Small Wood Turning: Simple Gifts In A Complex World

Increasingly, we are becoming a more and more complicated world. Maps have moved to GPS systems and we carry whole computers in our pockets and call them phones. Gift catalogues are filled with technological wonders. Yet there is a lot to be said for the simple things in life and small wood turnings give a great opportunity to have on hand meaningful gifts made with simple materials along with craftsmanship and care.

In this age of reduce, reuse and recycle, small wood turnings are king. For the wood turner recycled wood can be used for a myriad of purposes and from a myriad of forms. All the types of wood that are available for the large form wood turner can be used for small forms so firewood and land fill obvious choices. However, the scale of small turnings allows for the easy use of hardwood from cabinetry offcuts and flooring waste as well as other woodworking waste to be utilized. Any gift made from such items can be given with the assurance of care for the world around us.

Small wood turnings lend themselves to one of a kind work as well as production runs, depending upon the taste of the turner and the urge at the moment. Because of their size, production items in particular can be produced fairly quickly as the making develops skills that cause subsequent items to be turned quickly and well. One of the results can be a collection of turned items that have a lot of satisfaction in the making and yet take up little room individually. In other words, they can easily be stored for the appropriate moment.

Such items make ideal gifts. They are obviously hand made and have something of the maker in them. While they may be part of a production run, the nature of hand turning means that no two are exactly alike. For the giver they are cost effective and yet carry meaning. Added to all this can be the essence of using what might otherwise have been waste. Thus the gift is also in some sense a gift to the world of future generations.

Wood turners are able to take advantage of all these things by the nature of what we do. In addition, we join a tradition that is thousands of years old. Simple pleasures that became simple gifts that have brought joy down through the years have been part of the wood turning scene since its beginning. In a world where woods and indeed trees are seen as something precious, turners are able to be a part of simple and precious moments.