Turning wood completely away to gain proficiency, rather than to get a product, is a good way to begin. After 55yrs of turning I occasionally still do that to begin a woodturning session in an attempt to maintain my proficiency as my overall dexterity and mental acuity declines...
I do that with students. We start with spindles and by the time they turn a couple of 2x2s down to almost nothing they've got the skew, spindle gouge, and roughing gouge mostly figured out. I'm always there watching, suggesting. No catches allowed!
Agreed I still do that often enough, usually with a piece of wood that was intended to be a project but turned out to have defects making it unusable for that project - Rather than unchuck it and set it aside for later use for something smaller, I often just keep turning it into shavings for technique practice (especially with tools I wasn't planning to use on that project, but applicable to the grain orientation, and infrequently used) and lots of firewood scraps I can grab from wherever when I just want some practice.
I often do something similar, but with a variation - not necessarily turning the practice piece down to splinters..
When turning a project, as I get half way to the final shape I'll start practicing "final" finishing cuts early. I'll try a different tool, one with a different grind, various lathe and tool movement speeds, different tool presentation, etc, and make a final practice cut. I do this multiple times. For example, if I intend a vase to have a 2" neck I might start making practice cuts when the neck was closer to 3" diameter - gives me 1/2" of wood for practice.
By the time I reach the final shape, thickness, etc, I've had a lot of practice and discovered which tool and method DOESN'T work a well and what does works for THAT shape and that piece of wood. My final "final" cut is more likely to be as perfect as I can get it and require minimal sanding.
This does take more time, but hey, I'm turning for the joy of it instead of competing in a speed contest. The worst thing for me is to quickly hog out the wood to size then find out too late the tool I picked for the finishing cut wasn't the best. (This "sneak up on it" method also avoids the surprise problem of tearout on the final cut on the outside of a bowl or such - I can figure out how to deal with the tearout on that wood and that shape earlier instead of later.)
One example: when turning long straight sections on thin spindles using certain osage orange blanks I discovered a skew with a small included angle caused some fibers on to pry out of the wood, sort of like long, linear tearout. However, if I used a skew with a larger included angle, a different skew angle, a certain spindle roughing gouge, or even a different cutting speed I got a much cleaner cut for THAT wood. It was good to find that out during practice long before making the finishing cut!
The best thing: with this kind of practice I eventually learned which tools were more likely to work best for certain situations. It amazed me how much better some tools in my kit worked better and now feel more "right" than others for the same cut. I still continue to make multiple finishing cuts but I think this has improved my turning overall.
I started doing this years ago and show it to others. I'm a believer.
I think it was Sir John Lucas that told me in the deep past he sometimes did the same thing. Another friend told me he does that often, especially on new shapes. This might not be of interest to those who turn similar bowl shapes over and over. Or those who are automatically good at everything they attemp!
JKJ
