Woodturning Schools and Classes

[Steve Tiedman]

For those that rely on Youtube for turning instruction, there's a lot of bad videos mixed in with the good. (some are dangerous) I've compiled a list of the preferred instructors. This was all just info taken from another thread on here. I collected the names, then looked up their links.

Nice job with the list, Darryl. Thanks.

 

[Darryl Fective]

Nice job with the list, Darryl. Thanks.

We've had some new turners join our club and I wanted to direct them to the better video instruction. I think it was mentioned at a board meeting, but sifting thru all the crap seemed like a daunting task. I saw a thread on here with people listing their favorite content creators, so I just collected the names and links. It seemed too good to just keep for our club, so share it far and wide.

 

[Dave Landers]

There are things you can learn from an in-person demo that you just can't get online. Like, where does the demonstrator place her feet? Or, What is he doing with his right (invisible) hand? Or that they reposition they tool rest, sometimes by millimeters, all the time--way more often than we amateurs ever do. It's hard to describe, but once you're past the beginner stage of learning, there are many, many subtle things you notice in-person.

Odie and Tim, if you go watch someone else turn in person, you'd undoubtedly be thinking to yourself, "Well, I can do that better with my grind", or "You've got way too much vibration". Much of what an advanced turner would see would not be new and useful, but there are always little nuggets in every demo. A new way of taking off the nub on the bottom of the bowl, how to use a bottom of the bowl gouge for something entirely different, or maybe Odie, you'd have seen an angled headstock for the first time 20 years ago and thought "Shazaam! That's what I need."

So often, I've gone to a demo thinking "meh I will never want to do that sort of thing". But often I learn something. And, in these cases, it's often not something the demonstrator was intending to show. Something peripheral to the demo that just rings a bell when it folds into something else I'm working on.
Online demos are valuable, especially if you want to learn or observe a particular skill or project steps etc. But they have less of the "peripheral content" because the demonstrator usually has edited their video to make a specific point.

 

[Joel Daniels]

I cannot recommend highly enough Glenn Lucas's Woodturning Study Centre in Ireland, both for the superb instructional experience and the opportunity to the travel in Ireland. Expensive on all fronts, but very much worth it if it fits in your budget.

... (just signed up for bowl turning with Glenn Lucas in Ireland) ...

I've been watching Glenn Lucas's videos and am intrigued with operations and his week-long course. I know there are lots of options available in the US that would be significantly less expensive, and just as good, but I've been all over Europe (Dad in the military - I graduated from high school in Munich) but never to Ireland. His operations look amazing. And the wife said I should take his class! Doesn't get any better than that!

So...for those that have attended his week-long class, please elaborate. What did you cover? What was your experience going in? How was the interactions? What about outside the class - opportunities for the wife to do things? Did you stay longer to do some touring? Thanks in advance for any inputs. Last I looked, they were booked thru 2026 and out into 2027 - so it will be awhile before I have the opportunity to go. Also - need to get to retirement to have the time (less than 2 years away now!! )

 

[Dean Center]

So often, I've gone to a demo thinking "meh I will never want to do that sort of thing". But often I learn something. And, in these cases, it's often not something the demonstrator was intending to show. Something peripheral to the demo that just rings a bell when it folds into something else I'm working on.
Online demos are valuable, especially if you want to learn or observe a particular skill or project steps etc. But they have less of the "peripheral content" because the demonstrator usually has edited their video to make a specific point.

Exactly.

I can't count the number of times I've looked at the demonstration schedule for a symposium and not found a particular topic or demonstrator appealing, but then as the rotations unfold and I have a blank period, I drop in and it turns out to be the most helpful demo of the symposium.