Tonight, while turning a small piece of kingwood for the neck ring of a small vase, I remembered back to my early turning experience, not much more than a year ago.
Early on I didn't know what gouge/chisel did what, how to hold or use them and only a vague idea of how to sharpen any but the skew chisel - I knew how to sharpen bench chisels, mortising chisels, firmer chisels and hand plane irons. A few nice catches and a few more spiral cuts and I gripped the handle more tightly, held the tool on the tool rest as if anti gravity were trying to rip it off the earth, and kept my whole body tense, ready to react to the next adrenaline occurance.
But tonight I realized I'd developed a light touch - edge to wood and a relaxed, light grip. No clenched jaw, no knotted shoulders and neck, no locked knees, no boxer stance - ready to dance out of harms way in an instant. Now it's more of a flowing shift of positions and weight. Amazing how easy things get when the tool is sharp and I finally know how to use it.
My New Year's Resolution is, by the end of 2007, to learn to use another turning tool now that I've got a curved edge skew down pretty well.
So what turning milestone(s) did you attain in 2006?
What's your 2007 turning goal?
charlie b
ps If you leave green roughed to round pieces of apricot in a stock pot full of the Magic LDD Solution, with the lid on tightly - for a YEAR, that solution will make it almost to the center of a four inch diameter cylinder. The wood will still crack if you don't take extra ordinary precautions , especially if you drill a hole down the middle and add a kingwood neck to it. it