I'm very new to wood turning having just recently purchased and set up a Jet 1221VS lathe. I'm trying to get some hands on experience turning laminated pieces of pine and some cherry as well as learning to sharpen my lathe tools.
I plan to inquire with the local wood turners chapter about starting to attend some meetings but in the meantime I'm doing some things by trial and error along with looking information up on various techniques on the internet then trying them on my lathe. I thought I was making some progress with sharpening and turning square pieces into spindles and making rough blanks I cut on my bandsaw round on the lathe using roughing gouges.
Then I came across the Fine Woodworking video (link at the end) by Richard Raffan who is roughing a cherry bowl blank and said to myself I better give up turning now because I'm light years away from the ease and speed in which Richard is roughing the outside and inside of that blank. Not only is he shaping the outside in one fluid motion but his cuts appear to be one long continuous ribbon of wood which is nothing like the small curly pieces I'm slicing off as I attempt to round and size a piece of wood.
So I have to know, is he a Pro who has turned a gazillion bowls in his lifetime or is he turning green wood which peels off in continuous ribbons? Or both? Or do I simply have a awful lot to learn?
I welcome your comments
Thank you
http://www.finewoodworking.com/woodt...wl-part-1.aspx