people here ready to jump in to help.
 
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