Woodturning as You Get Older: The Part Nobody Talks About

Woodturning is often presented as a calm, almost meditative craft. A lathe spinning quietly, a sharp tool, shavings piling up at your feet. And to be fair, that part can be exactly as peaceful as it looks.

But that’s not where woodturning really starts.

Wood itself sits at the centre of everything we do, and it’s not cheap sitting on a rack in a timber yard. Many of us end up cutting our own wood from the beginning, skipping the middleman and going straight to the trees.

If you work with green wood, especially bowl blanks or larger forms, the job starts long before a tool ever touches the lathe. It starts with trees, trunks, weight, awkward shapes, chainsaws, lifting, splitting, stacking. It’s physical. It’s demanding. And it’s rarely shown in glossy beginner videos.

I go into the practical steps in How to Process Logs for Woodturning, but the physical reality of that stage is something you only really understand once you’ve done it.

As I’ve gotten older, that part of the craft has become impossible to ignore. Years of building site work have left their mark on my back, shoulders and knees, and that shows up very quickly when I’m chainsawing large batches of blanks and exceeding my own lifting limits moving large logs.

This isn’t a warning against woodturning. Far from it. It’s a reality check about one specific part of the process that deserves more honest discussion but nobody really talks about.

Large trunks need specialised lifting devices

Pictured above is part of my processing area, with my cutting bench in the background. That bench changed how I work. I wrote about how I built it and why in Setting Up a Simple Cutting Bench for Woodturning Blanks if you’re curious about the practical side of it. In the foreground, I’m using a farm jack to manoeuvre the tree onto stickers so I can cut it more easily into sections and with less strain.

Woodturning doesn’t start at the lathe

When a tree comes to me, the wood is heavy, wet, and unforgiving. Logs don’t arrive neatly sized or conveniently positioned. They need to be moved, stabilised, cut, lifted again, cut again, and stored correctly. Every one of those steps puts strain on the body.

In your twenties or thirties, you can often brute-force your way through it. You recover faster. You shrug off the odd twinge or sore shoulder. Later in life, the margin for error narrows considerably. Backs, knees, and shoulders remember every bad lift.

Cutting green wood for bowls or large blanks is, without question, the most physically demanding part of woodturning. Turning the piece is almost the easy part by comparison.

The unseen strain of processing green wood

Breaking down large logs is not just about strength, it’s about control, balance, and repetition. You’re often working with:

• awkward weights that don’t lift cleanly

• unstable footing, especially outdoors

• chainsaws at uncomfortable angles

• repetitive movements that quietly build fatigue

Fatigue is the real danger. Tired arms lift badly. Tired legs slip. A tired back compensates in ways that lead to injury. When people talk about accidents with chainsaws or workshop injuries, tiredness is almost always part of the story.

I’ve written before about how small oversights can escalate in the workshop in From Dust to Disaster, and fatigue is often the invisible factor behind them.

Starting this side of the craft later in life isn’t impossible, but it is more risky if it’s underestimated.

The infrastructure most people don’t plan for

One of the most common ideas I hear is, “I might start cutting my own blanks and sell a few.” On the surface, it sounds simple. In reality, processing green wood properly requires far more than a chainsaw and enthusiasm.

You quickly realise you need things like:

• a proper cutting platform to keep work at a safe height

• the skill and confidence to use chainsaws correctly

• wood-moving tools like tree levers or farm jacks

• chocks and spacers to keep logs stable and off the ground

• a bandsaw large enough to round bowl blanks safely

• bandsaw blades that are sharp and not dull

• a lathe with the mass and swing to handle big, wet wood

• somewhere to dry timber slowly, or a kiln if volume increases

None of this is glamorous, but all of it matters. Without it, the work becomes harder, slower, and more dangerous, especially as the years go on.

Where age changes the equation

Age doesn’t stop you learning woodturning, but it does change how you should approach it.

Recovery takes longer. Small injuries linger. A sore shoulder can mean weeks off work instead of days. That’s fine if you’re aware of it and adapt, but it becomes a problem when people jump into the most physically demanding part of the craft without realising what’s involved.

I’ve aggravated old injuries and created new ones every time I process green wood. I’m no stranger to pain.

Over time I’ve learned that working smarter isn’t optional, it’s essential. Raising work off the ground, breaking tasks into shorter sessions, and knowing when to stop matter more now than they ever did before.

For those stepping into woodturning during retirement, this shift in approach is even more important. The freedom to spend more time in the workshop is a gift but it can also tempt you to do too much, too quickly. Woodturning in retirement can be deeply fulfilling, but it benefits from pacing, planning and a realistic understanding of the physical demands involved.

It isn’t about slowing down for the sake of it. It’s about making sure you can still be standing at the lathe ten or fifteen years from now.

This isn’t the only way to Turn Wood

This is the part that really matters.

Processing green logs is not a requirement for enjoying woodturning, or even for running a successful turning business. Many excellent turners never touch a chainsaw. Buying prepared blanks is perfectly valid. Turning smaller pieces is far easier on the body and still deeply satisfying.

Spindle work, boxes, pens, and small bowls can all be produced with far less physical strain. There is no hierarchy that says “real” woodturners must wrestle with tree trunks.

The danger lies in assuming that cutting large green wood is the natural next step for everyone.

Realism isn’t discouragement

I’m not trying to put anyone off woodturning. If anything, this is about helping people enjoy it for longer.

Understanding the hardest, most physical part of the craft allows you to make informed decisions. You can choose the paths that suit your body, your space, and your long-term goals. Ignoring that reality is what leads to injury, frustration, or quietly giving up.

Woodturning is a wonderful craft, but like any physical trade, it rewards honesty and preparation. The older I get, the more I believe that respecting the difficult parts is what keeps the enjoyable ones possible.

Thanks for Reading,

David

About the Author

I’m David Condon, a professional woodturner and small business owner based in Tralee, Co. Kerry. I spent 11 years working as a carpenter before starting my own woodturning business, which I’ve now been running for over a decade.

For more than ten years, I’ve been designing and making handmade wooden bowls, serving boards, and functional pieces from Irish hardwoods, selling them across Ireland and beyond. Bowls in particular have always been a core part of my work, from large salad bowls to smaller serving pieces, each one turned, finished, and food-safe treated in my workshop.

I teach woodturning full-time and work with wood every day. The advice I share here comes directly from hands-on experience — not theory — shaped by years of making, refining, and learning at the lathe.

© David Condon Woodcraft – All Rights Reserved.

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More Woodturning Pages to Explore​

● Hampshire Sheen - Fine Finishing products that will highlight your project pieces

● Hamlet Tools - Fantastic Woodturning Tools from a well trusted brand

● Woodcraft Hub - View my woodcraft creations for inspiration of gift buying.

● Sanding Essentials - Essential sanding products for Woodturners & Woodworkers.

● Woodturning Blanks - A fine range of Hardwood Spindle Blanks & a few Bowl Blanks too!

● Woodturning Pen Blanks - A huge assortment of Acrylic & Irish Hardwood Pen Blanks.

● Crafter's Haven – A vast range of craft supplies for crafters and gift givers!

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