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Videos Below; I believe one of the most important lessons I ever learned as a Woodturner was the Spinning Top Toy. Not that they are harder to do than Bowls or Ornaments but that they come with their own difficulties which have to be overcome by sheer repetition. Balance in the finished piece and excellent technique are more important in these than other pieces that you might turn. If you get the shape wrong or leave a rough finish off the tool, sandpaper will not correct and will in fact unbalance the spinning top meaning less spinning time. Early Spinning Top Toy Attempts I struggled when I started Woodturning, with each Spinning Top taking up to 20 minutes to complete (including finish application). 20 minutes of pure grind with the end result being a blobby. Basically what I call pieces that have no defined shape and rounded over details due to poor sanding techniques. Why did it take so long I hear you ask? Simple, I was self taught (badly) in the 90s and I had only a vague notion of how the tools should be held and presented. Tool sharpening didn't enter into the equation either at that early stage. It wasn't until I sought the advice of a Professional Woodturner years later that things started to improve for me. It took some time after that, putting the new knowledge to task until I started seeing results in my work. If only I had taken a lesson back then, where oh where would I be now I wonder? The more students I teach, the more I realize where I failed early on. I have noticed that some of my students don't last at Woodturning because they are put off By their early failures By the amount of work and time they have to put in before becoming competent By the look of the pieces they make after a few weeks/months. By all the money investment before being able to make complex pieces Woodturning requires a lot more commitment than just a wish to do it. I keep seeing people who have a huge desire to turn only to drop it after only a short period of time and it's an awful waste to be honest. For those of you that want to improve your Woodturning techniques, I have this Blog Post for you. I will describe the turning of a Spinning Top and you can then view it on 2 of my YouTube videos below which should give you some good pointers. The next few paragraphs deal with what you can't see or what is not included in the videos. Select your Piece Firstly, my advice is select an appropriate piece in both width and length. I generally cut 50mmx50mmx60mm Width x Depth x Length which is quite small and designed to achieve minimal waste and maximum yield by a Professional Woodturner. If you new to Turning then I suggest a length of around 100mm which will keep you away from the spinning Jaws. As a caveat, vibration may become an issue as you move further away from the headstock. As you improve, you can shorten the length down by 5mm or so with each new piece to save wood and to give you more confidence. Always be comfortable with the wood you use and don't try to shorten because you see someone else doing it until you are proficient enough to do it safely!. Cut a proper dovetail to suit the jaws you have. Each manufacturer makes jaws for their own products and they all differ slightly from each other. I use Vicmarc Chucks & jaws which are angled to 77 degrees. I generally roughout the shape and add the dovetail on my small Jet 1221vs before bringing the piece to the next lathe for finishing. I normally make Spinning Tops on my Vicmarc VL300 or Jet 2424 lathes as they offer maximum stability and at this stage I'm just comfortable working with them. Having multiple Lathes makes your processes much easier and is a great timesaver. Have a look at the video below for my methods, hopefully you will find something you didn't already know Riding the Bevel To do any work on a lathe you must familiarize yourself with the supported cut, ie; riding the bevel. It is the safest way to turn and gives the best results as you are always cutting the grain from a solid, supported position and not yanking the fibers out as the wood turns. There are often arguments between traditionalists and Carbide Cutter enthusiasts about which offers the best results. I am a traditionalist, I believe the physics of a supported cut far outweigh the carbide tool at every turn and are much safer. If you are unsure about the bevel, take a Woodturning lesson immediately, it will be money well spent. If you are a new Woodturner, I suggest learning the Traditional way first before experimenting with Carbide Cutters. In order to do a Spinning Top, you will be working further off the tool rest; more so than normal so you need to know what you are doing. Adding Colour In the early days of my business my products were all natural grain and I actually prefer the wood to look the way nature intended. When I started adding colour to my pieces, sales went up dramatically. I was a little annoyed by this while at the same time delighted to be making more money. A real paradox. We are making products for customers to buy so we shouldn't project our own tastes into the pieces but it invariably happens anyway. In saying that, Spinning Tops sell way better with a few colours added. You can pick up a Hampshire Sheen Intrinsic Colours box set here if you'd like to try or some of the Sharpie Pens for minimalist colouring here. Enjoy the videos below. An older video below, sped up a bit. This is the way I used to do them when I started making them for the shops but I have since changed the design to the coloured ones above. Take Away - It's a Child's Toy At the end of the day, the Spinning Top you create will probably go to a small child as a gift. The person giving the gift is probably doing it from a position of nostalgia because they had a Spinning Top when they were a child. When I first introduced these into a shop the feedback I got was that 50-70 year olds were spinning them and then buying them saying that they hadn't seen one in in several decades. What starts out as a project for you to improve may end up bringing a little joy into someone's life. Do the best job you can! Stay Safe Turning! David

I have been looking for a specific Woodturning Tool for months, namely a spindle gouge. During every teaching session I would tell students about cheap tools, bad tools & repaired tools and I would look for this Gouge to show as an example of a dangerous tool and every time I would fail to find it. My small workshop is impossible to keep tidy and organized so you might understand why I couldn't find it. Getting ready for a student today, I finally came across the tool buried under my workbench. I knew immediately that I had to write a post and show pictures of what exactly was wrong with it so new Woodturners could avoid potential catastrophe and hopefully learn something they didn't know. The Beginning for Every Woodturner When you first start out as a Woodturner, you have high dreams and hopes of what you are going to buy and what you can afford with the money you have on hand at the time. Those hopes can come crashing down when you see the price of the tools either online or in a Tool Shop. Inevitably, you go looking to cut corners so you can maximise your spend. Nearly everyone who takes up Woodturning is the exact same so please don't think of yourself as unusual. I was no different back in the 90s and when my friend offered me a broken/repaired Sorby Gouge I jumped at it. I had 3 other chisels at the time and felt great having another one to add to my small collection. Bad Woodturning Tool. What's Wrong with it? So what exactly is wrong with using a tool like this? Firstly; The steel has been welded together at the break. Welding would have caused an enormous increase in temperature in that area which could potentially weaken