Wood Turning Made Easy

Wood turning made easy, is one of those books that feels as though an engineering magazine has got mixed up with a ladybird classic. An instructional introduction to woodturning - an explanation about how to use wood, lathes and chisels.

First published in 1953 by a small publishing house, Tee Publishing’s ‘Past Masters’ series. The series includes titles such as ‘How to Read Workshop Drawings’, ‘Fifty Useful Tools’ and ‘Metal Lathework for Amateurs’. Wood Turning Made Easy is a delightful addition to the series, with 156 illustrations, diagrams and photography throughout explaining how the process works.

What bits should you look out for?

One of my preferred chapters was number 3, which is about ‘Prong-chuck, Face plate and Cup-chuck work’. For anyone that has learnt to use a lathe (as I did in 2011) when you start out, understanding the balance of the chuck is a delicate art - especially working with sharp tools and a piece of machinery that is moving so fast. Reading over the information provided in this book would have been highly useful during the learning process.

Why is it useful?

If you have a garage woodshop, need an addition to a maker space library, or are simply interested in the ins and outs of manufacturing processes - this one is definitely worth a read through.