A recent discussion about the zone caused me to pull out the book 'Zen
in the Art of Archery' for rereading. It's about learning to shoot a
bow under the direction of a Zen master. In Zen they talk about
beginner's mind.

I've been thinking about posting something for people who want to
approach woodturning with a beginner's mind but this post is more
for people who (like the current writer) have a knack for learning
things the hard way. This group has a vast pool of lessons learned
along the way by the people who are the masters.

Anyone care to pass along their great leaps forward? ( things they
learned that helped them devlop skills).

I can think of several personal ones though I'm not one of the
masters: 1)getting a Trugrind for sharpening tools, 2)watching a short
tape by Raffan on turning bowls, 3)reading about drying bowls in
newspaper and bags and more recently watching a tape by Mike Mahoney
on making basic bowls.

What are yours? Perhaps they will start popping into view the next
time you are working in your shop.

Thanks