the surrounding steel and make it brittle or weaken the tool strength. It is impossible to test this at home without complex testing equipment so why take a risk? Secondly; The brass ferrule broke during the snap and thirdly; the Ash handle is cracked. I think it may have been glued and clamped as a repair but this would not stand up to much punishment. This tool from what I remember, was capable of cutting but any kind of catch could have caused the tool to disintegrate, possibly being fired back at me in front of the Lathe. Thankfully, this did not happen to me. So What is the Lesson Learned? Simple, don't ever use broken/repaired tools like this because they can be lethal! I can't believe that I actually used this tool back in the day. As a Carpenter, I should have known better but I didn't think about the negative side at all. Thankfully, I didn't use it for very long before buying a new tool but the consequences could have been severe. You are not saving yourself money by using bad or damaged tools, the cost of a hospital stay will far exceed any expenses you would incur by buying new tools. I try to warn each of my students about what they shouldn't do but I often see their eyes glaze over when I suggest spending more money than they are willing to part with. My Experience is the reason why I give warnings or advice; I have been there! In truth, I have been very lucky to have many near misses in my Woodturning career but with experience I have gained a lot of knowledge to work as safely as I possibly can. It is worth your time to listen to what I have to say! Takeaway Where possible, buy new tools that have been newly manufactured. You are at least assured of their history. Why not second hand? You can of course buy second hand tools but inspect them to make sure The tool looks to be straight and in line with the handle The Tang is inserted into the handle with no gaps The Brass Ferrule is fully intact and not cracked or chipped The handle is not cracked where it meets the steel tang. The condition of the steel and the shape of the grounded cutting edge should tell you if the tool was looked after or not and by someone who knew what they were doing. Scuffs and scratches are cosmetic and don't indicate ill-treatment. My own tools are well marked at this stage and I do take care of them. Damaged tools with any of the issues in the bullet points above would be immediately taken out of circulation. FYI; I sell a range of Hamlet Tools here if you want to buy excellent quality Woodturning Chisels. Buy good quality and you only buy once! Thanks for reading and be safe on the Lathe, David

Starting out on your journey to become a Woodturner is an amazing time of discovery and insight, yet slightly tainted by the sheer quantity of Lathes on the market and the amount of Tools, Chucks, Grinders and accessories you may have to buy to get the best results out of your time. With so much money needed to be spread around, you might be tempted to take an easy shortcut or two and buy something that sounds too good to be true. Yes, I am indeed referring to the Woodturning Chisel Sets that are commonly available on the market today. OP Note; I originally wrote this in 2023 and after reading over it in January, I find the same thoughts are relevant for 2024. Woodturning Chisel Sets I am just generalizing based on experience here so please don't get mad at me if you are a Tool making company. From teaching, I see students come to me with all sorts of tools both from major brands and cheap crap that shouldn't be left near a Lathe. I believe I've seen enough to be somewhat of an authority on the subject. The major brands all have these sets as part of their product ranges but you also get the mass produced sets with cheap wooden handles and inferior steel. I'm not going to name any company here, that would not be fair. I just find there is a common theme running through all these sets. The major brands will have good quality tools in them and while the tools may be useful for a while they are not the ones you should be going for in my opinion. I'm not trying to knock the major brands here, sometimes a box set is just what you need as a quick gift for a Woodturner. No Woodturner, myself included; would be disappointed to receive such a gift. They or you can always reshape the tools into something else that will be useful in the Workshop. The Box Sets normally come with 6 to 8 Chisels for Spindle Turning and may or may not contain a basic Bowl Gouge. STOP! I constantly warn my students away from buying these sets or using sets of tools that come with some lathes. Why do I not advise buying these sets? You will probably use 2 or 3 of these tools and the rest will sit in the box, unused and wasted. The ones you use from the set may be smaller than what you probably should be using. In other words and for example, the box will contain a lighter version of a Spindle Roughing Gouge when you should be using the more versatile and stronger 3/4'', like the one I list below. I also sell 1/2'' Roughing Gouges by the way 1/2 inch Spindle Roughing Gouge HCT063 and also the larger Inch and a Quarter Spindle Roughing Gouge HCT065 The Box Sets are cheaper to buy and you may be tempted to go ahead anyway regardless of my advice. Please don't. You are free to choose of course but why not listen to someone with more experience? I personally recommend buying the tools separately, getting the right ones and spending more. Most Spindle Turning Tools retail in the €30 to €50 range each, so how can some sets be selling for around €100 or so with 6 to 8 tools in a presentation box? Does that sound right to you? I'm a firm believer in paying the larger amount for the right tool, thus buying once and having a decent tool to work with. Before I go any further, I should add a disclaimer here that not all Woodturning Chisel Box Sets are made the same, some companies may be able to put out less expensive products without skimping on quality. I have not seen or used every Box Set out there so I cannot say for certain that you will not find an excellent one yourself. I do know however for a fact, about the quality of the Tools I sell by using them everyday myself on a variety of different projects and differing wood types. Recommendations So what do I Recommend? Buy the tools individually and buy the ones that will be used everyday. I normally tell students to buy 6 tools for Spindle Turning ( see image below) and then 3 more for Bowl Turning. So that's 9 tools only, that you need to buy in total if you want to do Spindles and Bowls. Of course, this is only to get you started. Later on, you will buy more tools to expand your collection and increase the amount of projects that you can take on. I sell Hamlet Woodturning Spindle Tools because they are excellent and after using some of the other brands they have become my weapons of choice. The 6 Tools in the picture below are currently priced around €273 Total. You don't have to buy them all at once, spread the cost to make it easier for yourself if you'd like. You could do a lot by buying the HCT064, GL7 and HCT092 first and going from there. I use these 6 tools every single day when turning so I know I am getting great value from them. You can buy the same ones and be happy in the knowledge that you will use them too. Tools for Spindle Turners Hamlet HCT064 3/4 Inch Spindle Roughing Gouge An extremely versatile tool that you will use everyday for Spindle Turning only. There are smaller versions and larger versions but this is great for large or small pieces. If you present the tool at a 45 degree angle to the workpiece you can achieve a very fine finish. I currently have 7 of these for use by myself and my students. You can buy the Hamlet HCT064 3/4 Inch Spindle Roughing Gouge here Hamlet HCT101 3/4 Inch Standard Skew Chisel