Category Archives: Woodturning Tech Talk

This catagory is dedicated to discussions about woodturning techniques, wood, finishing, woodturning tools and woodturning lathes. I will post items that come to mind in any random order and at any random time. Comments and questions on these posts are welcomed and encouraged.

Woodturning Safety Tips

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Ed Pretty

Originally written by Ed for Craftsy as “Safety at the Lathe: Woodturning Safety Tips”> It’s the only machine tool in the shop where the machine moves the wood and the cutting tool is held by the operator. The lathe, therefore, … Continue reading →

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Making handles for your turning tools 2

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Ed Pretty

Here is the second in a three part series showing how to make inexpensive, high quality turning handles. Again, there are a few random tips unrelated to turning handles because the video is part of a “tips” presentation to the … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Lathes and Tools, Woodturning Tech Talk | 2 Comments

Making handles for your turning tools 1

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Ed Pretty

It’s been a while since I have posted here but it’s so hard to turn and type at the same time. 🙂 I recently had been asked to produce a video on “tips and tricks” for one of r the … Continue reading →

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Hollow Turning With a Twist.

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Ed Pretty

I thought I would share a project I have been working on recently that is different than many and uses a hollowing technique I haven’t used until now. The size of this project is a bit nuts but the concept … Continue reading →

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A blast of colour

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Ed Pretty

Well, I’m back. Haven’t posted for a while so I thought I would plug this in real quick-like. This video is (almost) totally unrelated to turning. It is, however, completely related to what I do after I finish a turning. … Continue reading →

Posted in Colouring wood, Finishing, General | 1 Comment

Masking Made Easy

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Ed Pretty

I’m not sure how many of you have turned pieces then finished them with a painted or dyed feature while the rest of the piece remains natural. It can be a bit of a pain to get it “just right”. … Continue reading →

Posted in Colouring wood, Finishing, General | 2 Comments

Another colouring class

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Ed Pretty

This past weekend I hosted eight students from the Fraser Valley Wood Turners Guild; four on Saturday and four on Sunday. As they say, a good time was had by all. We covered various ways of altering the colour of … Continue reading →

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DO NOT premix Procion MX dyes

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Ed Pretty

After receiving a few questions regarding the chemical make up of Procion MX dye, I did some research. Besides finding out the actual chemistry involved, I also found out something that I had been doing that is incorrect. I copied … Continue reading →

Posted in Colouring wood, Finishing, Woodturning Tech Talk | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Burning workshop at Art Liestman’s studio! Fire department late to scene.

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Ed Pretty

Last weekend was a special day in Art’s shop. Eight of us shared his space while he led us through a progressive approach to learning pyrography. We all had burners but had had little success in the past with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing, General, Woodturning Tech Talk | Tagged | 2 Comments

A new technique for me.

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Ed Pretty

I have seen turnings done using combinations of centers much like the process I’ll describe here but not with this result. The final product is a combination of multi-center turning and hollow turning. I always check the “dollar bin” at … Continue reading →

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