• July 2025 Turning Challenge: Turn a Multi-axis Weed Pot! (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Kent Reisdorph for "Sugarberry Bowl" being selected as Turning of the Week for July 14, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Schools

J

jmr2001

Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
34
Likes
0
Location
Moose Lake, MN
I was wondering if we could have a discussion about the woodturning schools that are out there in the U.S. When my little all expense paid tour of Iraq gets done, I believe I will be in need of some honing of my fairly poor skills. Don't get me wrong I can make fire wood with the best of them. :p Even just a little list of where to start looking would be nice.
To focus the discussion it would help to say what I’m looking for. My problem is I’m not sure, but general techniques are where I should start and miniature stuff turns me one the most. My biggest problem is I don’t know what’s out there to choose from. Utilitarian stuff (but it is a real cool word and all) does not do much for me. I believe bowls to be the main stay of turning and I should learn how to do it right some day, but I want something different. So no one gets mad or the wrong idea I know bowls are every bit as much art and function – it’s just not my direction. Even though some pretty wild things have been done with bowls. Oh and I was not kidding about the fire wood, I’m a novice in every sense of the word. :(
So any help in the different directions I can go would be great. If you are a teacher, here is the time to do a little self promotion. Free advertising and all.
 
Joel,
When you get back find an AAW chapter near your location and you'll find lots of help there. Once you've found what you like best, then you can look for instruction in that area of interest.

And, most importantly, thanks to you and all the other service men and women helping to keep us safe here at home.

PS: Two tours, also with all expenses paid, in Viet Nam is why I don't like camping any more. :D
 
Sorry about the promote statement!

So you teachers don't promote me about your school, teach me about them! :o See we can get around just about any legal loop hole. Naw - just kidding. Sorry, but they can PM me if they where so inclined - correct? And I did see the huge list of schools. That's my problem. Huge list. Little detail about the course and a mighty expensive phone bill to check it all out. I thought this might steer me in the right direction. Thanks for opportunity to ask.
 
2 tours!

You just could not get enough of that stuff huh? Had to go back for seconds. No, thank you for your service! You know, now you mention it I really don't think the beach is going to have such an appeal as it did! :eek: I wonder why? lol
 
I don't know your actual skill level but a starting place are one day classes at woodcraft or rockler which usually are taught by some reasonably knowledgeable people. I have taken a half dozen or so of these and 4 were good instructional classes. Even though they were a little beneath my skill level at the time I took them I learned some things I hadn't thought about every time (I did a basic bowl, advanced bowl, pen and basic box classes) I took an advanced pen class and only received edification from the instructor I did indeed know what I was doing and was showed off to the the class as aan example of what good pens should look like (this stroke my ego far more than anything else I could have done with $85). The advanced box class I took at woodcraft was a joke I made better boxes than the instructor (and had brought several in to class with me) and everyone in class thought I did too except the loud mouthed instructor who insisted I was doing everything wrong but he couldn't make a suction fit lid on demand for the class to save his life and I along with 3 other people demanded a refund on this fiasco.

I also took a 5 day class at craft supplies with the Utah 5 which propelled me exponentially in terms of the kind of work I could produce even with my substandard lathes.

Of course my SIL (who happens to also be my accountant) stopped by to see poor injured me and ended up bringing me great news. Since I pay myself a weekly salary to cover both the money i make with my rentals and woodturning and I in turn pay all my taxes including workers comp I will most likely end up being able to get them to pay for me to take more classes as a vocation rehab/retraining program. I am thinking I will need at least 1 class if not 2 for each of my 3 main items I turn (box, bowl, HF) I am thinking 5 days making boxes with richard raffan, 5 days down at arrowmont or anderson ranch doing bowls, and maybe another 5 days with David ellsworth or Jimmy Clewes doing hollows. I would have to pay for my own travel but the cost of the classes would be paid for as would half the lodging.
 
T-dog

So is it safe to say you are chasing the instructor more than trying different schools? I have done a few one day trainings with my club and I learned a lot. Now I think at least one week-long training on might be in order. When I get back I will have couple of weeks of leave before I have to get back to my real job. I would like to go and train, but I don't know where or with whom. Also I have a small problem with looking for individual instructors - I really don't much about anybody. Besides the few videos I've seen, I can't put the work to the name. I have started looking up work on this site to see who is doing what. Still I get more confused. Go figure!
 
I am not so much going after instructors because of fame rather than going after specific instruction based on the kind of work each person produces (which they are often famed just goes with the territory). if I have to relearn how to do something I might as well learn it from a master in the field. My desire to go back to arrowmont is partly do to its fame, there aren't a lot of woodturners who get to say I have done classes at the famed arrowmont school, but also because I have taken classes their before but not in woodturning and had a wonderful time and it was a great experience that propelled my skills much further than I could have done with years of practice.

(I have done 2 photogrphy, printmaking, and a bandsaw box class at arrowmont and can't wait till the time I can get down for a David Ellsworth class)
 
jmr2001 said:
So is it safe to say you are chasing the instructor more than trying different schools? I have done a few one day trainings with my club and I learned a lot.................................................
Click to expand...

Joel,

Can't claim to be any more than an average turner, but I found the total imersion in turning for 5 days at a place such as Arrowmont(there are others) to be of the highest value. My skill level and understanding of turning took an almost quantum leap. Keeping in mind I went there knowing what a lathe was and a lot of bad habits but little else. Three day week-ends with a good instructor(big name or otherwise) would also be on my list of things to do.
 
Place to Learn

First: Join a local turning club. Best thing I did to learn how to turnÊ --Ê Êis to join a local turning club.

Our club has demos, show and tell, bring backs, wood raffles, workshops, a lending library and most important a mentoring program.

