Welcome to my adventures in woodturning

Where the magic happens!

I've been playing around with turning bits of wood for almost a year - the time has flown by and I’ve learnt a lot on the way.  But I still feel like a complete novice.  So I've decided to try and capture the details of the next phase of my learning journey and to share them through this Blog.

I have a small shed, with room for me, a bench and my Lumberjack starter lathe - a gift from my wonderful wife.  This was a step up from my first lathe, which Istill have and use from time to time - a mini-lathe capable of turning prices of upto about six inches in length and one and a half inches in diameter. This was also a gift, but this one from my parents who have always encouraged me in such things.

To date I've made a lot of things, mostly sawdust, but recently have felt that I am turning a corner (if you'll pardon the pun).  I've started to learn more about what wood is good to turn, what it means to turn at different speeds, the joy that comes with a sharp chisel or gouge, the frustration of trying to keep said chisels and gouges sharp.  I've learnt that my shed leaked, that whiskey barrels smell amazing and that I have a chance of actually getting quite good at this if I stick with it - so again, that's the purpose of this blog - to try and make me think about what and why I'm doing a certain thing.

I'm not going to blog about every detail, but I will try and record every different project that I attempt, what I learn from it and how it turns out.

I hope that someone out there may find this either interesting or useful, it would be amazing if it ever reached the point of actually inspiring someone else to take up the chisel...

So join me on my woodturning adventures...

Derek.