Tuition

Although demonstrations are popular with clubs, beginners to woodturning may prefer a one-to-one session where they can learn the basics of turning at their own pace. Sessions might be as long as five hours in a single day or shorter sessions of up to two and a half hours can be arranged in the evening if preferred. I charge £22 per hour, and pre-booking five or more hours tuition will qualify you for a 10% discount. I will provide everything needed for the course and guarantee you will make something to take away with you.

As you get better, and grow in confidence, you might have your own ideas about what you would like to make, and we could work on those. It's my belief that people learn best what they most want to know. I'm very flexible and more than happy to follow your interests with you.

Alongside this, you will learn some of the techniques for holding work on the lathe, how to sharpen turning tools and different methods of sanding and finishing work. All of these are tackled at appropriate points during the course.

As we work together, during the course, we can talk about lathes and tools and other things you would need if you decide to take up turning. I don't sell tools or machinery so you will get my unbiased opinion of what you need to get started, and where to look for the best bargains.

Tuition will be on a Vicmarc VL175SH lathe. Please contact me if you are interested so that we can discuss what might suit you best.

A young woman who bought her father a day’s tuition as a birthday present wrote to say:

“Thanks for providing Dad with a fantastic day, he really enjoyed himself...Mum said he was like a dog with two tails when he got home.”

and another lady, who was given a day’s tuition as a birthday present from her husband, sent a card to say:

”I just wanted to let you know what a lovely time I had yesterday. The time absolutely flew by, and I am so thrilled with my products. The troops here were only just prepared to believe that I had actually made the apple and bowl myself - they accused me of cheating!”

After a day’s tuition, I received the following delightful email:

“Thank you, thank you, thank you for sending my beloved, self-reliant, silent, old goat of a man home chattering and chuffed. Brian grinned most of the night and could hardly wait to show off what he made with you. And I couldn't stop holding the apple and touching the bowl.”

and after a week’s tuition a more experienced turner wrote:

“I would like to thank you for the excellent course you provided for me. I appreciated your clear and easy to follow instructions and learnt a great deal from you. The importance of safety in the workshop made a lot of sense and I have provided myself with some of the safety equipment I used on the course. I appreciated the warm welcome you gave me and the cuisine provided. I have put my newly acquired skills to good use since I came home. Many thanks.”

A typical one day course would cost £100 and last at least five hours in the workshop, starting at 10.00am and finishing about 4.00pm. Lunch would be a light meal taken around midday. You don't need to bring anything to the course as everything you need will be provided.

What follows is a brief outline for a day's course but, naturally, how much actually gets covered will depend on individual progress. Clicking here will take you to a more detailed specification of the course.

If you are an absolute beginner then I would expect to spend the first hour or so just getting you used to the tools, how to hold them and move with them, just cutting shapes in a lump of wood but not making anything in particular.

Once you have the hang of that, you would go on to make something 'real' - perhaps a small bowl or an apple, a mushroom or a small box - items that demonstrate different techniques.

Vouchers are available if you would like to present a day’s turning to someone else as a gift.

Updated April 2008