How Can You Participate In A Turning Revolution

By Ken Deaner

  Learning to turn and sharpen tools would have been much easier if I had studied one-on-one with an experienced turner years ago. People who work with  their hands for a living have a feeling for tools.  I spent my youth in my father’s hardware store. It gave me a working knowledge of tools but not the hands on experience of a carpenter, plumber or electrician.  I also dabbled in antiques and restoration of antiques and collectables. It familiarized me with wood and finishes but not the knowledge of a painter or restorer.

  When I started to turn I had to learn a complete new vocabulary and how to use tools. Learning what was meant by the angle of a bevel, or what was meant by a fingernail grind or Irish grind was confusing.   How do you know when a turning tool is really sharp?  Why do carving tools require more sharpness than turning tools?   Learning the  difference between honing and sharpening was rocket science.  It was difficult to understand the difference between scraping and finishing cuts for scrapers and gouges. I asked many questions and watched many demonstrations.  I read many books and viewed many videos.  I was lucky to meet some good turners who were willing to answer my questions.  It would have been so much easier to study with a master.

  Learning design comes with experience and maturity.  Finding your own muse and developing your own style comes with time.  Students who spend years in art schools are taught skills that can be applied to all arenas of art.  Those of us who visit museums and read about art must struggle with basic design concepts.  Starting with a blank slate does not necessarily help you think outside the box or circle.  You often need some advice and direction when you first get started. Learning the basics is much easier with the help of a master turner or at very least a journeyman.

  The guilds that developed during the Middle Ages were the incubators of the industrial revolution.  Apprentices learned and gained skills as the grew into journeymen and masters.  The skills developed were shared.  Watch the Antique Road Show  and you can see how valuable the work of 16th and 17th and 18th century silver smiths has become.  A recent show displayed some tureen work.  A bowl with handles applied made two– hundred years ago was valued at $60,000.  Wow!  What is an old spread sheet made by an XT worth?

It is unfortunate that so many schools have eliminated vocational education.  They have minimized art requirements. Students graduate from high school without any truly marketable skills.  The satisfaction of making your first wooden box in woodshop has been replaced by video games.  The passive computer is no match for the satisfaction of turning a bowl on a lathe but how many people own lathes as compared to owning computers.  Our kids spend the majority of their time in front of picture tubes producing nothing.

   Many competent turners have no interest in doing demonstrations.  They do not want to work with the uninitiated.  It can be boring watching a novice turn when you can be creating master works in that same time.  Some might say that galleried artists have little to gain from teaching novice turners. The truth is that there is much to gain. 

  Have you ever seen the work of Dale Chihuly?  He is a one eyed glass master who is involved in design now but not hands on glass blowing.  He has taught many others to help him create his masterworks.  His physical disability  prevents him from creating the work he once did.  If he  had not spent time working with students of glass art who would be able to continue his work.

  You do not have to be disabled to get my message.  Your work can only grow as you work with new students of turning.  Working with new turners insures that the mistake professional educators are making by not teaching skills like woodworking and turning will not condemn us to a world without artists and craftspeople.

  I spent late New Year’s Day evening in my shop with my son-in-law.  He has recently gained interest in turning.  I get a kick out of his  enthusiasm.  As I show him the ins and outs of the various tools he is experimenting with I remember back to when I was learning to turn.

  If you have read the Newsletter over recent months you know how far I have gone in my efforts to get members involved in working with newer members.  Your work will be that much better if you work with others.  Turning does not have to be a lonely job.  It can be a group activity.

  You can derive much pleasure from teaching others to turn.  You can turn the tide and move our kids back in the direction of gaining satisfaction from working with their hands and producing tangible results rather than being passive reservoirs for programmers’ games.

  It is time that the club ’s members start to make an investment in the future.  We need to help newer members learn turning skills and consider  the youths in the community.  We do not have any teen members.