Wood working in general is becoming one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world and wood turning one of the fastest growing types of wood working. This is of course in keeping with the growth of leisure time in industrialized countries along with the need to fill that leisure time. As people become less satisfied with pursuits such as watching television and seek productive work with their hands, wood turning has for many become the activity of choice.
Historically, folks are in good company. While wood turning was the trade for many craftspeople, for the rich it became a fascinating hobby. Even the royalty of England, France and Germany enjoyed playing with elaborate and decorative lathes.
The lathe may be viewed first of all as a tool for making a great many practical products. Many of the parts of the popular Windsor style chair are made on a lathe, the legs, rungs and back spokes for most Windors, and the arms for some. Wood turners of the past would have made most of the implements for the common folk such as bowls, spoons, tool handles, candle sticks, and the like. The name Turner is found in many of our phone books in great number simply because every town needed a wood turner.
At the same time the rich may have dined on fine pottery and pewter while their servants used wood, but they also found time to play with the lathe. Often powered by a servant turning a great wheel they would make decorative and elaborate boxes and candle sticks among other objects more artistic than practical. Lathes became capable of not only turning an object but also decorating it with symmetrical cuts and patterns. The increased world commerce of the fifteenth century and onward made ivory and exotic woods with gorgeous colors available to the wealthy for even more elaborate turning.
In comparison with past history, the industrialized world of today is a rich world. People no longer have to work from dawn to dusk in order to survive. Many formerly costly products are readily available for low prices. The wood turner is no longer needed to produce common bowls and cups. Instead, the hobby turner of today as well as most professional turners, have become artistic turners producing works of aesthetic value from beautiful timbers of the world.
In a very real sense the lathe is a potter’s wheel turned on its side and is capable of making bowls, vases and other objects with great artistry. A block of wood is mounted and the wood turner is able to remove large quantities or small shavings of material to create what is seen in the mind’s eye. Restrained only by the need for things to be round, the possibilities are limitless as he or she draws in three dimensions. The day of the wood turner as artist has come once again.
Darrell Feltmate is a juried wood turner whose web site, Around the Woods, contains detailed information about wood turning for the novice or experienced turner as well as a collection of turnings for your viewing pleasure. You too can learn to turn wood, here is the place to start. Wondering what it looks like? Follow the page links for a free video.
There are several wood turning projects fully explained on the web site. In particular, a selection of beginner's projects may be found on the Beginner's Projects page complete with explanation and step by step photos.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darrell_Feltmate
