Customer Reviews

Learn to Turn: A Beginner's Guide to Woodturning from Start to Finish

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

What a GREAT book. I am a new turner and am reading everything I can get my hands on about turning. This is my second overview book on the subject. I just picked one to start as I didn't have any idea what book to try. I didn't learn what I had hope to in the first one so when I saw Barry Gross' book, I thought I would try it. Was I glad I did!

Mr. Gross' book, Learn To Turn, provides all the basic information in a CLEAR format. There are pictures to go along with the text and they are clearly label as are the parts of the machine, tools or safety measures he is writing about.

When he talks about "truing up" or other turning terms, he actually defines what that means in laymen's terms so a true beginner can grasp what he is talking about. When he discusses the various tools, he pictures that tool on the page where is he explaining how to use the tool. This really helped me to learn which tool was which and just how they should be used.

Mr. Gross discusses finishes and shows four different ones so you can choose which you would use for which project. Of course, he has a section on safety and the pictures really bring home the point of the need for safety. There is also a section on tool sharpening and a detailed description of how each tool should be correctly sharpened. Sanding is another section and I learned about a sandpaper called New Wave and Abranet sanding screens. He tells how to make a jam chuck - another one of those turning terms - and explains how and why to use it and what it is. And not book would be complete without the glossary of terms and a company resources list.

In the final section of the book, Mr. Gross provides instructions for eight projects from a simple bowl to a wonderful Christmas Ornament. These eight projects will keep this turner busy for several months as I try to come close to what the author's turnings look like. For $14.95, this is a book I would recommend to a new turner or for a turning instructor as a classroom text. I know my copy will become a well-worn text in my shop.

This book is an excellent reference for the new woodturner. It makes no assumptions, and starts from the VERY beginning, so some may skip some of the beginning sections. However, the book is organized to guide you through the process, and includes projects to use your newly found skills. The book reads very well, and will give you the fundamental knowledge you need to get started. It's also filled with excellent photos to help clarify the text. I would highly recommend this book to other beginners (in fact, I already have).

I recently decided to give a shot at wood turning. Being a complete beginner without any time to attend any classes I started by shopping around for different books and DVDs.
In my opinion, "Learn to Turn" is by far the best book available for starting woodturning.
It is written in a very simple style and illustrated by numerous color pictures.
This book is short, well organized and go straight to the point.
The book is divided in two main parts.
The first part introduce the basics of woodturning, the tools, sharpening, sanding, finishing.
The second part is a composed of a multitude of photo essays that show you how to use each tool and drive you through several simple projects.

I bought a new lathe recently and needed to learn how to use it. I bought this book along with Taunton's book. This book was SO helpful. I found it to be direct & to the point, and full of good common sense advice. Within an hour of picking up this book, my lathe work had improved dramatically- pieces that had previously taken me over an hour to turn now take less than 5 minutes. It's amazing what a little knowledge can do! The Taunton book is good too, but I like the organization of this book a lot more; I found it easier to use and more beginner friendly.

Large detailed photos. Printed on good quality paper. This book could be recomended to those who are just curiouse about turning to the beginner just starting out.

I just bought my first lathe, a JET JML 1014i, and since I had never used one before (no it wasn't an impulse buy) I added this book and Barry Gross's "The Pen Turner's Workbook" to my cart. After getting the two books, however, I was pretty disappointed with what I got and regretted paying for them both.

I found the instruction in this book to be very lacking. The author often speaks of techniques like he's reminding somebody of them and not teaching. It was almost like he was talking to a beginner who already knew all of it. The pictures used to illustrate the techniques were not very clear and rarely any help. Descriptions of what each tool can be used for were very vague and limited, not really covering the technique of how you make a particular cut for anything more than basic coves and beads.

The section on choosing a lathe seemed unimportant, perhaps because I had just purchased one, but I can imagine only very few people would be buying this book if they had no idea which type of lathe they wanted, which is all he really discusses. One section of instruction I was really hoping would be better was sharpening turning tools. The author might as well have said "Your tools can be sharpened," and left it at that. I also felt that too much time was put into harvesting your own wood, cutting stumps into bowl blanks, and talking about why burls are so great. I, and probably most beginning turners, planned to start by working with spindles, mostly from turning blanks purchased at my local hardwood retailer.

There are also a few mistakes in the book, including one project in which he tells you to begin with a blank of a certain size, and turn it round to a diameter that is bigger than the blank you started with. Another is a description of a pen he made, from a purchased laser cut kit, and gave to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, whom he calls a senator (this is in both books).

I felt that this book was really more of a chance for the author to brag about what turning knowledge he has, show some pictures of his work, and stroke his own ego. I got absolutely nothing out of this that I couldn't get off of the internet, which is where I eventually figured out what he was talking about and a lot more.

My 10 year-old son and I love to use our wood lathe. Learn to Turn is a great book for beginners and have helped my 10 year-old to become a very good woodturner, as well as refreshing me on things I had forgotten.

A very good well written book for the beginner covering diffrent projects and types of turning types spindles and faceplates etc.... A great buy!

I received a wood lathe at the beginning of this year as a gift and was unsure of how to use it safely, let alone what kind of tools to buy to use it. I found this book, and read it thoroughly form cover to cover. From it I learned not only what kind of tools to get for a beginner, but the author also had very detailed steps of how to setup and use each type of chisel and covers all the bases for basic turning. Once you follow his guide for learning the tools, he has included detailed steps for many projects to proper section of wood for turning, whether its from a wood store or from a tree in the backyard, to finishing your work piece (which I didn't know there was so many steps to get the sheen seen at wood craft venues). I highly recommend this book for anyone who desires to learn the basics of wood turning!

The perfect book for those who are beginners or returning to lathe work from years past. Especially good for tool use and sharpening. Detailed color photos and diagrams provide well organized instruction along with information on wood sources and sample projects.