Five years ago I built my first lathe and started on this turning journey. It has been a blast, full of mistakes and lessons and outright laughter. Do I have the basics down? Maybe, but I also know enough to sense how little I know. I have found that making mistakes early and often is a key to growth, and nothing to get upset about. After ruining a rather large beech bowl the other morning while trying to separate it from the core, I laughed so hard my daughter rushed to the shop thinking I had injured myself. It was a good lesson, about the toughness of dryish beech and the fragility of the thin base. I posted a shot of the bottomless bowl to Facebook, and comments flooded in on how I should save it--glue in a plug, turn a pedestal, repurpose it. All fine ideas, but to what end? I am all about repurposing, but am I in this to turn bowls, or to learn to plug holes in bowls? Owen Thomas's response was best: "Chuck it in the f*ck-it bucket." Get on with turning another.
For years I have learned through trial and error. How many rims did I ruin? How many times did the hook catch and the mandrel come loose? How many bowls checked while drying? Often I wished a more experienced turner was looking over my shoulder and giving tips, which is why I so enjoyed short courses over the last few years with some great turners. The pre-fest courses at Greenwood Fest gave me the opportunity to work with Jarrod Dahl last year and Robin Wood this year. Both courses were mind-expanding. There was one point last year when Jarrod leaned over and said something like, "No, turn the tool upside down and attack the rim from the other direction." My head nearly exploded. I was ready for instruction and gained a lot from the experience.
This past Greenwood Fest with Robin was no exception. Just watching him turn was a course in itself. Noticing the little things, like how he starts a rim, the way he steps the outside of his bowl, the sweeping cuts he uses on the inside, how he "cores." Below, Robin was illustrating how little pressure is needed to get the hook to engage, trying to get new turners to avoid the death grip.
I definitely learned a lot from Robin, especially about hook design. He asserted that making hooks is easier to learn than turning bowls. That is encouraging, as I plan to start "bashing out" hooks this summer.
One challenge with both Jarrod and Robin's course was the heterogeneous class, with about half the students new to this type of turning and the rest with a few years experience. It takes about a day to get the new turners sorted, which leaves little time to help the rest of us refine our work. Nothing either instructor should have done differently, (except maybe making sure the lathes were stable and running sweetly before we got there) but it definitely cut down on instruction time for the more experienced. If I take another course it will either be one-on-one or one for more advanced turners.
As with all Greenwood Fest events, a big draw is the attendees. A chance to catch up with old friends (Oliver Pratt, Etienne Vincent and Jake Peters in the turning class, Dave Fisher, Tim Manney and Derek Sanderson running their own shows), and to meet some new people, like Dawson of "Michigan Sloyd" Moore, was great. And the quiet moments, just reflecting and having a good time--sitting on the dock with Oliver, Jake and Dawson, sipping bourbon, the sun setting, watching an osprey snatch fish out the water and haul them off to her nest. Doesn't get any better than that.
Thanks to all the instructors and attendees for a great time.
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