Spend a day with Chris Fisher, the Blind Woodturner.
A choice of woodturning activities:
- beginners course – this will cover the various stages of woodturning for someone new to turning. It will include marking centres, mounting on the lathe, roughing out.
- introduction to carbide tools – get to grips with carbide cutters and discover how versatile they can be.
- finishing – Chris receives many comments about the high standard of his finish. He will share with you his secrets and techniques to help you achieve beautiful results each time.
- pens – whether you are new to pen turning or skilled, join Chris in a pen making session on his professional pen lathe.
- anything goes – bowls, goblets, candlesticks, magic wands. You choose!
We will work on an Axminster Trade AT406WL, Axminster AT1416VS, Axminster AH1218VS and Axminster Precision Pro pen lathe.
booking
To book, please get in touch and we will coordinate dates with you.
what people say
What a fantastic day!
sandra may
I only got seriously into woodturning in January this year, when I bought an Axminister 1218VS lathe, partly due to seeing Chris’ videos on YouTube and then attending the store in Warrington to watch his demo. Never having had the confidence to go for it before, he inspired me that I could do it too. I was very quickly hooked and soon began experiencing the frustrations of not fully understanding different tools, chucks, finishing techniques, lathe speeds … and so on.
Having checked out Chris’ website, I was made up to see that he was doing lessons and promptly asked my wife for one as a birthday present. It was a brilliant day from start to finish, a very warm welcome by Chris and Nicola (along with Bamber!). The first bit was (of course) talking turning with a cup of tea! But soon we were straight into the workshop, all the safety stuff done and straight on with it.
Chris has an innate ability to sense how I was cutting the wood, what way and where my technique needed improvement, particularly about my finishing techniques. He had me worked out straight away (impatient)! When I came across familiar problems Chris was prompting me to think about how to solve it, not just telling me. He introduced me to new tools and how to use them, meaning I hollowed something out to more than a few inches, without it flying off the lathe or splitting and I actually got it smooth!! We then broke for a lovely lunch prepared by Nicola, before hitting the workshop again to fashion something with a piece of fruit tree I had been seasoning.
It wasn’t just a couple of nice pieces I came away with, but a real further understanding of lots of aspects, thanks to Chris’s hard earned experience and passion for woodturning and his art. Not only that, but a genuine offer of help with future issues or snags I come up against.
There is only so much you can glean from YouTube videos and I would highly recommend anyone thinking about a day with Chris, to go for it. It has totally inspired me further to keep going and have a little more patience with myself. I will be booking a pen turning lesson next time as that is another thing that fries my brain a little!
Thank you so much Chris and Nicola for a warm welcome, the relaxed and professional atmosphere and the inspiration to go further.