...what was it that made you realize?

[John Grace]

I have found over the years that turning can be similar to riding a bike. Before we successfully first ride way back when we're never quite sure if we're ever going to figure it out. Then, remarkably, ten minutes after our first biking success we're equally baffled as to how we could never do it before. When we first started turning most of us watched videos of other turners and they made it look all so smooth, easy, and pleasant and then began our own individual learning curve. To that end...what was that moment when you felt you had moved to the next level of turning? For me it was when I was working on the inside of a 14" maple bowl and out of nowhere, I finally succeeded in turning a singular, even, and continuous cut from rim to bottom of the bowl's center. And yes, it's now done almost absent mindedly and I can no longer remember what about it I found so daunting in the past. What was your moment?

 

[john lucas]

I was that way with the skew. I could not for the life of me turn a long spindle without chatter . I practiced a lot. Then one day I simply did it. Don't know for sure what I did differently but it was easy after that. Now years later I'm pretty sure I was pushing on the bevel too hard and somehow just learned not to do thst.

 

[Bob_Mitchell]

I’ve had those moments, but I’m wary of them. Seems like if I, say, turn 5 beads cleanly with a skew and tell myself “Wow, I’ve got this figured out,” when I go to turn the sixth I’ll get a nasty catch!

 

[Richard Coers]

I started turning in 1986. No internet, no videos, and no 4 jaw scroll chucks, it was just me making mistake after mistake in my basement on kiln dried wood. Then a friend suggested we go to a regional symposium in St. Louis. There I found out how to grind and that green wood was the way to learn and even create these organic looking bowls. I went from parking my Delta lathe in frustration, to getting very active in my turning. I remember picking up a bowl gouge used by JoHannes. I thought that poor guy doesn't know how to sharpen any better than I do with all those facets on the bevel. Then I watched him turn a hat and he had my full respect.

 

[john lucas]

I started turning about 1982 on a shopsmith. Like Richard I struggled and mostly scraped with dull scrapers. Did a fair amount of little segmented bowls. In 87 I moved to cookeville. Sometime after that (90 to 94) I met Joe looper at the Appalachian center for craft. He had studied under several of the greats who came to teach there. JOE got me started turning green wood. He had a lathe with 54" swing. They were hosting the Tennessee Assoc. Of Woodturners symposium and asked me to photograph it. That was around 95. The demonstrators were Rude Osolnick, Betty Scarpino, John Jordan and Paul Ferrel. How could you not get hooked. BOBBY Clemons who would later be AAW president I also got to know.

 

[john lucas]

Back to the original question. I really struggled with the skew early on. I took a Windsor chair class with Curtiss Buchanan. In his class we turned tapered told to our legs on a spring pole lathe using the skew. That slow speed allowed you to better feel the cut and of course catches were no big deal. After that class I wasn't afraid of the skew and got to be friends with it.

 

[odie]

Like a few of the other "old timers" here, I started in 1982....also on a Shopsmith. No internet, no videos, nothing but a couple old books. I'm not sure when I first turned green wood, but for a long time I turned nothing but KD wood from the local lumber yards. I did a lot of laminating in those days....along with wooden toys, cutting boards, wall clocks, and a few other things.....

If all you have is KD wood, the learning experience is much different than much easier green wood. I struggled a lot.

I do consider those early days without any connections to any other turners, to be a great influence on where I evolved to today.....wouldn't trade that experience for the world!

-o-

 

[robo hippy]

Well, bowls came naturally to me. The skew is kind of like a skunk for me. I don't really like it, but if I persist, I can get a little closer. Having a club start up locally really accelerated my learning curve. Then, as a couple of martial arts instructors said, "10,000 more times! But that is what you said last time! Well then, 10,000 more times!" Repetition really helps.

robo hippy

 

[John Grace]

Well, bowls came naturally to me. The skew is kind of like a skunk for me. I don't really like it, but if I persist, I can get a little closer. Having a club start up locally really accelerated my learning curve. Then, as a couple of martial arts instructors said, "10,000 more times! But that is what you said last time! Well then, 10,000 more times!" Repetition really helps.

robo hippy

Completely agree on the muscle memory. As an aging tennis player I remember a comment Steffi Graff made way back when about when she'd be ready to bring a 'new shot' into a tournament and she said after she'd hit it successfully a 1,000 times in practice.

 

[Karl Best]

I have found over the years that turning can be similar to riding a bike.

The first time I get back on the bicycle in the spring it's automatic. First time turning after a week or so away from the lathe it takes a few minutes to get the feel back. But then again I've been on the bicycle for 60 years.

To that end...what was that moment when you felt you had moved to the next level of turning?

For me it was the time after my last interior catch. At some point it all clicked and interiors started flowing. I watched an Ellsworth video a couple years ago where he talked about the "death cut" and I realized that I was doing this already.

 

[hockenbery]

I watched an Ellsworth video a couple years ago where he talked about the "death cut" and I realized that I was doing this already.

