Getting Started

Keep going by practicing two cuts, not by buying tools. The gear decision comes after somebody has watched you turn, not before.

Practice is the whole thing

You can create functional and beautiful objects without spending long hours practicing basic skills. However, if you rush you might sacrifice good technique. Repetitive practice of the essential elements is central to learning almost any skill, including woodturning.

Almost everything turned on a lathe is built from two shapes: a bead, which stands up from the surface, and a cove, which is hollowed into it. Beginner instruction spends its time on those two, and on making a square blank round first. Get those comfortable and most projects become a matter of arranging them.

Watch how it works

If there's a chapter or class near you

That's the fastest route and it stays the fastest route. Keep going to chapter meetings after your first class. Demonstrations are free instruction, and most turners are glad to answer a beginner's question.

Ask about mentoring. Many chapters pair newer turners with experienced ones, and one afternoon with someone watching your hands is worth a great deal of solo practice.

Find a chapter near you

If there isn't

We'll be straight with you: woodturning is difficult to learn alone. AAW's own curriculum committee has said as much — people who try to learn without a teacher often get frustrated, and self-taught turners frequently never discover how much easier the right tool makes a cut when it's used properly.

That isn't a reason to give up. It's a reason to treat what follows as preparation rather than a substitute.

While you're looking for instruction, useful ground to cover:

• Learn the machine. Which part is which, and what each one does. The glossary covers the lathe part by part.
• Learn the safety habits before you need them. Safety First has AAW's current recommendations.
• Widen the search. Craft schools, community college art departments, makerspaces, regional symposiums, and woodworking suppliers that run classes. A weekend within driving distance may be more achievable than a weekly meeting.
• Know what to ask. When you find a possible instructor, ask what safety equipment is provided, how many students per instructor, what you'll make, and whether tools and wood are included.

What to buy, and when

Buy the face shield first. AAW strongly recommends wearing one whenever the lathe is turned on, and it's the one item worth owning before you own a lathe — useful at a class, at a chapter, and in anyone else's shop.

Everything else can wait. A beginner class supplies the lathe and the tools. Take instruction first and let it tell you what you actually want, rather than buying a set of tools and finding out later that you use three of them.

When the time comes, ask the turners at your chapter before you order anything. Nobody has better opinions about lathes than people who own one.

AAW resources

Public, open to anyone:

• Woodturning Safety — current recommendations, plus the complimentary Safety Guidebook for Woodturners
• Chapter and craft school directory — independent local organizations of enthusiasts who meet to learn, share techniques, and support their communities

Members only:

• Woodturning Fundamentals — articles and videos for new turners by some of the world's most successful woodturners
• AAW EXPLORE! — a searchable library of more than 2,500 items, by topic and keyword
• AAW Video Source — woodturning videos prescreened by AAW for quality and safety
• American Woodturner — six issues a year, with an archive going back to 1986

Join AAW

That's the beginner path. From here, Why Woodturning links to the reference pages — terminology, wood, shop tips, community and history.