The Skew Chisel is a tough tool to master for planing cuts and curved surfaces and many Woodturners shy away from it. It is a great tool for forming V Cuts and cleaning up endgrain so is a must to buy. I use this for great effect on my Hanging Ornaments and Ring Holders all the time. You can buy the Hamlet HCT101 3/4 Inch Standard Skew Chisel here Hamlet GL7 1/2 Inch Spindle Gouge This tool is my go-to tool for all my Spindle work. It is small enough to get in to small areas yet the steel is thick enough to limit vibration. There is a 3/8 version for getting into narrower spaces, I also sell this in my shop. You can buy the Hamlet GL7 1/2 Inch Spindle Gouge here Hamlet 3/16 Inch Diamond Parting Tool HCT092 This Diamond Parting Tool is great for plunging kerfs. It's shape cuts down on friction as the tool cuts deeper into the wood. At about 5mm wide, the tool gets into tight spaces and the narrow width means less material to push through. You can add to your collection later by buying the narrower HCT090 which is ideal for box making or narrower spaces. You can buy the HCT092 Diamond Parting Tool here Hamlet 3/8 Inch Parting and Beading Tool HCT095 Ideal tool for quickly creating depth cuts in spindles. Used carefully and with enough practice, it can also be used to roll perfect beads on Spindles. I mostly use this tool for quickly reducing material on my Hanging Ornaments so it is used all the time to great effect. You can buy the Hamlet 3/8 Inch Parting and Beading Tool HCT095 here Hamlet HCT44GL 3/4 Inch Diamond Point Scraper I use this tool for forming dovetails on my Spindle work and also my Bowls. It is shaped to the 77 degree angle that my Vicmarc Jaws require. If you are using another Chuck brand, you can reshape this tool to suit. Can also be used to form rough V Cuts. This tool cuts with a raised burr and must be sharpened often. You can buy the Hamlet HCT44GL 3/4 Inch Diamond Point Scraper here So that's it for starters. 6 Spindle Turning Tools that will last you for the rest of your life if treated properly. Of course, if you turn more frequently you may have to buy some of these tools again in a few years as they shorten due to repeated sharpening. If you are interested, you can check out this blog post on Sharpening a Spindle Roughing Gouge here It mentions the Sharpening stations and CBN Wheels which I am fond of using these days. What about Bowl Turning? I don't currently stock Bowl Turning Gouges as I am primarily a Spindle Turner but I can share information about what Tools I use when I turn Bowls. I have turned enough Bowls at this stage to know what I am talking about. OP Update Note Dec 2023: I now stock a range of 4 Hamlet Bowl Gouges with the parabolic Masterflute shape. They are more expensive than ordinary profiled Bowl Gouges but are easier to sharpen and maintain which any Woodturner will tell you is vital. Don't worry about the extra few Euro, you won't notice over the lifetime of the tool. I will leave the next few paragraphs as originally written. The Hamlet Glenn Lucas range are great tools! I originally bought the Glenn Lucas Signature Hamlet range and I have stuck with these ever since. I find Signature Tool ranges to be a little or a lot beefier that the standard tools and I am willing to pay more for this difference. There are currently 4 Woodturner Signature Tool ranges available from Hamlet. I have stuck with Glenn's range as it is more extensive than the others and it's nice to support someone I know. I don't have product shots of these and there's not much point in taking pictures of my tools which are well worn at this stage. The names are sufficient for you to go shopping for now. Hamlet GL4 – ⅝” bar ∅ bowl gouge For rough shaping of wet or dry bowls & for refining. 16″ handle. This gouge is profiled with a parabolic flute which is the only flute profile you will find on any of my bowl gouges. Far easier to sharpen than the V or U shaped gouges on the market. This gouge will bring a bowl blank quickly to shape. It is sharpened to a 55 degree bevel angle. Hamlet GL5 – ½” bar ∅ bowl gouge For refining and for finishing cuts. 16″ handle. Used for finer cuts inside and out of a bowl sharpened to a 45 degree angle. This will achieve a better finish than the ⅝” bowl gouge (GL4) but won’t reach the bottom interior of a bowl. The ½” bowl gouge picks up where this tool cannot reach. Hamlet GL6 5/8'' Bar ∅ Bottom Bowl Gouge For finishing cuts on the interior bottom of the bowl. 16″ handle. This tool is sharpened with one purpose only and that is the fine finishing of the bottom interior of a bowl. It gives a clean polished finished in the hands of an experienced turner. These are fine tools for Bowl Turning and can be bought in Ireland, just google the titles above. Glenn Lucas sells these via his website so have a look if you are looking to buy! Takeaway If you have read this Blog Post right through to the end, you should have enough information to go forward and buy your first set. If you still go on to buy cheaper tools then you will almost certainly be buying again in the future when you learn first hand of their inadequacies. A few of my students went down the cheaper path even after my warnings, I haven't seen much of them since to be honest. Lastly my hope is that you do take my advice; buy once and buy the proper gear for the trade no matter how expensive you think it is. Quite often, there may be only €5 to €10 of a price difference between rubbish and quality tools so choose carefully. Happy Turning, maybe I will see you in my Workshop for a lesson one of these days. Until then, Happy Shopping and Safe Turning! David

Now you can spruce up your craft and gift wrapping projects with a festive touch—3D and 2D Christmas stickers! Get ready for the holiday season with a large collection of Christmas stickers now on sale online in Ireland. Create beautiful decorations, personalized gifts, or unique cards to wish your loved ones a happy Christmas. Christmas Stickers are a surprisingly good way of embellishing gifts, changing the look of a Handmade Card and even make great Stocking Filler Gifts for small children that don't cost too much at all. Since bringing these into my website I have used them myself to bulk up gifts. Costing under €4 in most cases these are fantastic value. Let me take you through a few of the various types. The Santa Clauses These 3D Santa Clause sticker versions speak for themselves really. What says Christmas more than an image of old saint Nick himself. From traditional Santa Claus to the Nordic Santa. Each of these sticker packs contain a different quantity of stickers. Check out the Christmas Stickers page here The Gifts Perfect 3D stickers for adding representations of gifts to handmade cards. There really is no way to describe what you can do with these stickers, the possibilities are limited only to your imagination. Check out the Christmas Stickers page here The Snowmen, Polar Bears and Penguins These 3D Christmas stickers are great fun and instantly recognizable to everyone. Perfect for adding Christmas Festive Cheer! What will you make out of them? Check out the Christmas Stickers page here And there's More! To suit every embellishing need you might have, the rest of the 3D Christmas Sticker range. Check out the Christmas Stickers page here Finally, 1D Christmas Stickers When you require a little simpler, 1 Dimensional design; these sticker packs will easily fit your needs. Check out the Christmas Stickers page here Takeaway Don't let yourself be stuck at Christmas time. Order some of these very affordable Christmas Sticker sets and be prepared for any Festive Craft Project or have some great small gifts for kids. Check out the Christmas Stickers page here