. Am I correct in assuming you have mastered the flute up shearcut? That is one powerful technique to own.

 

[hockenbery]

@Karl Best reminded me of my 13-14 month aha moment.

I was a self taught and ok turner when I took my first class with Liam O’Neil. Liam said I was holding the tools too tightly so he had me spend an afternoon turning the outside of a bowl one handed. Put a 10” blank on a screw center shape a bowl then with one hand turn it done to 3-4 diameter bowl. Then do it again and again. Liam taught me the flute up shear cut.

When I took Ellsworth’s class the following year. David said I was holding the tools too tightly. He had me hollow bowls one handed.
Put a bowl in a chuck hollow a small bowl in the middle then with one hand hollow the bowl bigger and bigger. The secret to success with the flute up shear cut(death cut) is a loose grip with the forward hand.

Not too long afterward I got to watch David Frye up close. David’s grip is so light that he appears not to touch the tools so much as wrap his hands around them without making skin contact.


I think I got it. That was in the mid nineties almost 30 years….

 

[Karl Best]

. Am I correct in assuming you have mastered the flute up shearcut? That is one powerful technique to own.

If that's what you call it . I started doing this by myself, and then saw David's video and thought "hold on, that's what I do!"

Probably related: by accident or sloppiness, my Ellsworth ground gouge ended up with a 65 degree nose instead of 55, but with the long wings. A while later I realized that most bottom bowl gouges are also around 65. So it's a half-n-half gouge. Maybe that's why my interiors go fairly well. Anyone else do this?

 

[Darryn Achall]

If that's what you call it . I started doing this by myself, and then saw David's video and thought "hold on, that's what I do!"

Probably related: by accident or sloppiness, my Ellsworth ground gouge ended up with a 65 degree nose instead of 55, but with the long wings. A while later I realized that most bottom bowl gouges are also around 65. So it's a half-n-half gouge. Maybe that's why my interiors go fairly well. Anyone else do this?

Yes, I bought an Ellsworth grind on a gouge and then reshaped it to about 63 degrees with the same wing profile. Very happy with it for doing bowls.

 

[robo hippy]

I used this for years before I saw a guest on Roy Underhill's show, who was talking about hammers. It came from an old black and white Hollywood movie about Cyrano de Bergerac, a famous swordsman. He disarms a student and then says, "Hold the sword as you would a bird. Too tight and you kill it. Too loose and it flies away." Yup! The one handed cuts are the best way to learn....

robo hippy

 

[David Martin]

Or as the old saying goes, let the tool do the work. Something I am having to remind myself of, but less and less frequently.

Long time ago I wanted to build a house so bought a skidsteer. The first time trying to use it was maybe the most helpless feeling I have ever had. At some point though it dawned on me that I was actually using the machine. It was doing what I wanted it to do without having to think through every motion of the pedals and levers. They had become extentions of my hands and feet. Same thing with woodturning. I'm less than two months into it so not there yet but I am making progress.

 

[Timothy White]

Or as the old saying goes, let the tool do the work. Something I am having to remind myself of, but less and less frequently.

Long time ago I wanted to build a house so bought a skidsteer. The first time trying to use it was maybe the most helpless feeling I have ever had. At some point though it dawned on me that I was actually using the machine. It was doing what I wanted it to do without having to think through every motion of the pedals and levers. They had become extentions of my hands and feet. Same thing with woodturning. I'm less than two months into it so not there yet but I am making progress.

I agree with you! I am at the same place with my woodturning and operating my skid steer.

 

[Neil S]

I started turning in 1986. No internet, no videos, and no 4 jaw scroll chucks...

I started turning about 1982 on a shopsmith....

Like a few of the other "old timers" here, I started in 1982....also on a Shopsmith. No internet, no videos, nothing but a couple old books.....

At the risk of sounding like one of the Yorkshire Four reflecting on the bad old days...

View: https://youtu.be/VKHFZBUTA4k

... at a stretch I could say that I tuned my first item, a yo-you from camphor laurel, on a converted peddle sewing machine in the late 50s, but it was an isolated endeavour from which I acquired no lasting skills, so I won't try to claim that as when I began turning.

I began turning more seriously a decade later in the late 1960s without as much as a book or any other form of instructions. I have to admit I've never had a woodturning lesson. So, the one thing I can say with any confidence is that all of my mistakes are my very own! And, I can remember making mistakes (I still do at times) but I don't think I can remember exactly when I became a confident turner, but it would have to be well over 50yrs ago now.

By the time I saw my first woodturning demonstration given by Richard Raffan some thirty years later I was probably well beyond correcting any of my ways... :~}

When I watched Richard then and some twenty years later on when I joined him among others on one of the woodturning cruises I positioned myself behind him. I had no need to see his hands or tools. Talking with him over dinner one night he asked me why I was hanging back there... "muscle memory, Richard. I'm looking at the accumulated rhythm of movements that you have acquired at the lathe over the years... your lathe tango!" He laughed, knowing what I meant.

