In article ,
"Vic Baron" wrote:

Where can I find out what kind of wood is good for turning? I have oak,
walnut, maple, mahogany and some expensive unusual woods. I guess what
puzzles me is should I use soft woods, hard woods, close grain or open grain
and what are the benefits and pitfalls of same.

I'd suggest you stick to cheap and common in the learning/relearning
phase. I usually suggest a load of firewood, preferably green firewood,
as a great turning tutorial. But it depends what you want - green
firewood is not the best choice for table legs, usually. Burn or
barbecue with your learning experiences that are not keepers.

Hardwoods are generally better, but softwoods can certainly be turned,
and some are quite beautiful. All the woods you list are perfectly fine
for turning, though they will behave (and look) somewhat differently and
some will dictate different wall thicknesses for a successful, lasting
result. Open grain, thin-walled, end-grain areas tend to break easily,
for instance.

Smaller diameter = faster speed. I think somewhere I have a
cabinet-making book that suggests particular ranges of speed (in surface
feet per minute, from which you can calculate RPM for a diameter) but in
general, having easily variable speed and finding what works is as
effective. Below some size, you go as fast as your lathe will go. With
large unbalanced pieces getting roughed, you go slowly enough that the
lathe stays put, and the wood stays in the lathe.

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