Video below; One of the first go-to tools you will use as a Woodturner is the unfairly named Spindle Roughing Gouge. Why unfairly named? Due to the term 'Roughing', many people assume that this tool is only used for hogging out material but in the right hands, at the right presentation angle this tool is capable of making very fine cuts on spindle work which can reduce sanding time significantly. I want to share with you a few handy tips to keep your Roughing Gouge in top shape! These are often overlooked by new Woodturners and can affect the tool performance. Please read on. Spindle Roughing Gouge Safety Message For new Woodturners, never, ever, ever, ever use a Spindle Roughing Gouge on a Platter or Bowl!! You will end up hurting yourself, possibly very badly and you will almost certainly break the tool at the tang and quite possibly the lathe tool rest too. This tool is designed for cutting across grain between centres only!! Bowls and Platters are oriented differently and the tool is not shaped to safely make these cuts. Important to Have Sharp Tools Having sharp tools is essential for safe, productive and fun Woodturning. There is nothing worse than a blunt tool so always sharpen before the tool edge is gone! A good rule of thumb is to give the tool a quick edge before you start your day's Turning session and if you are doing a lot of work give a quick re-sharpen at some stage. You will learn after a bit of experience when a tool is not cutting as it should. Spend money and get a decent sharpening system before you go off buying other accessories for your Lathe. You will be grateful you did in the long term. Many of my students want to skip the sharpening system stage or go and buy something really cheap with a crap motor and bad sharpening stone. I don't have to ask those Students later if they made the right choice, I know they didn't. Clean the flute first. This is often overlooked by novice Woodturners. My preferred method is a quick rub with used fine grit sandpaper which will quickly clean up any resin or debris on the inside of the flute allowing you to create a clean cutting edge at the tip of the tool. Aesthetically, it also shines the inside of the flute too making it look like new. I normally use a small piece of used 320 grit sandpaper from my Spindle Turning pieces which will scratch the tool surface much less than fresh sandpaper. 1,000 grit or higher wet/dry sandpaper can be used too but will struggle against any kind of residue. First try the used 320 grit and then use a high grit wet/dry sandpaper if you like to create a high shine. To finish off the tool after sharpening, I find wiping the tool with a small bit of Furniture Polish with Beeswax will clean up the entire tool, steel and wood handle inclusive. This is also beneficial if the tool has become sticky or greasy from use. I normally spray the polish onto a flat kitchen tissue, wipe all over the tool and then use the dry side to buff the polished surface. Correct angle Spindle Roughing Gouges are typically angled between 35-44 degrees with 35 degrees being a very aggressive cutting edge and 44 degrees being less so. The reason I sharpen to 44 degrees is simply because I got used to that angle some time ago. I also favour a lower than normal Tool Rest height which works well with this angle. This allows me to Turn with the tool at a more comfortable lower angle with my arm in a very strong position against any kicks or catches. For my students, this is also a much safer way to hold the tool while learning. For newbies, you can continue to follow the factory edge of the tool when sharpening although the factory will be slightly different to most sharpening jigs on the market today. Watch the video below for sharpening tips. I am new to video making as you can probably tell. I don't like being in the camera frame at all, maybe that will change over time but for now I find it easier to hear my mistakes rather than see and hear them :) My plan is to produce a video for each tool that I commonly use, hopefully people will watch them and hopefully learn something new. A few Points of Mention; It's hard when you don't work with a script so I probably glossed over a few things in the video above. You shouldn't remove grinder guards, especially if you are using stone wheels. Stone could conceivably shatter during operation due to manufacturing defect, transportation damage or user error during installation or during sharpening operation. The CBN wheels shown are solid steel with ceramic electroplated onto the surface so very low danger during operation. I say low danger instead of absolutely safe because nothing is ever 100% safe. As mentioned in the video, students are not allowed touch the machine and I alone operate it. A face shield or decent safety glasses are always worn when I use the grinder. The Sharpening Angle Jig The Sharpening Angle Jig is very easy to make and the same principal can be used for other tools like Parting Tools, Skew Chisels and Negative Rake Tools etc. All you need is the correct angle or angle you are comfortable with, a piece of waste wood and you can save loads of time throughout your Turning Career or hobby. Always write the tool name on the piece of wood when you are finished and add a hanging hole to keep it at your sharpening station. When you have multiples of every tool like I have, sharpening is a dream to replicate. Wolverine System The Wolverine System is something you should invest in as soon as possible. It is the best platform on the market to my knowledge but I have come across cheaper homemade versions. I even bought a DIY version on eBay but eventually splashed out on the Wolverine System which turned out to be far superior. My philosophy these days is to buy the legit brand even if you can save a few Euro by making one yourself or buying a knock-off. In the long run, it works out cheaper. I bought a second Wolverine set so I could have a 2nd flat platform. As I own 2 grinders, the extra parts won't go to waste. The platform can actually be bought separately but became rare during Covid restrictions. You can buy the Tormek attachments quite cheaply too. Due to Brexit complications, I chose to go to Dictum in Germany to buy what I needed. Takeaway Look after your tools, keep them clean and sharp. Sharp tools are far safer to use and make Woodturning much more enjoyable. I wish someone had made me listen and understand that advice when I started Woodturning, it would have saved me no end of grief and I might have been much further along in skill level than I am today. FYI; I sell a range of Hamlet Woodturning Tools here in Ireland. I also have a brief video on CBN wheels if you are interested. Please help me out and watch both videos to the end. Please subscribe too if you can. Thank you in advance, David

