Bowl turning on a pole-lathe (June 2025)

Two Day Course: Cost - £200. Deposit - £100.

Saturday 21st – Sunday 22nd June 2025

Learn to turn bowls the really old fashioned way and enjoy the fulfilment of  producing this most fundamental possession from raw materials.

This craft dates back to the Iron Age and possibly earlier.

Using traditional hook tools and a foot powered lathe you’ll learn to produce a bowl using techniques that date back hundreds of years.

Working with Doug Don, a local green woodworker, you’ll start with a log and through the use of traditional tools and processes you’ll cleave, chop and carve a blank till you can mount it on the lathe and then using only the power of your body you’ll turn that blank into a bowl.

In a small group you’ll learn about the different kinds of timber you can use, the lathe and the tools you need and a little bit of the history behind this amazing craft. You should leave the weekend with at least one bowl and all the knowledge you need to start turning bowls for yourself.

This can be a demanding course due to the weight of the bowl blank and the need to keep it spinning. We take plenty of breaks and there are lots of stops to talk about the turning but a basic level of fitness is needed.