This five-day course is perfect for complete beginners or folks whose skills have gotten rusty and need refreshing. This class is taught on mini lathes, but the techniques scale up to much larger lathes. This class is designed to give you an understanding of the tools used by turners and the skills to safely and effectively use them; you’ll start to develop a "feel" for turning. The class begins with the fundamental rules for turning spindles and progresses to expanding your newly learned skills to turning bowls from green (freshly cut) wood. The class is taught using traditional gouges, not carbide tools. Using a sharp gouge is key to cutting well and safely, and we teach you how to sharpen freehand on the grinder. For the first couple of days, we focus on introducing the basic skills through spindle turning. We explore cutting theory by looking at the impact of grain direction on how a gouge cuts. We’ll then learn how to make a smooth cylinder, leading to turning a simple French rolling pin. Then you’ll explore beads and coves as we make a candlestick that will be finished with milk paint. Midweek, we switch over to bowl turning. We’ll be using freshly cut green wood to explore how grain and growth rings impact the appearance of the bowl. You’ll learn about the different chucking methods to work on the outside and the inside of a bowl, plus how to reverse chuck to finish the bottom. There will be plenty of opportunities to make several small bowls about 6” diameter and examine various finishes, including those that are food-safe. Required Tools: The school is equipped with the turning tools you'll need for the class. However, if you want to bring along your own turning tools and work with them, we encourage you to do so Pencil Small ruler High collar shirt or turning smock Hair tie for long hair Paper/sketchbook Recommended Tools: Personal protective equipment (face shield, mask, and safety glasses) Turning tools: roughing gouge, spindle gouge