Most of us are unaware of our accumulated muscle memory and our very own lathe tangos that make us proficient turners, but observing an expert turner from behind can awaken an awareness of this almost indefinable part of our craft. You won't find any YouTube videos on this, well not by any expert tuner that I know of who is worth watching. You just need to take the opportunity to observe it for yourself when you are at the next demo or class and not be distracted by all the tool and hand stuff that is being watched by everyone else from the other side of the lathe.
.

 

[odie]

At the risk of sounding like one of the Yorkshire Four reflecting on the bad old days...

View: https://youtu.be/VKHFZBUTA4k

... at a stretch I could say that I tuned my first item, a yo-you from camphor laurel, on a converted peddle sewing machine in the late 50s, but it was an isolated endeavour from which I acquired no lasting skills, so I won't try to claim that as when I began turning.

I began turning more seriously a decade later in the late 1960s without as much as a book or any other form of instructions. I have to admit I've never had a woodturning lesson. So, the one thing I can say with any confidence is that all of my mistakes are my very own! And, I can remember making mistakes (I still do at times) but I don't think I can remember exactly when I became a confident turner, but it would have to be well over 50yrs ago now.

By the time I saw my first woodturning demonstration given by Richard Raffan some thirty years later I was probably well beyond correcting any of my ways... :~}

When I watched Richard then and some twenty years later on when I joined him among others on one of the woodturning cruises I positioned myself behind him. I had no need to see his hands or tools. Talking with him over dinner one night he asked me why I was hanging back there... "muscle memory, Richard. I'm looking at the accumulated rhythm of movements that you have acquired at the lathe over the years... your lathe tango!" He laughed, knowing what I meant.

Most of us are unaware of our accumulated muscle memory and our very own lathe tangos that make us proficient turners, but observing an expert turner from behind can awaken an awareness of this almost indefinable part of our craft. You won't find any YouTube videos on this, well not by any expert tuner that I know of who is worth watching. You just need to take the opportunity to observe it for yourself when you are at the next demo or class and not be distracted by all the tool and hand stuff that is being watched by everyone else from the other side of the lathe.
.

Well, Neil....I guess we can now refer to you as "the old man" around here!

I think it was Richard Raffan that once referred to his turning style as "the dance", so your observance of the "accumulated rhythm" does strike a note of familiarity.....and, I believe I know exactly what you mean!

Thanks for responding.

-o-

 

[Mike Johnson]

If you put in long hours on a lathe, you should quickly learn to conserve energy and eliminate unneeded steps to related tools and materials.
If you are running a business, you design all of these energy saving concepts into the process so you can compete in the marketplace.
If you only spend an hour or two each week at the lathe you will forget more than you learn compared to the person turning daily.
No matter what activity you are performing you will never excel at it until you devote the time to master it. These days' time is the biggest issue
for most people that are multitasking with Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Shipping, R&D, etc. etc. running a small business.

 

[Timothy White]

@Neil S: Thanks very much for the video! I like it I like it a lot.
very appropriat.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Started in 06 just planning on table legs. Mostly self taught (big mistake) and watching club demos. It seemed to come around when I got the CBN wheels and learned what sharp was. That was maybe 8 years

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

My start was in 1958-59, for the reason that I had pulled a paper strip that had the name for which person in our family I had to get a gift for (from St Nicolas), it was one of my sisters and she would like a salad bowl, no problem I thought.

I knew there was a store that did sell some, however I found rather steep, as the price was about what my salary was for a week, so the thought was "how hard would it be, I was able to use our metal lathes, and wood was much softer.

I found a block of Cedar and screwed it to a faceplate, sharpened a file and started to turn, well it was no success, I realized I better get her a different gift, the wood did burn fine though ;-)).

But then there was this, why and how did these people somewhere turn those bowls, and then I got some better wood for turning, luckily my friends (RIP) family had a sawmill and did saw basically White Oak and other hardwoods, some tropical and they would get whole logs, there are always pieces that I could get and use to turn.

Still scraper tools as I do know now are not the best wood turning tools, as there was no-one to watch or show/tell how to turn wood, so I learned it all by myself, and yes I got hooked.

I have turned all kinds of wood and different shapes, and still to this day I like turning wood.

Here are some that I turned before and brought along in 1967 when I came to Canada, so better than 56 years ago.

An Afzelia box with a bunch of coasters., edit, actually the box is not Afzelia, but the coasters are, I forget what the wood for the box was

A two shelf Teak turning with a Stainless Steel tapered shaft and brass covered ball bearing ball.


A Teak and Padoek candle holder.


I turned many more pieces, everyone in my wife's and my family did get at least one turning, as well as my friends, though I have no pictures of them :-(

 

[Mike Novak]

I’m still looking for “that moment “