Turning for Furniture: Creating Furniture Parts on Your Lathe

Book excerpt: Back by popular demand, these classic woodworking titles from Fine Woodworking magazine are filled with first-rate information that is as timeless now as it was when first published. This book is an action manual for the furniture maker, providing detailed descriptions on how to turn common, and some not-so-common, furniture parts. Whether a bed post or a cabriole leg, master woodturner Ernie Conover patiently guides you through the turning process. Drawing on his experience as a furniture maker, turner, and lathe designer, Conover provides the information you'll need to start turning your own furniture parts. The book begins with a discussion on what a furniture maker should look for when buying a lathe, tools, and accessories. Next, Conover describes shop-tested tips and techniques for both sharpening and using lathe tools. There's hard-to-find information on chucking, duplicating parts with precision and finishing on the lathe. The remainder of the book provides detailed instructions on turning a myriad of furniture components: knobs and finials; both simple and cabriole table legs; chair legs, stretchers, and back posts; cannonball bed posts; multiple-section bed posts with concealed joints; decorative columns and how to mill reeds, flutes, and spirals in them; corner blocks; and even tabletops. Easy-to-follow instructions, with liberal use of drawings and photographs, take you clearly through each step.