Trying to relate

Here’s the scene, you are finally comfortable making those little icicles for delicate Christmas ornaments and your finials look like they would shatter at any moment they are so finely detailed. A neighbors friend’s son’s cousin’s nephew twice–removed is standing in your shop having never turned anything before in his lifetime and you are going to teach them how you do it. You tell them it’s important to rough down gently and that rubbing the bevel is the key. You remind him to begin with the flute open and work from the tailstock to the headstock. Your student looks at you in amazement his eyes glassed over like a deer caught in the headlights and you suddenly realize that you have just issued critical instructions in the equivalent of Mandarin Chinese.

It’s very easy to forget that turners have their own language “tournese” and that for people who don’t speak it, tournese has utterly no meaning. When you are helping a newbee learn our craft never forget what it was like when you first started. Regardless of the age of your student don’t assume they know what a flute is, where the bevel is located, or what it means to rub that bevel baby.

Several years ago, I was privileged to spend an entire week’s with my good friend Chris Stott from England in my home shop in Atlanta Georgia. You cannot imagine how much my turning skills improved after having spent a week with a master class turner. Chris imparted an understanding of spindle turning which serves me well to this day. He said, there are only three cuts in spindle turning. Master these three cuts and you can make anything. The three cuts are humps, hollows, and flats. I ask this 100% genuine Englishman what that meant in plain English, and he said that was plain English. I said will what does it mean in American and he said there are beads, coves, and tapers or cylinders. Everything else, is just a variation on a theme. Master these three cuts and the spindle world is your oyster. And he was right.

The best skill set you could give to a new Turner is a set of practice exercises where they bring a 2 x 2 about 12 inches long to round than use a skew to make it a smooth cylinder, then turn 8 to 10 beads in a row. Then grab another practice piece of wood and turn 8 to 10 coves in a row. You will have just taught them 80% of everything they need to know to turn any spindle project you can think of. Bowls are very much the same way only easier. More on bowls in another article.

Keys to success: no jargon, explain what you mean in plain English, be patient and remember what it was like when you were learning. Of course, you realize this is good advice in many areas of your everyday life. This is especially true with younger folks. Imagine trying to use an analogy that includes a slide rule, a $.10 pay phone, bailing wire, Jackie Gleason or drive–in movies. A conscious effort on your part to understand and relate to your audience will help you be a much better teacher.

Here’s wishing you good success and may you leave dullness far behind.