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Master this most basic turning tool. When I introduce someone to woodturning, I choose the spindle roughing gouge. When I work with kids, it’s the first tool I place in their hands. Why? [...]

Develop a delicate touch by creating graceful shapes. As an alternative to mass-produced items, Christmas ornaments rank high on the list. They easily become treasured keepsakes and the delicate [...]

Hone Your Skills Making Functional Storage PROJECT #2102 • Skill Level: Advanced • Time: 1 day • Cost: $50 It’s rare that I afford myself the opportunity to spend time and experiment at the [...]

Customize their fit for comfort and performance. Decades ago, woodturning tools came without handles, and turners would simply fashion their own. This makes perfect sense, because a handle that [...]

Heirloom Awl Metal and wood are the basic ingredients in most woodworking tools. As woodworkers, we’re familiar with working wood, but what about metal? Actually, the level of metalworking [...]

Turning the body is half the fun. When I picked up Silvio Calabi’s book Antique Fishing Tackle, my interests in fishing, antiques, and wood turning met head on: Now I’m hooked on [...]

Sharpen your end-grain hollowing skills. Drinking from a wooden Goblet is a unique experience, because its weight and feel is distinct from goblets made of other materials. But is it practical? [...]

A good lathe stand is just as important as a good lathe. Build a professional-quality lathe stand that’s stable, strong and heavy.

Add sparkle outside and protect what’s inside. Whether your wine bottle is half-empty or half-full, here’s an elegant way to preserve the contents until you answer that age-old question. You can [...]

Shop scraps and a few simple techniques will get you spinning along Large turning projects can be daunting. A large bowl, for example, requires gluing up a blank or sourcing part of a tree trunk. [...]

Whether shaped as a vase, a column or even an egg, there’s plenty of room for expression in a turned lamp. The flowing contours of the lamp shown here do more than make it an attractive [...]

Alan Lacer has been involved in the field of woodturning for almost four decades. He’s done almost anything and everything you can think involving the craft from turning to teaching to [...]