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“aha” moments

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May 31, 2019
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There seem to be "aha" moments more often than I would have expected, but the most significant so far:
If you hear the tool you were just holding hitting the floor behind you, you just did something very wrong. Figure out what it was, and don't do it again! You were very lucky once. Probably won't be if there's a second time.
 
Joined
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Sacramento, CA
For a couple decades, my turning experience amounted to little more than infrequently messing around on my dad’s lathe with just enough knowledge (and luck) to avoid injury and, sometimes, create something resembling what I intended. Then a little over two years ago, I decided to get serious about this craft. One of the first steps I took was to hit YouTube. Out of the first dozen or so, I learned some isolated tidbits from a few. The rest were what I’ve come to think of as “turning porn”: lots of slow motion shavings flying at the lens, and no dialog. Then I lucked into my a-ha moment. Or a-ha 120 minutes, to be more accurate--a recording of a demonstration to a club by some guy named Stuart Batty. The way he explained not only how to push cut with a 40/40 bowl gouge but also why to do it that way clicked for me. To a guy who had never managed to carve more than a millimeter per pass, the way Stuart cleared a half inch of wood per cut was like magic. I’ve modeled almost everything I’ve attempted at the lathe on what I gleaned from that video the others on YT and Vimeo. In relatively short order, I progressed from hopeless newb to competent intermediate.
 

Donna Banfield

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Mark, you've essentially experienced what I suggested earlier in this thread. Find an instructor who can communicate what they know, in a language you understand. Stuart's method of instruction does just that. When my students tell me that they've been using YouTube or Vimeo as their primary method of learning, I cringe. That's because for every good, worthwhile video posted on those two forums, there are hundreds that are not. And a beginner doesn't know how to distinguish between the good and not-so-good.
 
Joined
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Mark, you've essentially experienced what I suggested earlier in this thread. Find an instructor who can communicate what they know, in a language you understand. Stuart's method of instruction does just that. When my students tell me that they've been using YouTube or Vimeo as their primary method of learning, I cringe. That's because for every good, worthwhile video posted on those two forums, there are hundreds that are not. And a beginner doesn't know how to distinguish between the good and not-so-good.
I was going to make a reply to Mark regarding just that but you have explained it exactly so there is no need.
 

odie

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Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!
After 39 years of turning, I haven't had one minute of instruction. All my early learning was from a few books (one in particular was a very old turning book)..........along with some of the first professional VHS videos that were available. Unfortunately, that old book, which I think was printed in the 1930s or 1940s, was lost in a move to my current home in 1996....along with some of the other turning books, some miscellaneous tools, and all the early VHS videos I had. I have no idea what happened to them. :(

I'll have to admit that way back then, I did want some professional instruction, but circumstances didn't allow it.

"Odie, would you change anything"?

Not on your life!

"Why?"

Because now I've learned to do a few things that, to my knowledge, nobody else is doing. (It's not about what I do.....but how I do it!)

"That's a pretty bold statement there, odie."

Yes, I know.

"So, tell us about what you've learned, that nobody else knows."

I've tried to explain this once before, and I don't think very many people can understand it, and some people even think I'm nuts!......It's called "spiritual turning". It's something that can't be adequately explained, and apparently the concept can only be understood by experiencing it for oneself......and, after experiencing it, then you have to recognize what it is you just experienced.....with acute awareness.....only then, can you build upon that knowledge base. It is definitely a "spiritual" connection between mind, body, tools, the spinning wood, and your lathe.....it was the most significant "Ah-Ha" moment I've ever had! :)

"What does "spiritual turning" accomplish that is different?"

Basically, it's the ability to turn difficult bone-dry seasoned dense hardwoods, along with everything else, without the need for any power sanding at all. The only sanding needed is some very fine hand sanding as a follow-up to the tooled surface. Yes, it is possible to turn these very difficult woods, and eliminate any tear-out, whatsoever. This gives you the ability to lathe turn multiple finely executed details.....and have them look right. They look right, specifically because there was no aggressive power sanding to achieve it.....and, aggressive power sanding destroys perfect geometry (which is a key element to why spiritual turning is such an important thing to attune yourself to).

"Oh, I see.......................................or................................maybe not!"

-----odie-----
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 30, 2019
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@Donna Banfield & @Don Wattenhofer: Yes, I feel very fortunate to have stumbled on one of Stuart’s videos so early. I know there are lots of excellent videos out there and various techniques that yield great results. But I’m sold on push cutting as I learned it from Stuart’s videos. I can accomplish everything I’m interested in with four tools—bowl gouge, bottom bowl gouge, bedan for the dovetail on the recess, and scraper for cleaning up tool marks.
Before I started even practicing what I had learned, I decided to create a series of videos chronicling my journey from newb with no more than book-learning to wherever I landed after practicing each operation on about 25 blanks. My premise is that one can learn things from watching a student fight their way up the learning curve that you’d never pick up from a seasoned expert who simply doesn’t make rookie mistakes.
Shooting and editing ended up consuming much of my free time for 10 months—and the final revisions are yet to come. And because I decided to include every blank to show the progression of my skills, the end result is on the long side—8 episodes totaling 7 hours! If anyone is interested in taking an advance look and providing feedback to help guide the final edits, DM me, or email: beau.legouge [at] gmail.com
 
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My greatest AHA moment was about 30 years ago. As a rookie turner I discovered that you should NEVER attempt to make the inside of a bowl larger than the outside. Regardless of the sharpness of the tool.
Well sure, but only if you confine yourself to conventional physics and turn in only three dimensions. o_O ;)
 

hockenbery

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Well sure, but only if you confine yourself to conventional physics and turn in only three dimensions. o_O ;)
at least one exception is turning windows and voids.
hollowing multi sided spindles ( 2,3,4 sides.) beyond the outside wall ( inside the corners) makes widows useful for ornaments and other objects.

organic surface contours that dip inward provide opportunities to cut through the outside making windows.
 
Joined
Aug 7, 2021
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Location
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
For a couple decades, my turning experience amounted to little more than infrequently messing around on my dad’s lathe with just enough knowledge (and luck) to avoid injury and, sometimes, create something resembling what I intended. Then a little over two years ago, I decided to get serious about this craft. One of the first steps I took was to hit YouTube. Out of the first dozen or so, I learned some isolated tidbits from a few. The rest were what I’ve come to think of as “turning porn”: lots of slow motion shavings flying at the lens, and no dialog. Then I lucked into my a-ha moment. Or a-ha 120 minutes, to be more accurate--a recording of a demonstration to a club by some guy named Stuart Batty. The way he explained not only how to push cut with a 40/40 bowl gouge but also why to do it that way clicked for me. To a guy who had never managed to carve more than a millimeter per pass, the way Stuart cleared a half inch of wood per cut was like magic. I’ve modeled almost everything I’ve attempted at the lathe on what I gleaned from that video the others on YT and Vimeo. In relatively short order, I progressed from hopeless newb to competent intermediate.
This is very I inspiring!
 
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