For anyone finding this blog post out of the blue while looking to buy Satin Ribbon Bows, it's not an accident, I do in fact have many varieties of Bows for sale. I sell the full range of Italian Options Satin Bows in 3cm and 5cm and I have access to their full catalogue if needs be. If you read on you might be interested in why it came to be and what I have to offer. Insider Knowledge; I have owned and operated my own craft business for about 8 years at the time of writing. My business started with a definite model but has meandered and side-stepped and changed throughout all that time. Why? The market conditions have moved constantly and I have had to move with it or face closure. My original business model was supposed to be 20% Woodcraft and 80% online retail but I had such a good time learning the Woodcraft side of things that I almost gave up on the retail part. Woodcraft ended up near 90% of my business but I am steadily going back to my original business plan. 2 years of Covid restrictions followed by a year of high inflation and price rises has set new challenges for my small business and each week seems to present new difficulties. I struggle on with resolve! My Craft Supplies Business I started making Wood Turned Hanging Ornaments in 2016 which required the use of Satin Ribbon to hang the Ornaments. I messed around with a few brands until I discovered Italian Options and I was so impressed with their ribbon quality over others that I eventually applied for an account with them. From then onward, I have been slowly building my inventory and expanding my range. It takes time when you are on your own and everything has to be done manually. With each new product launch I gain new customers. I find that some of my customers like to deal with me because like them, I am also in a Craft business. 3cm Satin Ribbon Bows Once I had the full range of 3mm Satin ribbon, I decided to branch out and buy some 3cm bows too. I initially split the early purchases into packs of 10 to make it more affordable but I have in recent times added full sealed packs of 100 pieces. These 3cm Bows are not self adhesive and require sticky foam pads which I also sell. You can also glue the on yourself depending on your needs. Manufactured using 6mm ribbon. Each bow measures approximately 3cm wide with a 2cm tail length. They can liven up a simple 3mm or 6mm Ribbon or add a fun detail to Card Making projects. I have the full range of over 40 colours in stock at very affordable prices and you can check out the Full Range of 3cm Satin Ribbon Bows Here 5cm Satin Ribbon Bows Over time I started adding 5cm Bows to my website. The 5cm Satin Ribbon Bows add a more elegant touch to Craft Projects, Party or Wedding Favours or Gift Packaging. After a while I realized that I would have to carry the full range of colours if I was going to get anywhere with existing customers, new customers and Google. The 5cm Bows are much fancier than the smaller 3cm ones Bows and are made from 16mm double sided satin ribbon produced to OEKO-TEX Standard 100 specification. They are also self adhesive and I'm told the adhesive is very good once stuck properly on something. I now have the full range of over 40 colours in stock at very affordable prices and Full Range of 5cm Satin Ribbon Bows Here Christmas Tartan Bows Not happy just carrying small Satin Bows I expanded the range a few years ago to include Tartan Bows for Christmas or Scottish Themes. Growing up, we always had Tartan around my Grandparent's house so I guess it left an impression on me. Tartan is a busy & warm material look and perfect for Christmas time. I have the full range of Tartan Bows now and I am building up quantities with each sale I make. Everything I have in stock is at very affordable prices and you can check out the Full Range of Christmas Ribbon Bows here Christmas Satin Bows During 2022 I noticed a new range of Bows appear on the Italian Options range. Christmas Satin Bows in 5cm and 10cm sizes. I new they were going to be popular so I added them as soon as I could. Take a look at the pictures below and you will see what I mean. Very affordable Bows, instantly changing the look of your Project, Gift or Favour and they can be seen at this link Full Range of Christmas Ribbon Bows here Continued Below New Types of Bows At the start of 2023 I am starting to add more types of Bows to my website. 5cm Grosgrain Bows and 10cm Satin Ribbon Bows are the newest additions. I have brought in 5 colours of each type for now and will take requests for backorders as they come in. It may be the case like before, where I will have to buy at least one of each colour for each range to see if it is worthwhile building the whole collection. Buying unknown is quite expensive especially with Brexit related charges. Check out the New range of Large Ribbon Bows here Takeaway I am only a small business and I frequently buy new stock out of my own pocket as borrowing can be too much of a hassle, especially when business funds are lower than one would like. Every sale I make is very important to me so I tend to go the extra mile even when not required. As an online shopper myself, I have experienced every type of service and behaviour by staff of businesses I have purchased from and I have used this gained knowledge perspective in my own business. This has allowed me to gain and keep new customers over the last few years by providing quick, efficient service and I hope this trend continues. If you are looking to buy some Craft Supplies in Ireland, I am here to help. If I don't have something, just ask and I will tell you whether I can get it or not. Looking forward to doing business with you in the future. David

SEO was a big mystery for me before I started looking into it and got serious about improving my website performance. I have a Wix Website and the SEO Titles consisted of a brief page description | Website name | Location. or in reality eg; Home | David Condon Woodcraft | Tralee Wix suggested that every web page would be done the exact same way which didn't exactly make sense. After loads of reading and so many differing opinions I finally came up with my own way of doing it. Or in reality, a more streamlined and easy to understand way of looking after SEO. What I aim to do here is give you a very quick introduction to SEO so you can get started. Nothing too complicated, even a novice can do it. All you need is access to your website editor and to figure out where the options are to edit the SEO basics. Once you have the basic grasp of it, there are plenty of tools and articles to help you improve but that's for further down the road. If you are already familiar with SEO, you could probably skip this blog post and read one of my other posts instead ha-ha. What Advice out there is correct? I used many free tools to scan my webpages, I won't go into the names right now as there are many free and many paid websites to choose from. A lot of the blogs I read suggested a limit to the characters in the Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions but they all differed from each other. 80 characters, 70, characters, 60 characters etc. It may have been because those Blog Posts were written at different times and years when Google had set out its preferences for that particular year. Currently the limit for Meta Titles is 60 Characters and the Meta description is 160. Keep within those limits and you will stay on the good side of Google. Sometimes less is better, 50 characters and 2 Meta Titles will do the job. From a basic Google search of your website on a PC you will see if you have too much. Keeping within the limits also looks better with no words cut off. Always view it from the point of view of a prospective customer. The following pictures show the basics of SEO, explained below. Gallery Screengrabs Explained I'm going to use my own website homepage as an example to help you here. Click on the images to expand them after you read the following paragraphs. The red line on the right in picture 1 indicates the Meta Titles and the Yellow line indicates the Meta Description. I was using Bing to take the picture, chrome and Firefox have different versions of this but the same rules apply. Underneath are the webpages that Bing has chosen to feature. Again, all browsers are different and will display what they want to display. In the second picture above I hovered over the window tab in the browser with a mouse and it showed the Meta Titles and domain of the webpage. This disappears when you move the mouse away. You can do this for every website and webpage out there and it's a great way to see how websites structure their Meta Titles. This can give you an insight into which keywords you should be using based on competitors webpages. Try it now! The 3rd picture shows the main paragraph on the linked page. Your Meta Titles should be repeated naturally in the Meta Description and those keywords should be