Courses

[bernuk1]

Recently I attended a one day bowl course with GBF and very enjoyable and beneficial it was. I have been looking at other courses,and there plenty which teach how to turn,and end up with various items.Each course teaches a different aspect of turning,which is great.
However one aspect which I would like tuition in doesn't seem to be covered-that is ,different holding techniques and when to use which one,how to choose chuck jaws for different jobs,how to reverse hold a piece for finishing (there seems to be more ways to do this than there are to skin a cat and I'd like to be shown as many as possible) "Take a piece of scrap and make a glue block or a jam chuck " is a bit 'general' for a novice.

Thoughts from teachers on this-is this an area that doesn't get asked for ?

[GBF]

You can come here for a day Mike and we can go through it or you can join our club where we have a book in the library on work holding.
Or If you want to travel a bit further go to Mark Sanger for a day

Regards George

[bodrighywood]

As you say how to hold your wood is as varied as the people doing it. Having originally learned to turn in the 60's I started with no chucks or modern equipment and still find some of the methods I used then best with some of the things I turn. If you ask almost any pro turner who teaches they would be happy to go through the different ways I am sure. If you are down George or Marks way then you will be hard put to do better than them IMHO.

Pete

[bernuk1]

You can come here for a day Mike and we can go through it or you can join our club where we have a book in the library on work holding.
Or If you want to travel a bit further go to Mark Sanger for a day

Regards George

Thx George-I was kinda expecting that answer :-) If the book is Fred Holders,I've got it on order.

So,I realise that teachers will teach most things if asked-but I suspect most beginners wouldn't ask about comprehensive work holding because it doesn't seem to be a problem in the early days,it's as you progress and you want to do more adventurous work that it becomes an issue-Hence the last line of my Post.

Mike

[bernuk1]

As you say how to hold your wood is as varied as the people doing it. Having originally learned to turn in the 60's I started with no chucks or modern equipment and still find some of the methods I used then best with some of the things I turn. If you ask almost any pro turner who teaches they would be happy to go through the different ways I am sure. If you are down George or Marks way then you will be hard put to do better than them IMHO.

Pete

Thx Pete,a similar response to George 'ask and ye shall receive' I bet that to beginners "Come and make a bowl in a day" is a more attractive proposition than "Come and learn how to hold work safely on a lathe"

Mike

[bodrighywood]

Also a beginner wouldn't know what to ask. Part of the problem is that someone trying out turning to see if they like it is more likely to be inspired if they go away at the end of the day with something that they have made. A day filled with the more technical matters but no end product is not so likely to be inspired. When teaching you have to get across the basics including H&S, etc as well as actually making something and having time to teach all the various ways of holding, what tools work  best etc can be time comsuming. Someone such as ypourself who has a degree of skill and knowledge already perhaps the more technical things would be applicable however. The turner who doesn't want to learn is dead IMHO as there is always something new to learn. I recently did a day with Mark where we didn't touch the lathe and came away inspired and that should be the result of any course.
Pete

[bernuk1]

Also a beginner wouldn't know what to ask. Part of the problem is that someone trying out turning to see if they like it is more likely to be inspired if they go away at the end of the day with something that they have made. A day filled with the more technical matters but no end product is not so likely to be inspired. When teaching you have to get across the basics including H&S, etc as well as actually making something and having time to teach all the various ways of holding, what tools work  best etc can be time comsuming. Someone such as ypourself who has a degree of skill and knowledge already perhaps the more technical things would be applicable however. The turner who doesn't want to learn is dead IMHO as there is always something new to learn. I recently did a day with Mark where we didn't touch the lathe and came away inspired and that should be the result of any course.
Pete

Thx again Pete-this post was prompted by me trying something I had seen on YouTube but not done-I balanced half a small yew log between centres to turn a small bowl.I followed the technique for tightening the 4 prongs into the drive end,but didn't get it tight enough.Fortunately the log didn't come off,the drive just started spinning,so I took it all off and hammered the prongs in.  It's now posted in Gallery as a WIP :-)

Mike

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Mike if you are serious about learning about holding work on the lathe I am quite happy to put a course together for you covering and exploring all of the methods that I have learnt over the many years that I have been turning.
Just let me know.

[bernuk1]

Mike if you are serious about learning about holding work on the lathe I am quite happy to put a course together for you covering and exploring all of the methods that I have learnt over the many years that I have been turning.
Just let me know.

Thx for the offer John