I signed up and received a mentor. We work together as I have time. He looks at my stuff and shows me another way to do it; a better way to do it; the right way to do it.Ê He has taught me to sharpen.Ê He has re-taught me how to sharpen.

Find the local club listing on the website for the American Association of Woodturners. Find a club or 2 near you and attend a meeting.Ê Join one of the clubs, some of our members drive 2 hours one way.

http://www.woodturner.org

Second: You didn't say when you are due back and will be ready to start. So, you might want to look at some of the symposium type learning arrangements. The recent AAW National Symposium in Louisville is an example. There are others through out the year. SWAT and Rocky Mountain will go in September. Almost every month there is one going on somewhere.

That way in a couple of days, you would be exposed to several different types of work in the various rotations.

Third: Check out the photo galleries here on this board and on the other boards out there. Let us know what type of work you like and that would help us.

John :)
 
Hey Joel,

The folks here in Kansas City just got back from one of the 5-day trips to Utah. Because that is a limited class size experience, you get to play a lot with some good folks watching over you.

I have several wood-turning friends who have attended Arrowmont and have come back with high praises. Most of them have attended more than once, with one friend attending annually for 10 years! All of these folks saw their quality and design improve exponentially.

There are also classes available with several of America's finest turners and teachers where you go to their area and spend 2-5 days with only a handful of folks (generally 1-5, from what I've read) under their tutellage. Bob Rosand does such a class (http://www.rrosand.com/classes.html). David Ellsworth does one (http://www.ellsworthstudios.com/david/schoolwood.html). Alan Lacer does classes by arrangement (http://www.alanlacer.com/schedule.html) and he's just not that far from you! Well, at least not that far from home. :D

There are others, certainly. I've sat in classes with two of these guys and would LOVE to spend one-on-one time with them. PM to follow.
 
I think I will also be adding Alan Lacer to the list of people I need to see for retraining. I don't imagine this injury will effect my skew technique any (which is pretty good if I do say so myself) but a couple of days with Alan should definately improve over it more than the 100+ times I have watched skew and son of skew.
 
One approach may be if you are looking for a specific skill, say hollow forms, find the person whose approach matches what you are wanting to focus on and look at where they are teaching. A class at an Arrowmont or Anderson ranch (or Penland) may have 8-12 students, BUT a class at that persons studio may have only 4.

If you are looking for a variety, or advancement in overall skill level, then look for a class to accomplish that vs a specific instructor. Read the overviews and pick that way. look up the instructor and see what you can find out about them and decide. The week long classes away from home, are great for immersion.
 
I had an excellent week at Crafts Supply. They have classes for all levels and their shop is well equiped. Find a class were you get to turn. Demos are nice but immediate practice with supervision after the demo is better, at least for me. 5 days of total immersion therapy (instruction) leaped my skilled forward about 5 years of trial and error. Look at the list of schools here on the website and find a class that sparks your interest.

Good Luck and be safe,

Frank
 
More info

Just as a clarifying note. I’m in a club, have been to workshops and pick everybody’s brain I can. I own a PPPPPPowerMatic (PM) and make a nice pen from time to time. I can get a bowl to look kind of like what it should at least in the general form. I always let the wood win though, I find it temperamental that way. Still, sanding and finishing eludes me. Two parts this… wipe this direction after using this formula, and all that stuff that is talked about on this form is not second nature yet. And the little spindle stuff I’m great at until I put the blade right through it on the finishing pass.

What I know - I want to do a week long course of instruction. Some where far away from my life, to do all the things you all have so eloquently spoke about above. Why not get better fast, and have a great vacation doing it. Where, and with whom, is my dilemma? I guess what I wanted from my post was the schools that can make that happen. A few are being thrown out and that helps me zero in. This is great. I just have so little knowledge of what one person does over another, I might have to stick to a good school and hope they know how to find a great instructor. It sounds like half these people teach at multiple schools. The individual that teaches at their place of business is not out of the question. Again, it’s just I would have to pick the person and I’m not sure I would be the right person to do that.
 
Joel,
Here is a link to the Craft Supplies workshops. You can navigate within it and look at the courses, instructors, schedules. Take a look at the Utah 5 program. If you are unsure just which direction you want to follow, this may provide some insight. Still not sure just what it is you're really looking for.
 
Cyril is absolutely right. I took the Utah 5 course and it was perfect. I would go back for any of the instructors but I would be especially interested in spending a week with Mike Mahoney. He's works hard at teaching and pushes you hard to learn and try what he just has shown you. You can go back to your bad habits when you get home but in Mike's class he expects you to try his methods...from cutting wood to sharpening your tools. The challenge was very helpful.

Any of the Crafts Supply course would fill your need though, not just the Utah 5 course.

I hear good things about Arrowmount, John C. Campbell and Marc Adams schools. I would also like to go to a Nick Cook or a Trent Bosch class.

Frank
 
I am a big fan of the classes at John C. Campbell Folk School. They have top instructors who teach weeklong and weekend classes. They are just opening up a new studio to accomodate the full woodturning classes. There are ten students in a class, with an instructor and an assistant. Format usually alternates between demos and hands on doing what you just saw. Usually the studio is open at night for individual work. Some teachers open it before breakfast. Go to wwwfolkschool.org for course descriptions. The overall experience of Campbell is full of community and creativity. I could not recommend it more highly.
On the other hand, I have been up the David Elsworth"s(all honor to his name) and spent four wonderful days learning from the master. Truth is, everything he does is on his tapes, but being there with him to personally supervise is remarkable. Four students.
And finally, you can go spend a day or two privately with a master turner and learn loads. I am a huge fan of NIck Cook and he can teach you to master the skew, turn spindles, and turn bowls.
Truth is, there are more resouces out there than ever before. The key is making sure you know where you are as a turner and what it is you want to learn. Have fun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top