On a recent visit with my friend and mentor, David Marks, we decided to make a little video together. Initially the idea was to simply show David my video production process. But as things started to progress, I knew we had the makings of a great video and this was something I wanted to share with the woodworking community.

The goal was simple: let’s turn a bowl! But as easy as that sounds, properly filming a bowl turning from start to finish can be quite tricky with just a few hours to play with. I had to catch a plane that evening and this was something of a last-minute idea. But we managed to pull it off, amazingly.

Anyone who has worked with David knows that the man is a perfectionist by definition. He regularly achieves a level of quality that I can only hope to some day match. So with David Marks, even a “quick and dirty” bowl deserves a perfect spherical profile, an absolutely tearout-free finish, and a crisp decorative band. And forcing him to produce a David Marks creation under those conditions proved to be a challenge and an important learning experience for me. When David works, there is really only one way to do things: to the best of his abilities. So there’s really no such thing as “good enough”. Its either done properly or its not. This is something I really admire.

David shows you a number of tools and techniques in this video. You’ll see some of the more standard options like the bowl gouge, the parting tool, and the pyramid point tool, as well as some interesting offerings from Easy Wood Tools. In this video, David shows the Easy Rougher and The Easy Finisher. You can purchase the Easy Wood Tools, including the David J. Marks Pro Series featuring beautiful Bubinga handles at David’s website. The advantage of buying the David J. Marks Pro Series in addition to getting a signed bubinga handle, is that the handles are longer than the standard Easy Wood Tools which gives them better leverage.

I hope you enjoy this special episode. Maybe this will help fill in the gap left by my severe lack of turning content! And for those of you who miss the good old days of Woodworks, this is going to be a real treat!

On February 18-20th at the Mesa Convention Center the Arizona Woodturners Association is having their 4th Desert Woodturners Round Up!

The Desert Woodturning Roundup is a full-featured woodturning symposium featuring some of the best demonstrators as well as vendors, a panel discussion, and an Instant Gallery. This year they have 8 demonstrators doing a total of 48 demonstrations spread over 7 rotations. Demonstrators include Mike Mahoney, Christian Burchard, Lyle Jamieson, Al Stirt, Mark Sfirri, Stephen Hatcher, Ron Goble, and Don Ward.

Sounds like its going to be one heck of a learning experience, so register today! We desert dwellers don’t get many opportunities like this so you don’t want to miss it!

From: John Clark

Website: JohneClark.com

Location: Georgia

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Finish Used: Light coat of beeswax on the yellowheart

Wood Species: Yellowheart and Hutt Dymondwood

Project Description:
This is a wood turning project that creates christmas lights out of yellowheart and Hutt Product’s Dymondwood (an over-dyed hardwood that polishes up like glass). A short dowel of red oak is also used to hold the piece on the lathe and creates a small nib on the bottom of the light.

It’s a simple and fun project that always gets a lot of compliments for me. I have even turned smaller versions for earrings.

Turning on the lathe is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable parts of woodworking. Every time I turn I ask myself, “Why don’t I do this more often??” I still don’t have an answer to that. But recently, I had the opportunity to turn a cool item for a charity event. My friend Shawn was creating unique auctions for a Muscular Dystrophy charity event. One of those auctions was for a vampire slaying kit, which of course required a stake. Unconventional? Made of wood? For charity? I’m in!!!

While making the video, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to review some turning basics as well as introduce you to the tools I use most frequently. These include the Ellsworth gouge, the roughing gouge, the skew chisel, and the diamond parting tool. If you are interesting in picking any of these up, I included affiliate links below for these tools. Remember, buying through us helps support the show.

And keep in mind, although I am turning a vampire stake here, the tools and techniques are the same that you would use to turn a spindle in a regular woodworking project.

