If I were to describe myself in a few choice words, some of those would be: Maker, craftsperson, designer, artist, student, teacher, gamer, athlete and poet.
As someone who has worked as a sculptor and then a carpenter, I have used many tools… so choosing one is a controversial subject for me. However, for me, one of the most useful tools is the sliding table saw! The reason being is that it is capable of squaring up any odd shaped board.
For this week, I have finally tried something that I’ve always wanted to try my hand at. I learned to use the wood turning lathe! I have a pretty comprehensive background in wood working but the lathe is one things I have just never gotten a chance to work with. During my undergrad, the school was extremely protective over who was allowed to use the lathe and the professors would tell horror stories of the worst (although rare) tragedies; so it goes without saying I found having the opportunity to learn, more trouble then its worth.
Anyway, I began by watching a few tutorials online so that I would have at least a vague sense of what I was getting myself into before walking into the wood shop. I knew that the lathe is a tool that makes square or a-symmetrical pieces of wood into round pieces. So the easiest thing to do firstly is to shape my material to be as round as possible before putting it on the lathe. I had a square block of wood and used the table saw to cut 45 degree angles on each corner to make it into an octagon. Once done, I centered and locked into place the block of wood onto the lathe. When I switched on the lathe, the machine made a powerful hum as the motor began to turn the material. Then I began to cut the piece with a rough gauging chisel that needs to engage the material just below the center and at a slight angle.
As I was workng with my first piece, I began to wonder to myself, why have I been afraid of this thing for so long?? Using the lathe reminded me of both working on the potters wheel or glass blowing. The main difference is that wood turning is strictly a subtractive process rather then additive. I think its safe to say that I plan on working with the lathe more in the future!!
Below are two pieces that I ended up with. The one on the right was my first piece where I was trying to get comfortable with using the machine. The one on the left however, I tried to get more intricate with what kinds of shapes I could get. I am absolutely interested in revisiting this tool to experiment with more advanced techniques in the future.