found naturally in the first paragraph of your linked webpage. Also make sure that you have a H1 Header Title using some of those keywords too. These 4 things tell Google that your page is relevant and accurate based on what you've typed. It also helps to have images with descriptions on your page that also link to your Meta Title and Description. For example, I might have a picture of some woodturning activity and the image Title would be woodturning-classes-in tralee.jpg I would also add Caption, Description text and try to the photos and use some of the keywords I'd like to rank for. This has the added benefit of Google showing your picture in image searches. Anyway, moving on. From the images above you can tell that I have tried to remain consistent. I have edited these several times as my website has changed and I have tried to grab better and more relevant keywords. Have a play around with your webpages to make a similar structure. I have strayed a bit from my original keywords recently but my homepage is well indexed at this stage and features well on Google. Tools for SEO There are so many tools out there that promise the sun, moon & stars and most of them tell you that there is something wrong with your website. Many will tell you something different with each scan. Most require that you register first which is probably fair since you are using their services. Gimmicks to get you using their tools mostly although it is possible that there is something wrong with your website. I use multiple tools at all times and the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. I am going to pick 3 webtools here which I have used and which have been helpful. I am not going to grade or review them, all 3 have their pros and cons and it is up to you to choose what you want to use going forward. I should add that I still use them for quick references. Google is free 24/7/365 advertising for your business so it is worth paying for an SEO optimizer tool if you are really serious about your business. Free will only get you so far! Ubersuggest You have to register first to use it, it has some good tools that go beyond SEO stuff. I bought a lifetime membership around Christmas, the price and time was right and the tools are good. Neil Patel, the owner; has plenty of YouTube videos that you can watch too. DIIB You have to register for free site check, has some helpful insights. I felt the pricing was a bit unclear and each product fix led you down a rabbit hole of text which outlined what you should do. I does give you a quick overview analysis of your website which is a handy reference. Sitecheckerpro You have to register for free site check. I found this site gave some new helpful tips and insights on my website. It goes beyond most SEO tools and can be quite good to use. My one gripe with all of these tools is they don't seem to differentiate between regular website pages and product pages. They often tell you that you don't have enough text on a page, then that there is too much, meta titles too long or too short, etc etc ad nauseum. I suspect that they give you so much so that you will book in a face to face (over internet) paid meeting to discuss your strategy. Takeaway If you have found this post and you are a complete newbie, the screenshots above and the explanation below them will be very helpful to you. It certainly helped me and I spent a few glorious days changing my entire website. Just make sure that your Title, Meta Description and Page Paragraphs are relevant to each other as much as possible. Be warned, SEO is a long and winding road and every time Google does an update, certain things may change. It is not too difficult to do a lot of SEO work yourself without paying an SEO Expert to do it for you but at some stage you may feel that would be worth the money investment. Google won't find your changes straightaway and it could take a month before discovering that you have changed something. You could always ask Google to re-index your webpage using Google Search Console so that the new changes can be picked up as soon as possible. This still takes a few days though so be patient. I've also noticed that sometimes Google doesn't update the requested changes to Meta Titles. Based on what you have supplied in the Title, Description and page, the Google algorithm may change your Title to something that Google feels is more appropriate and accurate. My advice going forward is to open a new browser with your webpage and then open 3 competitor websites. See how they structure their SEO and then go from there. It's easy once you start, just take that first step! Good luck on your SEO journey!

I have been in business for nearly 8 years and one of the main problems I had when I started my craft business was the sourcing of high quality products that would enhance the finished pieces I was making. Early on, I started making Hardwood Hanging Ornaments as Christmas Tree decorations and I discovered there was a lack of affordable, quality satin ribbon around Ireland. At least it wasn't very apparent what Quality was and what Brand was leading the way. Many retailers were selling ribbon by the meter which is an expensive way of buying ribbon. I ended up buying some ribbon from the US which were only available in 10 foot lengths on cardboard reels and they were a bit expensive I have to say. While on holiday in the US I managed to find the same brand reels and I bought a good few to keep me going. The quality of these ribbons were good but not great and I kept a constant eye out for a better product. I managed with these for a while but they did nothing for my products. Ordinary people might not know the difference but I sure did. Buying Satin Ribbon in Ireland Eventually, I discovered the Italian Options Satin Ribbon range, nearly by accident. I took a chance and ordered from 2 different Irish sellers not knowing they were the same brand and the same size ribbons. The quality was there, finally and over 40 different colours to choose from. Unfortunately, both of these sellers sold mostly on backorder with about 7 to 10 business day turnaround. Italian Options is a UK based company which means a bit of a delay between ordering from an Irish website and the company dispatching from the UK to arrive at the Irish sellers place of business and then shipped on to me. This of course was before Brexit and all the resultant Customs issues and delays! One of these sellers decided to change their business model after a while and stopped selling ribbon altogether. This, together with the backorder issues pushed me to contact Italians Options directly. If you can't wait to get to the stock, simply go to my Satin Ribbon page and you will see the links to all the individual pages. Please feel free to read on a bit if you have time! I dislike backorders and drop shipping I dislike businesses who advertise products as in stock when they are in fact out of stock and available for backorder so I tend not to do business with those websites for very long. I also found that when ordering so called 'in stock items', that they could only fill half of my order and I still had to wait for the backorders for the remainder. Over time I needed higher quantities of Satin Ribbon without delays so I made a direct approach to the company to become a reseller. Wait, you're a Woodturner? If you had ever wondered why a Woodturner would be selling Satin Ribbon, the above paragraphs are the reasons why. I sometimes wonder about the people who find my website after a Google search and realise what I do for a living and what they must be thinking. It was probably the last thing I ever thought I would be selling but here I am. Fast forward a few years and I now have a few steady crafters buying from me. That didn't happen overnight, it took a long while to build up the