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In the spring of 2004 I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Woodturning Tools and Techniques workshop at Conover Workshops (www.conoverworkshops.com). I’ve been turning for a couple of years now but I have to confess, despite reading a collection of books on the subject, I haven’t been able to get the feel of the machine – to my satisfaction anyway. I decided, therefore, that I needed some expert instruction.
Ernie and Susan Conover have been operating Conover Workshops since 1980. Ernie is the author of hundreds of magazine articles on woodworking and turning as well as being the author of five books. One of these is The Lathe Book, which has been released as a second, revised edition. He is the co-designer of the Conover lathe and is renowned as a respected authority in the field.
Ernie is assisted by King Heiple who is also an accomplished author. Aside from a stack of books and articles written as an orthopedic surgeon – and teacher of surgeons – he is a well-known author of many monographs on woodturning. He is highly skilled at miniature tuning, which is hardly surprising given his background.
The workshop itself is held over five weekdays in the well-stocked lathe room in Ernie’s remodeled barn. Students learn on state of the art Nova lathes manufactured by Technatool in New Zealand. Ernie also has a nice selection of high quality lathe tools for sale, which helped me out immensely. Before the class I wasn’t equipped to know the difference between a proper spindle gouge and some of the rubbish that is sold in the name of lathe tools. There are other goodies in the Conover store that will tempt the woodworker with a few dollars to spend as well. You won’t have to worry about paying for lunch as a fine, catered lunch is provided with the course.
Instruction is provided using both lecture and demonstrations but most of my time was spent at the lathe. This is a well-paced beginner course that has been developed with years of fine-tuning and is as complete as possible given its length. If you are a stranger to the lathe you will become fast friends and you will acquire the fundamental skills necessary for a lifetime of turning, including the basics of both spindle and faceplate turning.
Ernie believes that to become a proficient turner you have to turn a lot. In this class there is ample opportunity to practice. You won’t come away with a large project but you will leave with a number of smaller ones including spindle samples, a rolling pin, and bowls. However, you can’t go entirely by my experience.
Ernie and King are very responsive to the skill level of the students and their speed of progression. They continuously tailor the class to the needs of the pupils, continually providing guidance on all aspects of woodturning from safe and proper tool use to correct sharpening techniques.
After five days of intimate contact with the lathe a person begins to approach it in a vastly different way. Where I have been apprehensive in the past and unsure how to properly apply a tool to spinning wood, I now reach for a gouge with confidence. I know exactly what it takes to put a fingernail grind on a detail gouge, and how bowl turning differs from spindle turning. I used to stare at the Craft Supplies catalog wondering what some of the products were for but the myriad of chucks and attachments are no longer a mystery.
I highly recommend this class to anyone thinking of buying a lathe or those who were in a predicament similar to mine before last spring - having a lathe and being unsure what to do with it. Now I am looking for ways to incorporate what I have learned into all the projects I do. It was a liberating experience and I made many new friends.
Conover Workshops can be found at http://www.conoverworkshops.com . If you have any questions about their curriculum or you would like them to mail you a printed course calendar, email them at info@conoverworkshops.com .
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