Woodturning Tips

Series Summary

Few woodturning projects are as rewarding and as challenging as turning a bowl on the lathe. This great woodworking skill not only requires good woodturning technique on the lathe, but also good selection and preparation of blanks. Hardwood blanks are the best blanks to use for woodturning projects and they should not be allowed to get punky before turning them on the lathe. Learn how to prepare a bowl blank for turning on the lathe in this free woodturning video series featuring woodturning expert Donna Zils Banfield. Banfield will demonstrate how to choose wood for woodturning projects, how to prepare a bowl blank with a chainsaw, how to prepare a bowl blank with a band saw, how to cut a bowl blank with a chainsaw, how to cut a bowl blank with a band saw, and how to mount a bowl blank on the lathe.

Video Transcript

"In this series I'm going to talk to you about wood for turning a bowl, how to get it, where to find it if you live in a rural or urban area and if you are working with green wood, how to prepare that green wood or half log to mount on the lathe and to be able to get a finished product like this. There are many different types of wood that you can use. This is a green log but you can also use commercially prepared blanks which you purchase from a woodworking store or branches that you might pick up off the front yard or the back yard or from your neighbor or a tree arborist. It is always a good idea when I hear a chain saw running in my neighborhood, I get in my truck and I find where that chain saw is. I introduce myself, I make a new friend in the neighborhood and that person gets some help cleaning out their yard."