Woodturning is a form of woodworking, that is used to create wooden objects (e.g. a bowl or a table leg) on a lathe using cutting tools.
It differs from most other forms of woodworking, in that the wood is moving while a (relatively) stationary tool is used to cut and shape it.
Types of woodturning tools
- roughing gouge - a wide fluted gouge used to initially round a wooden spindle, and to roughly shape it
- spindle gouge or detail gouge - a shallow fluted gouge used to create details on spindles, including beads and coves
- bowl gouge - a deep fluted gouge used to turn the outside and inside of bowls and vessels
- skew chisel - a wide, steeply pointed chisel used to smooth flat spindles, cut beads, and add details
- parting tool - a pointed tool used to separate (part off) work from the lathe, and to create a straight edge separating large and small diameter sections - wide parting tools are used to create evenly sized spindle sections
- hollowing tool - many different types of tools used to cut out the deep sections of steep bowls and hollow vessels
- scraper - a tool that scrapes the wood fibers instead of cutting - these are used to smooth off wooden items cut with other tools, and to shape items that are not possible or difficult to shape with gouges
- bowl saver - a tool used to core out the inside part of a bowl, allowing the waste piece to be used to create a smaller bowl
- auger - a drill bit used to drill a hole partway or all the way through a wooden item. For cutting the hole for a lamp cord, or as the first step when hollowing out a bowl or vessel
- chatter tool - a flexible scraper used to add decorative chatter marks to turned items
- there are also several tool types for special purposes, as well as tools that are a combination design of the above tools, i.e. skew/chisel combinations, thread cutting tools, ring cutting tools, medium fluted gouges, etc
Common woodturned items
- Furniture parts - spindles, table legs, stretchers , or other furniture parts
- Bowls - vessels with a large opening on top
- Platters and serving trays
- Pens, mechanical pencils, keyrings and other small items
- Hollow forms - similar to bowls, except usually taller and with a small opening, when compared to the hollow interior
- Pepper mills and candlesticks
There are two main types of woodturning, spindle turning and face plate turning . Spindle turning is where the wood is spun on its centre between the headstock of the lathe and the tailstock and material is removed from the side of the wood. Face plate turning is when the wood is attached by a plate or a certain chuck design and spun on the headstock. This allows the removal of the centre of the wood, enabling the craftsman to create pieces like bowls, cups, etc. Both these techniques can be used together to form many different items.
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