[ellied]

I just completed my first woodturning project, a wee bowl, and I'm pretty hooked just now but can't afford to go out and stock a workshop with expensive equipment.

Just wondered if anyone on here has a lathe etc sitting idle, or knows enough to suggest models worth purchasing second hand, the wood tools equivalent of Stihl/Husqy chainsaws.. 

Or if anyone is looking for gifts, I can't do much yet but Jim Brown who has been my tutor/mentor so far has some amazing quality stuff, large and small pieces, and perhaps if I help introduce a few new customers I might negotiate a few extra hours of his workshop time     And by Christmas, who knows, I might have stock for my own makers market stall!

What I do have, luckily in a way, is a number of fruit and other trees felled in the last couple of years and plenty practice material that can still end up as firewood and not have lost value!

[shygirl]

iv heard green sycamore wood is good for carving things like whistles etc is that the same sort of thing or do you need dry wood?

[bloomer]

one thing ellied has an ample supply of is green sycamore...

[Fleecewife]

One of my favourite shops ever used to be Boddys in Boroughbridge, just off the A1 in Yorkshire.  You could buy turning blanks for bowls and straight stuff like candlesticks and knife handles in just about any wood you wanted.  Now it's rather less than an Aladdins cave because they no longer keep exotic wood for the sake of the rainforest.  It was so sad seeing such giant trees in their yard, but it was exciting to see what was out there.  They still sell blanks, some in interesting woods, which I can be happy buying.
We also bought some burrs from some council workers in Edinburgh felling trees.  Burrs make some lovely bowls, with wavy edges.
The problem with green wood is you need to season it before you turn, or your lovely bowl will dry to be very wonky and probably spilt.  You have to dry it carefully too to stop it splitting into pieces too small to use.
The chap we had our initial demo from made us make a tiny toy soldier.  He said if we could do that well then we were allowed on to bowls, chair legs etc.  These days we're more likely to use the lathe to repair basic stuff around the place.  Mr F even turned a custom fit chunk of wood to jam in the hole through our 2' thick stone wall which was waiting to put the new toilet outflow pipe through.  Still haven't got the new bathroom, but the wood keeps the mice out.
Isn't wood turning a wonderful hobby (or even career)!  I loved it but since moving to the smallholding I haven't done much at all.  However, now thw new wool shed is so nearly ready, we intend to move the wood turning lathes up there.

As well as bowls you could try making spindles.  They need to be well balanced and you need good eyesight, but spindlers are always looking for a spindle they've never seen before and absolutely have to have.

I think I loved the polishing best of all, you just hold the polishy rag next to the turning article, and the lathe does all the work

[madcat]

Either Lidl or Aldi had wood turning lathes I think last year. Maybe they will appear again this year some time.

[verdifish]

Hi Ellie ive pm'd you with a deal to good to refuse .

[ellied]

Thanks all.  I have lots of green sycamore and plan to have a lot more very shortly, but my main focus is the apple, plum and cherry wood sitting seasoning about the place, it turns nicely and there are plenty pieces, the cherry is 2 years, plum last winter and apple last pruning when a couple big branches came off the top.  My neighbour also had a beech taken down recently, so I'm sure I could blag a log of that.

Sadly I can't take up an immediate offer of any value as I say I don't know what makes/models I am even looking for or how to look at them properly.  I've made one bowl, supervised, that's it.  I need to sort a space to put stuff, work out how to keep dust off everything else, save up money..  I don't have a day job or OH to pay for my "hobbies", they have to be justified as part of the smallholding business and supported off a miniscule income, so while I hope that this may be something I can do long term, at this point I have to work for it in a smallholder-y way not rush out and buy on credit in a fit of enthusiasm.  I actually have to sell something to make cash to buy something

Topping it all, I had the JCB man on Friday asking me a lot lot more than I had saved, and had to write him a cheque as the cashpoint wouldn't give me money, a new card is en route but may not be here til Thursday, so cash isn't available immediately even if it was available..

I'm not fussed about exotic woods FW, I need way more practice before going upmarket at all, and there's a place near Cupar where imported Thai teak bowls are under a tenner for something 3x the size and far nicer than what I have managed   My plan is to focus on what I have plus local hardwoods for now, and work up to the burr pieces I love once I've a tad more skill

Very happy to find there are turners on here as I anticipate asking numpty questions for quite some time.  The quality machinery makes to look out for are my first of many, still happy to have any suggestions for what a lathe equivalent of Stihl/Husqy is and whether something from Lidl could really turn a bowl without putting my eye out, given my lack of mechanical ability..

I don't even remember the grades of sandpaper I need to buy to finish this one bowl, I know the numbers go up as the grade gets finer and he said start with the rougher and go finer, which makes sense.  But numbers didn't stick in my head.  That's how beginner I am, sorry

[Fleecewife]

When you look at the beech, look for spalted wood - black wavy lines through it.  As long as the surrounding wood is sound, the resultant work using spalted beech will have interesting character.