Ellsworth Signature Gouge The most versatile 5/8″ bowl gouge on the market — with the edge and balance needed for the finest projects! Ellsworth Signature Gouge

Robert Sorby Roughing-Out Gouge Recommended for the initial turning of uneven or square stock to round… Robert Sorby Roughing-Out Gouge

Robert Sorby Oval Skew Chisel A delicately balanced tool essential to the spindle turners kit… Robert Sorby Oval Skew Chisel

Robert Sorby Parting Tools A selection of fine Robert Sorby parting tools… Robert Sorby Parting Tools

So with a cold glass of citrus green tea, I sat down to 104 minutes of turning school, Popular Woodworking style. After hitting play, I was pleasantly surprised to see Steve immediately jump into turning a chisel handle. Instead of spending 20 minutes filling our heads with terminology and rules, Steve skips the foreplay and gets right down to business. I love this approach because it gives you time to think of questions. “What is that?” “Why did he do that?” “What do you call that tool?” By the time the chisel handle is finished, you are ready to have these questions answered and Steve does exactly that, from turning techniques to sharpening to tool terminology, its all here.

As a self-taught turner, I basically figured out what each tool does and I use it in the way I think it would work best. I don’t always know the how’s and why’s of what I am doing but I know it works. Well, with Steve’s descriptions and demonstrations of the cutting action of each tool, I can safely say that I’ve filled that gap in my knowledge. If I had this information when I did my first turning, I would have saved myself a lot of trial and error. If you are new to turning, there is really no substitute for getting in there and trying it yourself. But if you watch a DVD like this first, you will have a much more satisfying, safe and productive first experience.

Steve’s calm demeanor will guide you through just about everything you need to know to jump into the shop, chuck up a stick and start making shavings. I am giving this DVD a strong recommendation for anyone new to turning, or for those who are self-taught and feel like there may be gaps in their understanding of the fundamentals (like me). Experienced turners may want to take a pass, unless you just can’t get enough turning content.

And please enjoy this short trailer provided by the folks over at Popular Woodworking:

Bill Hall was the lucky winner of our free DVD giveaway! Congrats Bill!

“I have some beautifully figured fruit wood (apricot) that I want to turn. There are a couple of cracks/checks in the piece. What should I use to fill the checks that will both look the same as the piece and not finish differently if I use oil? BTW- I believe the checks do not present a safety problem when turning.”

And this was my response:

Let me preface this by saying that I am a self-confessed utilitarian turner. Wow, that’s a mouthful. In other words, I only turn when I need to. So this is my best advice and hopefully other people with more turning experience than I will chime in.

“Hey Skip. It kind of depends on the thickness of the cracks. Many times a little medium to thick CA glue will do the trick. But more substantial cracks will require more attention. Turning cracked/checked pieces always makes me a bit nervous. So don’t forget the face shield.” :)

“Now there are a couple issues. First, even if the cracks seem pretty stable, they may not be if you start turning them as is. So you might consider filling them ahead of time with something like epoxy. Epoxy will hold the piece together as it seeps down into the cracks. The problem here is that epoxy is not going to look like wood, right? So, the only thing I can see you doing is carefully turning the piece down to the near finished dimensions. Then proceed with the filling as one of your last steps. I recommend using a good quality stainable filler. Just about anything else will show itself when the oil finish is applied. There are fillers out there, however, that will take stain/finish very closely to the natural wood, and will do a decent job. Timbermate makes the best filler I have ever used and was recommended to me by Charles Neil.”

“Now keep in mind, the filler will never look perfect. So sometimes its best to embrace the cracks/checks as part of an unique turned item, instead of trying to hide them. Otherwise, they could very well be an eyesore forever. All this is assuming these checks and cracks are not just hairline. If they very small, you can usually just use a little CA glue and some sawdust as a filler. Again, not perfect, but decent. I hope that helps a little.”

This segmented vase is made up of 223 pieces of, yellow heart, ash, mahogany, maple, cherry and walnut veneer. 16 pieces make up each ring. The feature ring is a diamond pattern made of maple and cherry. At the widest part it is 11.5 inches in diameter. There is well over 20 hours put into a piece like this, I hope you will appreciate the time I put into it.

In Part 4, I show my tricks for sanding down turned legs. I also get a little frustrated with my wife. Later in this part, I go into detail on one of the most commonly-used tools in the shop, the random orbit sander.

Refinishing Pt. 1
Refinishing Pt. 2
Refinishing Pt. 3
Refinishing Pt. 4
Refinishing Pt. 5
Refinishing Pt. 6