Small Woodturning - Five Ways To Satisfaction in the Art and Craft

Small Woodturning - Five Ways To Satisfaction in the Art and Craft 

While a lot of the direction in woodturning tends to be in the way of larger and larger pieces, there are advantages to turning small items. Here are three ways to develop satisfaction in the art and craft of woodturning by going small.

One of the questions that haunts a woodturner throughout their career is how to get the ultimate curve and proportion for each piece turned. While this is one of those elusive, artistic questions without an answer there are times when a piece is very definitively on or off. For a large turning this may require a lot of wood and time to answer the question and if the result is poor the time and wood may be considered wasted.

While it may be easily argued that this is a learning experience and that no education is without worth, there is an easier way to acquire an answer before committing to the large block of wood and time, turning small. A small piece of wood may be mounted on the lathe and a scaled down version of the planned piece may be turned. If desired, in the case of hollow pieces such as bowls and vases, the small piece may even be left solid if the only reason for the turning is to be the check on proportions and lines. However, a well designed piece is a well designed piece and the smaller one would be a good turning in its own right. For this reason it is a good idea to turn the small, practice piece from a good wood with a nice grain.

Second, there are many directions to take in woodturning. Some turners focus on faceplate work and others on spindles. It is very easy to find woodturners who focus intensely even within those categories such as on bowls, candlesticks or boxes. Turning small pieces allows one to experiment in different directions without a great outlay in tools or wood

Third the direction of experimenting may also go in the direction of different woods. The variety of wood types, colors and grains in the world is staggering and many of them are readily available from wood suppliers in most cities. Unfortunately, there are significant costs associated with them and most are only available in board form. This makes them prohibitive in cost and appropriateness for many turners and especially faceplate turners such as bowl makers.


Enter the small woodturning experience. All of a sudden a two by six is a good choice for a small bowl and the world of exotic woods open up immediately. The cost for a small piece is much less than the cost for a large one and boards are easily cut to turning squares for small items.

Fourth is the simple reasoning that small pieces are faster to turn than are large ones. For many woodturners who only get a couple of hours at a time in the workshop, this makes the difference between getting a project finished and risking it splitting on the lathe until more time is found.

Fifth of course is simply that small woodturning is fun. It is challenging in its own right to get a curve, bead or cove right in very tight circumstances. Plus there are many things that simply lend themselves to small turning practices such as jewellery or Christmas tree ornaments not to mention the pens that have become a woodturning favorite.

There are likely many reasons to turn small but these five may make someone consider the world of small turnings. It will open a new phase of enjoyment for many a woodturner.