Awesome Woodturning

When you cover things with resin and let them harden, they can be carved on a lathe, just like wood. In this video from Wood Workshop they show how combining blocks of wood with stacks of colored paper can produce an eye-catching work of functional art.

Woodworker Jack Mack shows us how a bunch of wood veneer strips can become a beautiful piece of functional art. He started by placing the colorful wood strips into a bucket he filled with resin, then carved the piece by hand on a lathe into a vase. It’s not until it’s close to its final form that its eye-catching patterns are revealed.

If you’ve been to a science museum, you’ve probably seen those funnel-shaped tables where you can drop in a marble, and it spirals towards its center. Olivier Gomis shows us how he built three gravity well tables by cutting up pieces of walnut and maple veneer, gluing them into layers, turning them on a lathe, then sanding them to a smooth finish.

Woodworker Carl Jacobson shows us the process of building a miniature replica of Fred’s prehistoric car from The Flintstones. He built the foot-powered “Flintmobile” from maple burl and walnut, with beautifully turned wood roller wheels. The leather chamois canopy offers protection from heat, rain, and pterodactyl poop.

We’ve seen lots of beautiful and unusual items turned on a lathe, but we’ve not seen a woodworker use the method to create a model of a jet airplane engine until now. Gao Wood Lab used walnut, magnolia grandiflora, and red cedar wood to create this wonderful miniature engine, complete with a spinning turbine fan.

Woodworker Olivier Gomis used a plastic water bottle as the inspiration for this satisfying build. After laminating together scraps of maple and walnut, he turned the wood block on a lathe to replicate the shape of the bottle. Then, he hollowed out its center and used the plastic bottle as a waterproof liner.

Carpenter Frank Howarth has made several wooden spheres in the past. This time he painstakingly assembled a globe with a funky mosaic pattern made from scrap wood pieces. It’s not as successful as his traditional globe design, but the build process was still quite interesting to watch.

Artist Olivier Gomis shows off a neat woodworking technique that allows him to make round vases with squared-off edges on a lathe. By placing multiple wood blocks on a custom-made jig, he’s able to carve the unusual shape while also getting four pieces done simultaneously.

Woodworker Frank Howarth keeps getting requests to create a globe of the Earth. He started with 3D modeling software to project the map onto triangle shapes, then cut each of them and assembled them into a faceted sphere before turning the whole works on a lathe. It took lots of trial and error, but the finished piece is amazing.

Squid Game has inspired Halloween costumes, musical performances, and an SNL sketch. Now it has a woodworking video. Hailing from Korea himself, Woodboy created this set of see-through objects that look like the symbols seen throughout the show. His method of creating them on a lathe makes them even more interesting.

Artist Olivier Gomis paid tribute to The Lord of the Rings by creating a larger-than-life replica of The One Ring. He started by assembling wedges of wood into circles and smoothed them on a lathe. He then carved its engravings and added curly maple veneers so its lettering only appears when its hidden LED lights are switched on.

Artist Woodboy shows off a clever technique in which he makes a portrait of Abraham Lincoln by creating a pair of turned walnut blocks which come together to form an inverted portrait of the 19th-century President. The method allows him to create four portrait halves from each turned block.

Scrap Wood City shows us just how beautiful a hunk of wood can be, as he gradually whittles down a hunk of burled briar root. Working with a somewhat wonky lathe, he gradually turns the wood into a dramatic spherical sculpture that still lets some of its natural textures show through.

A fan of woodworker Mr. Zhou sent him a block of colorful material and requested that he use it to carve a chess piece. The process of turning the piece on the lathe is quite satisfying, especially watching the shavings as they go flying. The block appears to be wood that’s been infused with pigments, but we’re not sure.

Artist Olivier Gomis shows how he took hundreds of colored pencils and turned them into a cool looking wood vase. Rather than encasing them in epoxy resin, he sanded and glued together layers of pencils, twisted them into a tower, then turned that structure on a lathe.

Artist Mr. Zhou presents a wonderfully satisfying crafting video. The clip features ample doses of woodturning, pouring colorful epoxy resin, and then shaving the whole thing down to reveal its finished form – an accent light that illuminates with the colors of the rainbow. Sadly, it lost one layer along the way.