I hope your enterprise works out.  Sorry I can't lend you our lathes because we use them.

[RUSTYME]

As money is hard to spare , i know the feeling , you could try a pole lathe . You can make anything on a pole lathe that you can on a powered one costing thousands , but the pole lathe can be free !
You make it yourself out of whatever wood you have about . 3"x2" from old pallets is fine , mine is exactly that .
A couple of bits of threaded rod , or similar scrap , an afternoon putting it together , and away you go .
With a pole lathe you can also use green wood .
My pole lathe uses a bungie chord for power ,  well my leg is the power really , via a treadle .
No cost to make , or very little even if you have to buy everything needed .
No cost to run , just leg power .
No noise , just a hypnotising 'sweesh sweesh sweesh' sound .
There are plans , some free , on the net .
Also check out Mike Abbott , a green woodwork teacher . I think his website has a pole lathe plan , his book does .
Bowls can be a bit more challenging on a pole lathe , but still doable .
I am not into bowls but chair legs , spindles etc are easy .

[RUSTYME]

Many years ago , on one of my many forays into the woods , i took a few basic tools , bow saw , an axe , hammer , some chisels and some bits and bobs , and set up camp .
Made the camp fire , then made the shelter , and then a pole lathe .
I spent a week or so living in the woods , hunting for , collecting  food , and making things on the pole lathe , much like the bodgers of old would have done .
When i left the woods , i took my tools with me , but left everything else to go back to nature .
I was seriously considering living my life that way , moving from wood to wood .
But my then girlfriend had other ideas . She didn't do mud or bugs .
So that was that . Just as well she gave me the elbow , she would not be a happy bunnie living as i do ! lol .
www.living-wood.co.uk , that should take you to mike abbotts web site . I can't see plans for a pole lathe on there , but they are in his book 'green woodwork' .

[RUSTYME]

www.bodgers.org.uk
the above should take you to a site that may be of interest . It has a section on making a pole lathe , plus loads of other  goodies .

[ellied]

Thanks Russ, I'll have a look, just wondering if I have the skill to make anything but it's worth a shot. 

I might manage to negotiate a manageable rate per hour to borrow another turner's workshop or do rounds of anyone I can find on days when they're not actually using it, or there to oversee my inept efforts and make sure I do no damage, but can get on with other things..  I'll have to be creative, not the first time!   If I can actually make bowls, or anything else, and sell them, then I'd have money to purchase something 2nd hand AND proof it wouldn't be another expensive mistake I don't actually use once I've got it!

Maybe I could offer a turner space in my garage as a workshop and take rent in time while he/she's not there!  There might be someone with all the kit who isn't allowed it in the house or garage and wants the equivalent of an allotment to spend time at..

[RUSTYME]

Very little skill needed to make a basic pole lathe mate .
They can be so simple as to be disposable almost .
Some 3"x2"or 4"x2" or similar sized timber , a hand saw or jig saw , a drill , some threaded rod and you are away .
Anyone who can do basic diy ,  even badly , could make one . They don't need to be accurate , my last one i just used 3"x2" and didn't measure anything , just went by eye , i doubt it is anywhere near square , doesn't need to be .
Have a go , if you get it wrong try again .
Pole lathes or treadle lathes as they are also called , are as simple as can be , you can even make one by knocking a couple of fence posts in the ground and nailing or tying a cross piece on .

[woodman]

Hi,
There is a really useful forum called UK Workshop, and it has a wood turning section which I find really useful and informative - lots of expertise.
Regarding buying a lathe, I would say getting a Clarke, Power Devil or other such cheapies would be a BIG mistake and would not help you in stating out turning. I have a Myford ML8 which was a really good machine but is now seen by many as outdated. I still like mine though, but I don't find it great for outboard turning. For that I decided to get myself a Union Graduate bowl lathe and managed to buy one from ebay for £150. They are rock solid and well thought of, but can be pricey for the versions with beds. If you look on the Axminster tools site you will find a whole range of lathes and I would suggest getting the best you can afford (but read reviews, and post a question on UK workshop first). Don't forget that the lathe itself is only the start - there's turning tools and work-holding kit as well. My chuck cost me £10 more than I paid for the graduate, and then another £75 for jaws. If you can get a quality second hand one with the bits included then that would be the
best way to go - again read reviews and look on ebay etc.
Hope this helps, and welcome to the fascinating world of wood turning.

Keith

[ellied]

Thanks Keith, that's a great help - just knowing a few names to avoid or look for and knowing something decent might be around at that price range gives me hope. 

I know about getting good tools etc on top, and Jim that has been supervising me is very hot on the need for a top class sharpening thingy (sorry, memory hopeless on names!).  I've got an hour or two with him on Friday and am taking some misc chunks of green sycamore along to talk through selection and have a note to get details of the lathe and tools he is using and write them down as I have forgotten twice by the time I got home!  It's been a month since I last managed to get time at the workshop so I'll probably be starting from almost scratch again   But looking forward to it and building the plans