Learn to Turn: A Beginner's Guide to Woodturning from Start to Finish

This easy to read book is ideal for someone just learning woodturning, like myself. It is an easy read, is well indexed, and following the basics of woodturning, it is indexed by project type. An excellent reference manual, and nicely illustrated.

I bought a new lathe recently and needed to learn how to use it. I bought this book along with Taunton's book. This book was SO helpful. I found it to be direct & to the point, and full of good common sense advice. Within an hour of picking up this book, my lathe work had improved dramatically- pieces that had previously taken me over an hour to turn now take less than 5 minutes. It's amazing what a little knowledge can do! The Taunton book is good too, but I like the organization of this book a lot more; I found it easier to use and more beginner friendly.

I recently decided to give a shot at wood turning. Being a complete beginner without any time to attend any classes I started by shopping around for different books and DVDs. In my opinion, "Learn to Turn" is by far the best book available for starting woodturning. It is written in a very simple style and illustrated by numerous color pictures. This book is short, well organized and go straight to the point. The book is divided in two main parts. The first part introduce the basics of woodturning, the tools, sharpening, sanding, finishing. The second part is a composed of a multitude of photo essays that show you how to use each tool and drive you through several simple projects.

This book is an excellent reference for the new woodturner. It makes no assumptions, and starts from the VERY beginning, so some may skip some of the beginning sections. However, the book is organized to guide you through the process, and includes projects to use your newly found skills. The book reads very well, and will give you the fundamental knowledge you need to get started. It's also filled with excellent photos to help clarify the text. I would highly recommend this book to other beginners (in fact, I already have).

What a GREAT book. I am a new turner and am reading everything I can get my hands on about turning. This is my second overview book on the subject. I just picked one to start as I didn't have any idea what book to try. I didn't learn what I had hope to in the first one so when I saw Barry Gross' book, I thought I would try it. Was I glad I did! Mr. Gross' book, Learn To Turn, provides all the basic information in a CLEAR format. There are pictures to go along with the text and they are clearly label as are the parts of the machine, tools or safety measures he is writing about. When he talks about "truing up" or other turning terms, he actually defines what that means in laymen's terms so a true beginner can grasp what he is talking about. When he discusses the various tools, he pictures that tool on the page where is he explaining how to use the tool. This really helped me to learn which tool was which and just how they should be used. Mr. Gross discusses finishes and shows four different ones so you can choose which you would use for which project. Of course, he has a section on safety and the pictures really bring home the point of the need for safety. There is also a section on tool sharpening and a detailed description of how each tool should be correctly sharpened. Sanding is another section and I learned about a sandpaper called New Wave and Abranet sanding screens. He tells how to make a jam chuck - another one of those turning terms - and explains how and why to use it and what it is. And not book would be complete without the glossary of terms and a company resources list. In the final section of the book, Mr. Gross provides instructions for eight projects from a simple bowl to a wonderful Christmas Ornament. These eight projects will keep this turner busy for several months as I try to come close to what the author's turnings look like. For $14.95, this is a book I would recommend to a new turner or for a turning instructor as a classroom text. I know my copy will become a well-worn text in my shop.