Specialty Woodworking

Betty Scarpino takes us through the basics of designing and turning a bowl.

It's long been my contention that we could achieve world peace and economic stability if everyone were issued a lathe and some turning tools. Bear with me now, and hear me out.

Can't afford your own personal shop "sanding sherpa"? The next best option is to follow our author's tips on minimizing sanding misery.

Bowl gouge, spindle gouge, detail gouge, roughing gouge, double-ended bowl gouge  - what does it all mean? We help you decide which tools to purchase, either for getting started or for advancing in your turning craft.

Investing in a good quality chuck will increase your options for making bowls, especially with all that free wood available from friends and family. Have fun, and remember ... keep your tools sharp!

Betty Scarpino shares some easily misunderstood concepts about woodturning with the hope of decreasing confusion and adding to your enjoyment and safety.

Learning different turning techniques will advance your skills - and make it much easier for you to pick the right technique for your next project.

A drill chuck makes a sweet addition to your lathe.

Ask a turner to show you what he or she uses to finish on the lathe and almost anything is likely to "turn" up.

Sometimes, a product that works too quickly sacrifices quality. In the case of friction polish on the lathe, a fast finish is a fine finish.

Turning hollow forms is easy once you get the hang of it, but you'll need a few specialized tools and some practice.

What is an efficient, traditional and exceptionally safe method of mounting a bowl blank to your face plate?

Occasionally I add a little class to turned spindles by carving spirals. It's not as tough as it looks, and is quicker than you'd think.

The last cut you make when turning a bowl will determine how much or how little sanding needs to be done before applying finish to your creation. A quality cut at this point in the process will not only decrease your sanding time, it will also increase your pleasure at the lathe.

Ed is a retired concert violinist, but I know him as my woodturning buddy. We share stories about our woodturning adventures and occasionally swap wood and tall tales.

Improving your turning skills involves spending time on your lathe, but sharp tools are also part of the equation. Here are some sharpening basics.

If you learn two skew-cutting techniques and a scraping method, you'll turn like a pro!

The time you spend practicing proper spindle turning cutting methods with four key tools will easily be made up by a reduction in your sanding time.

Just like you can't tell the players without a program, you can't really start turning without a lathe. 

As we casually sneak a peek underneath a friend's newly finished bowl, we want to know if the bottom received the same amount of attention as the rest of the vessel. Does the bottom curve agree with the inside form of the bowl? Is the shape pleasing? Are there sanding scratches? How well do the bottoms of your bowls hold up to such scrutiny?

Proper technique and gear go a long way towards keeping you safe. Remember that the most important safety "tool" is between your ears!

Tools cut green wood fibers like hot knives through butter, and the shavings fly! Here's how to transform a large chunk of hard maple into an elegant bowl in a matter of minutes.

Sometimes, there just doesn't seem to be a reasonable way to attach something to the lathe. Enter the vacuum chuck!