HELP - I Can't turn worth a darn
Doug in Denver
>OK, I am about to try my first turned legs. I have blanks of solid paduak, which, as you might imagine, I am not crazy about ruining. I will glue up as many practice blanks as I need to out of pine or whatever. To date I have only turned pens and a few handles for pen mandrels and things like that. I think I have the basic knack or "feel" for something like turning - but what I lack is knowledge. In other words, if I knew HOW to do it properly, I think I would be OK at it. I sense my most basic problems are proper tool orientation to the wood and a lack of a sense of how much force to exert on the tools. I tend to want to hold the tool neutrally, but not exert any forward thrust on it, and I sense that allows the wood to get the better of me and results in as many catches as improper tool orientation. Anyway, though a hands on class would be preferable, I really don't have time. Have any of you seen a video I can buy that is betther than any other on basic techniqies? At this point I am really interested in spindles, not so much bowls.
