Hello all,
I will be getting my old Shopsmith back (which I loaned out to my step father for the last 10 years) and was thinking of setting is up as a lathe. I have absolutely no experience with wood turning. Can you suggest a good starter book (or two) that would be great for a self taught woodworker who is interested in taking up wood turning.
Thanks,
David
Replies
A Foundation In Woodturning, by Keith Rowland is an excellent first book.By the way, if you need turning tools, check out the Penn State Industries website. The Benjamin's Best turning tools are as good as my expensive Sorby's.
mike
Any and all the books and videos by Richard Raffan, very practical.
Just grab a gouge and practice just keep the tool at centre or above the work, and buy a face shield.
David, a good place to start is your local chapter of the AAW. The AAW chapters are an invlauable source of information. Many have their own libraries of books and videos for check out.
They also conduct workshops and hands on training for beginners and bring in guest turners for demos and lectures.
It seems that the members always know where there is good deals on wood, tools or lathes.
I did not see your location in the personal info so cannot point you to a chapter. There is a list of chapters on the AAW site:
http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/
Steve Pippins
Hi David,
I'll echo the Richard Raffin books, and also throw in a favorite of mine Woodturning, a Fresh Approach by Robert Chapman. Some of the skills are a little beyond the beginner, but the writer is very encouraging and clearly recognizes that we will have failures. His chapters on bowl turing are very good, but the later chapter on enclosed vessels are the best on this topic I have seen.
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