Text © 2005 by Richard Raffan Photographs © 2005 by The Taunton Press, Inc., except p. 29 (bottom right photo) by Te rry Golbeck Illustrations © 2005 by The Tau nton Press, Inc. Allrights reserved. The Taunton Press, Inc., 63 South Main Street, PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506 e-mail: [email protected] EDI TOR: Paul Anthony DESIGN: Lori We ndin LAYOUT: Cathy Cassidy ILLUST RATOR: Mario Ferro PHOTOGRAPH ER: Richard Raffa n LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGI NG-I N-PuBLICATION DATA: Raffan, Richard. Taunton's complete illustrated guide to turning / Richard Raffan. p.cm. ISBN 978-1-56158-672-1 1. Turn ing. 2. Lathes. I. Title. TT201.R33 2004 684'.08--dc22 2004012690 Printed in Italy 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 The following manufacturers/names appearing in Taunton'sCom plete IllustratedGuide to Turning are trademarks: Dremel®, To rmek®, U-Beaut Enterprises®, WD-40® About Your Safety: Working with wood is inherently dangerous. Using hand or power tools improperly or ignoring safety practices can lead to permanent injury or even death. Don't try to perform operations you learn about here (or elsewhere) unless you're certa in they are safe for you. If something about an operation doesn't feel right. don't do it. Look for another way. We want you to enjoy the craft, so please keep safety foremost in your mind whe never you're in the shop. Acknowledgments RINGING TOGETHER A BOO K LIKE THIS IS NEVER A SOLO EFFORT, and I'm most grateful for the help and comments offered by manyB fellow turners. Thanks to Mike Scott, Robin Wood, and David Woodward in England and Wales for allowing me to photograph them in action in their workshops. Nearer home, thanks to my brother Simon and his slabbing skills, and to Gordon Smith, Peter Filmer, and Peter Bloomfield for access to their woodpiles and tools. Thanks to both Graeme Bensley at Carbatec Tools, Fyshwick, my local woodturning store, and Terry Golbeck of Black Forest Wood Co., Calgary, where I teach occasionally, for all manner of bits and pieces of information as well as photos. To Les Fortescue, who has more tools than he needs and kindly lent me a few for the deep hollowing photos. To Paul Anthony-who asked the right questions and made editing most enjoyable. And thanks finally to my wife Liz, who coped stoically (mostly) with the long and anti-social hours writing and editing seemed to demand. Contents Introduction · 2 How to Use This Book · 3 PART ONE Tools and Materials · 6 The Lathe and Attachments 8 8 The Lathe 12 Lathe Attachments Shaping Tools 15 16 Tools for 17 To ols for 19 Tools for 20 Wood-Saving Center Work End Grain Face Work Tools Ancillary Tools 21 23 To ols for 25 Wood 25 Tools for 27 Drills 27 Sanding Sharpening Preparation Measuring and Finishing To ols Wood 28 29 Where to 31 Selecting 34 Recognizing Find Wood Wood Defects and Problems PART TWO Preparation. 36 Setting Up the Lathe 38 38 The Workspace 40 Tu ning 45 Dust Collection Your Lathe Laying Out and Measuring 46 49 Laying Out 54 Measuring Preparing Blanks 58 63 Preparing 68 Converting Blanks Logs Fixing Wood on the Lathe 71 ".. �.",...-= �:;'.,:.�:--..';�(; ". ' �"�'" 73 Basic Fixing 78 Reverse Chucking Sharpening 82 86 Preparation 88 Sharpening and Shaping PART THREE Spindle Work · 94 Spindle Techniques 96 100 General 101 Spindle Approach Detailing Spindle Projects 108 109 Handles 112 Legs 116 Sundry PART FOUR Turning End Grain · 120 End-Grain Techniques 122 124 Shaping 131 Detail on 134 End-Grain End Grain End Grain Projects End-Grain Hollowing and Shaping 146 149 Rough 152 Internal 156 End-Grain Hollowi ng Shaping Projects Chasing Threads 170 173 Chasing 177 Threads 180 Threading Threads and Grain Project PART FIVE Face Work · 184 Face-Work Profiles 186 190 Face-Work 194 Face-Work 199 Face-Work Te chniques Deta ils Projects Face-Work Hollowing 207 209 Hollowi ng 215 Face-Work Face Work Projects PART SIX Sanding and Finishing · 224 Sanding and Finishing 226 233 Preparation 234 Basic Sanding 239 Advanced 241 Finishes Sanding Further Reading . 