Woodturning
From WikiWOOD
Woodturning is a woodworking process in which a piece of wood is spun on a machine called a lathe and shaped with various cutting tools. The lathe may be human powered, like a pole lathe, powered by water or other mechanical means, or more commonly by electricity. The shaping tools can be chisels, gouges or scrapers. The tools are many and varied, they all have a working edge, a shank and a handle.
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Types of woodturning
Much woodturning today is carried out on relatively simple lathes where the operator uses hand-held cutting tools to shape the wood. This is the method used by most hobbyists, artists and professional woodturners. The quality of the work depends very much on the skill of the turner.
Copy turning is a variant that uses a template, either physical or computer generated, that drives a cutting tool along the lathe to make an exact copy of the piece. In some third world countries this is still done by hand as piece work. Mass produced turnings are also made on rotary knife wood turning lathes where a shaped cutter spins at high speed (like a router bit) and is advanced into the rotating wood.
Ornamental turning is a variant that uses a spinning cutting tool that moves in synchronization with the spindle on which the wood is fixed. It can produce highly complex shapes and surface textures.
The fibrous nature of wood dictates that it be cut in particular directions to ensure a clean cut. The way it is mounted on the lathe has a huge bearing on the tools and techniques used. It is usual to distinguish between faceplate turning where the grain runs perpendicular to the axis of rotation and spindle turning where the grain runs parallel to the axis of the lathe.
The term faceplate turning is derived from the ability of wood to be safely mounted to a faceplate when the grain is oriented across the ways of the lathe. It does not mean that the turner must mount the workpiece on a faceplate. It may be mounted in this orientation on a glue block, some type of jamb chuck or a scroll chuck.
Wood lathes can also be used for turning other materials such as alabaster, soapstone, and for metal spinning with soft metals such as copper or brass.
Woodturned products
There are many different things that can be made on a lathe.
Spindle turning techniques can be used to make architectural and furniture components, as well as a wide variety of treen and gift items such as boxes and honey dippers. A popular variant of spindle turning today is pen turning.
Faceplate turning techniques are used to make bowls, vessels and wall plaques. In segmented turning a vessel is first constructed by gluing many small pieces of wood together before turning on the lathe.
Some contemporary woodturning is considered to be fine art, and can be found in many collections. Many decorative turnings rely on the artist's careful selection of material, whether it be for its grain colour, figure or natural defects in the wood.
Woodturning tools
There are three main types of hand-held cutting tools used in woodturning: chisels, gouges and scrapers.
Woodturning equipment
As well as a lathe, there are many other pieces of equipment that the woodturner may use. A grinder or sharpening system is needed to keep the cutting tools sharp. A bandsaw is often used when preparing the wood to go on the lathe, and for larger work a chainsaw may be used. A variety of lathe accessories are used to mount the wood to the lathe, such as chucks, faceplates and centres.
Many items of equipment are built in the shop, to save money or meet a specific need. Examples include those used for reverse turning.
Woodturning organizations
Woodturners in many countries have formed organizations for the purposes of education and promotion. Many of them publish magazines and arrange symposiums, exhibitions, competitions and residencies.
Woodturning publications
Recent years has seen an explosion in the number of woodturning books, periodicals and videos available. There are also a number of blogs and videos available on the internet.
Woodturning history
Woodturning has been dated back at least to Egyptian times.