customer base. This is not a get rich quick scheme, just another arm of my business enterprise. It is a pity though, that Ireland is such a small market, I'd love to be selling more. Why Buy from me? I take great pride in the running of my website, accurate & honest quantities and very quick shipping turnaround. As I mentioned before, I can't stand backordering or dropshipping so when I say there are 3 items in stock, there are 3 in stock. Red Faced Disclaimer; Sometimes however, I will add a backorder option for certain products like when I am adding a product for the first time and am unsure if I will be going ahead with that product line. I generally add a note explaining this. If in doubt, you can always ask me through the site Contact page. Actual Shipping Time When I send out the shipping confirmation email, it means your package is actually in the GLS Couriers Office waiting to be scanned onto the truck around 6pm that day. Years of online shopping has taught me that when many companies say 'your order has been dispatched', it is actually sitting in a postal bin waiting to go out and not actually on its way to you. For me, if I say it's on the way, it's on the way! Fast, honest shipping is one the reasons I have attracted and maintained customers over the last few years. Where do I go to buy from you? Simply go to my Satin Ribbon page and you will see the links to all the individual pages. If you managed to make it to the end of this Blog Post, I thank you for your patience. I'm not a great writer but I do try to make my Posts flow a bit so that they are not too torturous to read. There are more posts you may find interesting.......Thanks for reading, David

I'll start this by saying that this post applies to tourists coming to Ireland on vacation/holiday and to our own 'staycationers' who are brave enough to stay in their own country for their holidays. Of course if you happen to be in or around Kerry on any particular normal day then this applies to you too. Looking for something to do in Ireland? Are you specifically looking for something to do in Ireland this year or even next year if are planning really far ahead? We've all been on holidays/vacation before and done the hotel thing, the beach thing and the sightseeing thing. The same old drudgery with the same predictable results. Long drives sightseeing, drinks in the hotel, Dinner and then bed, sound familiar? I should mention that it rains in Ireland from time to time and you might need some indoor entertainment to keep you occupied. Hotels are real boring places on rainy days. I've been there, I know! Airbnb Experiences are what now? With the introduction of Airbnb worldwide and also more recently Airbnb Experiences the landscape is changing and tourists are now discovering that they can do something unique while on holidays and far removed from the old status quo holiday activities. There are things to do in Ireland that even I in my life experience so far have never before considered. Search 'Airbnb Experiences Kerry' to see what I mean. My Woodturning Experiences are perfect for those who wish to diverge from the road most travelled. I currently offer 3 Experiences to suit all budgets and give you a different flavour of what I do. I'll give a brief outline here below and you can go and check out the linked listings for more info if your interest is piqued. Do one of the Experiences in the morning and the day is still yours to do what you want. Woodturning Experiences Option 1) The 'Try it Out Experience' The least expensive one, where you get to turn a cylinder by yourself with my supervision. Time 1.5 hrs approx. Option 2) The 'Ornament Making Experience' This is where you get to sand, colour, seal, wax embellish and gloss a hanging ornament that I turn for you. Time 2 hrs approx. Option 3) The previous 2 Experiences Combined. The best of both worlds which runs about 3 hours and is the most expensive version I offer. Time 3 hrs approx with a coffee break! So why would you do any Woodturning or Ornament Making? Why not, I ask you; what have you got to lose? It is something that you may never again do in your lifetime, so why not try it out at least once and in the Workshop of a professional Woodturner where you are bound to get an old insight or two. You're on holidays in Ireland, why not work with a piece of Irish Wood. A piece I might add that you get to take home with you boasting of your new found prowess on a Lathe. Quite often I meet people who don't know what Woodturning is at all. I get some people that think pottery is a close description but I can assure you that the two disciplines are very different. Come to one of my Experiences and I will show you all the behind the scenes bits and pieces. If your partner, husband, wife has an interest in Woodworking then this can be a special surprise during your vacation. I get many couples visiting where it is a complete surprise to the other person and they are amazed by all the machines and tools. The reactions to what they are there for can be quite funny to watch and the Experiences are always enjoyed. I recently made a vertical video for Airbnb, YouTube Shorts & TikTok. Here is the pre-uploaded version but you can watch the YouTube version Ornament Making Experience Video here or the TikTok version of the Ornament Making Experience here Finally For those Tourists that have come to Ireland, your first break since Covid came on the scene; I can only apologize. Hotels and Car Hire companies are actively price gouging and that is having a detrimental effect on all Irish businesses. A small few are doing this with wide far reaching consequences. Hotels have made accommodation extremely difficult again in 2022 by charging ridiculous rates for rooms and that will only come back to bite them and unfortunately the rest of us small business owners next year! The West of Ireland is a great place where you will find many great deals if you shop around a bit. Dublin is very expensive city and you pay a premium on everything so head west or even better still; head south west and end up in Kerry where you will be treated like royalty in the Kingdom! See you soon! David

In a change from my usual blog posts I need to address something that I feel very passionate about. Namely, TV Shows and Movies and their negative decline over the last few years in large part because of social media and online negativity but also by media companies that reboot old shows that were successful and cancel new promising TV Shows because they are too expensive to produce. Stop killing TV Shows and Movies! Watching the latest Star Wars live action series 'The Book of Boba Fett' and reading the complaints online from people has pushed me into action. I've kept quiet for a long time but I can no longer be silent. These complaints could kill this show and make Disney halt or delay any future production of new Star Wars related shows. It has already happened. As well as ordinary members of the public having a go, online journalists are also openly critical of the show and are already speaking as if the show is finished. This negative feedback needs to be checked immediately! Disney may do a 180 like they did with all the planned live action movies and kill this off before it can find it's feet. Social Media Social Media started off as something great. A communication tool for connecting people; a vision of a positive future for all mankind. These days it is far from the lofty ideals it was created for. I personally find it hard to look at any of the SM platforms these days as they are a hive of negativity, Karenisms, narcissism, racism, sexism and any other negative-ism you can think of. You can have a go at any network, producer, director, actor etc. without ever leaving your Parent's basement. Your ego trips have consequences. Cancellations