Two Day Woodturning Class
Your foundation in the craft
£325 per person | Thursday & Friday | Maximum 5 students
Two days at the lathe. Three finished pieces. The skills and confidence to keep turning at home.
This is where most turners begin properly. Not a taster, but a genuine foundation. You'll learn how the tools work, why the wood behaves the way it does, and how to produce a clean finish. By the end of day two, you'll have made a mushroom, a bottle stopper, and a bowl, and you'll understand every step of how you made them.
The pace is unhurried. We take the time to explain why things work, not just how. That understanding is what lets you continue developing at home, rather than just repeating what you were shown.
Who Is This Class For?
Complete beginners who want a proper foundation. If you've never touched a lathe, this is the place to start. We'll show you everything from how to stand safely to how to sharpen your tools.
Self-taught turners who've picked up habits they'd like to unlearn. YouTube is a wonderful resource, but it can't see what you're doing wrong. Two days with an experienced tutor can correct issues before they become permanent.
Anyone who tried a taster day and wants to go deeper. If you did the Woodturning Experience Day and caught the bug, this is your next step. We'll build on what you learned and take you much further.
People considering buying a lathe who want to learn properly first. It makes sense to understand the craft before investing in equipment. You'll also get a better idea of what to buy.
No experience required. Just enthusiasm and a willingness to learn..
What You'll Make
Day One: Spindle Work
Morning: Decorative Mushroom. There's no hardware here, no rules about what it has to look like. The mushroom is about developing tool control and starting to feel the relationship between tool angle and the cut it produces. You'll practise roughing, shaping curves, and creating detail. It's a forgiving project that teaches you a lot.
Afternoon: Bottle Stopper. Now we add precision. A bottle stopper has to fit the hardware correctly. You'll learn to work to dimensions, create clean shoulders, and produce a finish that feels good in the hand. The skills here transfer directly to everything else you'll make.
Day Two: Bowl Turning
The whole of day two is dedicated to your first bowl (roughly 8 x 3 inches). Bowl turning is different from spindle work. The grain runs across the piece rather than along it, and the tools behave differently as a result. You'll learn to shape the outside curve, hollow the inside, and refine the wall thickness by feel as much as by sight.
Everything you learned on day one informs this piece. By the afternoon, you'll be finishing your bowl with sanding sealer and wax. If there's time and you're feeling adventurous, we might even add some colour.
Your Tutor - Martin Saban-Smith RPT
Martin has been teaching turning wood since 2018, bringing a photographer's eye for proportion and form to the lathe. Martin’s teaching approach is patient, with room for questions, the understanding that mistakes are steps towards skill, and that learning is more process over perfection, community over competition.
What You'll Learn
You'll learn to use the core turning tools: spindle roughing gouge, spindle gouge, bowl gouge, parting tool, and scrapers. You'll understand why sharpening matters and how to maintain an edge. You'll develop the feel for when a cut is right and when something needs adjusting.
Beyond the technical skills, you'll start to understand form and proportion. Why do some shapes look right while others don't? This isn't something most courses cover, but it's at the heart of what makes a piece satisfying.
By the end of the two days, you'll have the confidence to continue practising at home. You'll know what to do, why you're doing it, and how to improve
Tools Used
- Spindle Roughing - 3/8″ Bowl Gouge - 3/8″ Spindle Gouge - Diamond Parting Tool -
- French Curve Scraper - Multi-Purpose Tool - Carbide Hollowing Tools -
- Inertia Bowl Sanders - Sanding Sealer - Finishing Wax - Finishing Oils -
Refresher Videos and Companion Book
Two-day beginners students get access to nearly two hours of refresher video content. These are recordings of the techniques you learned in the workshop, so when the details start to fade (and they will), you can watch and remind yourself exactly how it's done. It's one of the things that sets our course apart.
Plus, you will receive a 60-page take-home companion covering much of what you learned in class and a lot more besides. It includes a rundown of the main turning tools, sharpening basics, an introduction to proportion and design, notes on timber selection, finishing philosophy, and what to do when things go wrong. It's designed to be useful rather than impressive, something to keep near the lathe and flip through when you can't quite remember how something worked.
What To Expect On the Day of Your Lesson at The Woodturning School
If you have queries, please check the FAQs
Book Your Place
Booking your place is simple. The calendar shows the next available date.
Click the date, then click the time. Then fill in some details and pay the deposit. We’ll look after the rest for you.
The day
Day One:
9am: Meet at the Garden Centre Coffeeshop
9.30am: Workshop begins with spindles and a Mushroom
12.30pm: Lunch at the Coffeeshop (included)
1.00pm: Continue spindles with a Bottle Stopper
2.30pm: Coffee break
4pm: Finish and tidy.
Day Two:
9am: Meet at the workshop
9.30am: Workshop begins: Bowl turning
12.30pm: Lunch at the Coffeeshop (included)
1.00pm: Finish the bowl
2.30pm: Coffee break
4pm: Finish and tidy.
Included: All timber, tools, consumables, safety equipment, lunch, refreshments, your pen and platter to take home.
Payments
A deposit of 30% is required to secure your booking. This deposit is non-refundable in the event of cancellation by the client. It covers, buying materials and advertising your space in the event of cancellation. Amendments can be made up to 14 days before date for £10 admin fee. Cancelling within 14 days will forfeit all monies paid. Click HERE for full terms and conditions.
Queries?
Before contacting us, please take a moment to check our FAQs. You'll often find the answer you're looking for is already there.