242 Index · 243 Introduction HE WOOD LATHE IS ONE OF THE Since the mid-1970s, interest in wood­ oldest means of mass produc­ turning has increased exponentially and tion, along with the potter's been transformed by a new breed of profes­ wheel and metal casting. Round sional studio woodturner who creates one­ wooden objects so pervade our daily lives off objects rather than mass producing just Tthat we tend to forget that all those varia­ a few standard items. In the 21st century, tions on spindles and knobs are turned. lathe-based art is working its way into art Most turnery is now mass produced on galleries. automatic copy lathes, but almost within Much of the attraction of woodturning is living memory most was done by hand on the speed with which an object can be com­ man-powered machines. pleted. Its very low establishment costs are In the 17th century, mechanically minded also a factor, and the fact that raw material European aristocrats became the first hobby abounds often costing little more than your turners, working on lathes that cost more time to retrieve it. But a lathe only spins the than most families earned in a year. And wood. What is crafted from that spinning although small inexpensive hobby lathes wood depends on the skill and vision of the were marketed through the great mail order individual at the lathe. This book can set catalogs of the early 20th century, it was not you on the way to a new passion, and happy until the mid-1970s that woodturning start­ hours turning wood. ed to become a popular retirement hobby. 2 How to Use This Book OF ALL, this book is meant novices create flawless work of the highest to be used, not put on a shelf to quality through determination and knowing IRSTgather dust. It's meant to be what they want to achieve. pulled out and opened on your To find your way around the book, you bench whenever you have a problem or first need to ask yourself three questions: wantF to try something new. So the first What am I trying to make? Which sort of thing is to make sure this book is near turning am I considering: face-work, center­ where you do your woodworking and, par­ work, or end-grain hollowing? What tools ticularly, woodturning. do I need to use to accomplish the task? In the pages that follow you'll find all the To organize the material, we've broken important processes and procedures for the subject down to two levels: "Parts" turning wood on a lathe. There's important are major divisions of allaspects of wood­ advice on setting up the workspace and turning; "Sections" contain related advice the preparation that is essential before you and techniques. start turning. The first thing you' ll see in a part is a Wo odturning is a set of techniques that group of photos keyed to a page number. enable you to shape wood rapidly on a Think of this as an illustrated table of con­ lathe. It is possible to get excellent results tents. Here you'll see a photo representing with a limited range of tools, and it's one of each section of that part, along with the the least expensive areas of woodworking in page on which each section starts. which to get set up. Within sections, essential information There are few variations on the basic and general advice is followed by basic tech­ techniques. The way gouges, chisels, and niques and procedures. Projects show how scrapers are used to cut and turn wood is these combine as work proceeds. much the same way all over the world. Each section begins with a similar "visual What separates the master, the apprentice, map," with photos that represent the major and the novice is practice and experience. groupings of information, procedures, and Allwoodturners use the tools in much the techniques. Under each grouping is a list of same way to achieve much the same result, the step-by-step essays that explain how to but practice and experience enable the mas­ go about particular jobs, and the pages on ters to get there faster and circumvent prob­ which they can be found. lems before they arise. However, many 3 Sections begin with an "overview," or how you learn best, either read the text brief introduction, to the information that first or look at the photos; but remember, follows. Here's where you'll find important they are meant to work together. In cases general information on this group of tech­ where there is an alternative method, this niques, including any safety issues. You'll is shown in a separate essay. read about specific tools and about ways of For efficiency, we've cross-referenced fixing wood on the lathe for the operations processes covered elsewhere or steps that follow. described in another similar procedure. The step-by-step essays are the heart You'll see yellow "cross-references" called out of this book. Here a group of photos in the overviews and step-by-step essays. represents the key steps in the process When you see this symbol ! make sure or procedure. The accompanying text you read what follows. The importance of describes the process or best course of these safety warnings cannot be overempha­ action and guides you through it, referring sized. Always work safely and use safety you back to the photos.