Earlier I wrote about borrowing a small wood lathe and making a high chair for my daughter, Kirsten, in 1966. Following that, I didn’t turn anything until about 1975 or 1976, when I turned a 24” diameter “Pill” as a joke gift for my sister, Karrie. She didn’t like it, unfortunately, and thought it (or maybe I) was gross.

Since then, I have been too busy until the past few years to think about turning wood items again. Last month I finally took the plunge and purchased a mid-size bench-top lathe and a set of turning gouges. Additionally, I got a slow bench grinder, a pair of CBN wheels, and a Oneway sharpening jig to shape and sharpen my gouges. Finally, I purchased a chuck to hold the wood blank onto the lathe spindle. Unfortunately, the lathe was only half the total cost to just get started. 

For one of the few times in my life, I decided to watch a few online videos to learn about the basics of the process before I jumped in with both feet. That turned out to be a smart move and shortened the learning curve some.

Fortunately, my training and work as a manufacturing engineer also helped out. Early in my career I designed processes and tooling for high-powered lathes and drilling machines in the aluminum and steel foundry industries. Plus my last 40 years as a custom woodworker and woodcarver have given me a good appreciation of wood and the proper way to cut, sand, and finish the items I make.  

As all woodworkers know, there are always leftover wood pieces when a job is finished, and my shop has a nice assortment of poplar, white oak, red oak, a little ash, a nice mahogany board, and several cherry boards. It looks like I can work for a while before I have to find more project pieces. But then, as with tools and clamps, there is never enough.

With that said, I finally put my bowl gouge to work. And in the last three days I turned my first two bowls after I wasted a throwaway piece while practicing the four basic cutting techniques. Number one is a 5” diameter poplar bowl (pictured above) and number two is a 8 ¼” diameter cherry bowl. 

Tooting my own horn, I think these two turned out pretty well.

Ken Kaiyala
11-17-2025