I have seen and owned thousands of movies and hundreds of TV Shows in my life from VHS to Blu Ray so I feel I'm somewhat qualified to comment on this topic. Many times in the past I would get interested in a TV Show only for it to be cancelled way too early. Firefly and Forever are 2 small examples of shows that had a bright future but were summarily cancelled. Back in the day, some shows didn't get a chance because they were listed on a bad night during the week when audiences are otherwise busy. Politics, finances, bad luck, bad timing have affected the run of many other cancelled shows. Recently and most disturbingly, shows are being cancelled or placed on hold due to online reactions. Since when did we give keyboard warriors this much power? The Book of Boba Fett could end up being one of these cancellation victims if people are not careful. Please trust in Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau and give it more time. The First online critics I believe the X Files was the first TV Show to listen to it's fanbase and detractors online and this was great back in the early days of the internet. Media companies using online opinion to guide their product has grown exponentially over the years since but now I believe it has gone too far. Social Media has become a place for millions of unhappy people to vent any old frustration and jump on a bandwagon of negativity towards anything and everything. Companies should take some of this onboard and ignore the vast amount of this negativity. Opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one. Disney Buyout I wasn't exactly happy when Lucasfilm was sold to Disney but George Lucas never asked for my opinion on the matter (LOL). I was excited to see what would happen after they promised to release a Star Wars movie just about every year and multiple new Live Action series. I grew up with Star Wars and from an early age developed an obsession that was shared by most of my friends. George Lucas could and should have expanded the universe himself over the years but alas he did not. The thought of having new Star Wars material every year was like a childhood dream coming true. Maybe Disney got a little too excited themselves after shelling out so much money. Dave and Jon now seem to have a new/old direction to bring Star Wars in and I for one am glad to see it. The Sequels Unfortunately, Disney shit the bed during episode 7, 8 and 9 and the negativity which had been building for a while exploded around the time of the Solo movie. I recently re-watched the sequels again and they are really bad! I had ignored a lot of issues when I saw them upon release. Rewatching again - The plots seemed aimless and made up on the spot and some of the story/action scenes were really bad to say the least. Gravity bombers in space, WTF? It certainly shows the prequels in a much better light. At least George had a consistent story to follow but then again; he wrote it. Consequences Negative reaction has forced Disney to stop moving forward and slow down. I think that they did need to slow down and take stock of what they were producing but the thought of long delays between new movies is now heartbreaking. Rogue One was brilliant even if it had a troubled production and Solo was not bad at all. If people hadn't given out, we would now have had a trilogy exploring Han Solo like never before. Disney now seem to be using the Live Action shows as a launching and rebranding platform. I hope it succeeds and they push forward with new projects soon. Redemption The Mandalorian was a breath of fresh air. It told a compelling tale and stayed true to the Star Wars universe and kept getting better and better as time went on. The action was just right and there was even an element of humour thrown in for good measure. Having showrunners who are passionate Star Wars fans themselves has paid dividends. I can safely say that everyone is excited for season 3 to be released. The Book of Boba Fett My take. It's slow going so far (4 episodes in) but I think I know the direction the showrunners are going. Everyone is giving out that he's become a nice guy but I believe that this will change before the end of season one. I'm kind of hoping that he will become a little ruthless and just starts blasting as the season winds up. You cannot compare this show to the Mandalorian as it's a different flavour of the Star Wars universe. Boba Fett only had a few small lines in the Empire Strikes Back so who's to say what he should be like in this new series? Anyway, good TV Shows take a while to flesh out their characters properly and most TV Shows only reach their stride by the third season. Give it time and stop jumping on the negativity bandwagon people! Takeaway My 2 cents here. 'If you've nothing good to say, then say nothing at all'; that is the way I was raised and it kinda stuck. Your innocent negative comment on a faraway post can have long lasting consequences when joined with hundreds or thousands of others so please think carefully before posting. Positive comments with a little constructive criticism go a lot further than a hissy fit with expletives. 'I like the way you did this but could I suggest......' would be a far better way to go. TV Shows are the modern equivalent of stories around the campfire which have existed since human beings could first communicate. Let them tell the story their way without your interference and just enjoy watching. Turn your brain off for a while and don't join in on those negative posts to be part of the pack. The consequences of all this negativity can be seen in what Hollywood is pumping out these days. Reboots and reimagining's of past TV Shows and Movies that made money before. Do you really want this to continue going forward? Is that what you want?

Please read if you intend to buy one of my bowls. If you are not a Customer of mine and looking for Salad Bowl Care advice you may find this post to be useful too or you may find it enlightening, please keep reading. My bowl turning process has changed so much in the last 5 or 6 years that I now feel I have to explain my current method to customers and tell you why I stopped using my initial methods. In this post I will go back to my early finishing methods. Liquid Paraffin and Danish Oil. Salad Bowl Finish - which one is best? There is no such thing as a perfect salad bowl finish in my view. What is important is what works for your particular bowl and for whichever use you use it for and it is entirely up to you really. Often used and washed, use Liquid Paraffin on its own or a mixture of Liquid Paraffin with Beeswax or you can use Danish Oil for a bit more longevity. You will have to recoat after a bit of use though. If your Bowl is never used for food, use Danish Oil, Hard Wax Oil or any other finish that gives you a more permanent shine. Most finishes are considered food safe once fully cured but to be sure you should use a product tested and certified as Food-Safe. What follows is some of the products I use or have used in my business and some tips about their use. Liquid Paraffin My first bowls were finished with liquid Paraffin (Mineral Oil to US readers) on it's own and the finished bowls would be extremely smooth, free from scratches and rubbing marks and these worked well for a while. The problem was that the Bowls needed the finish to be reapplied several times during the year to keep that look even if the bowl is never washed. When these Bowls were sold in shops this became a big issue. The Bowls would end up looking lifeless after a while and this would be the same if stored in a house. I countered this problem with a heat blended mix of Liquid Paraffin and Beeswax which gave a better and slightly longer lasting finish. There is nothing wrong with these finishes and many Woodturners recommend them due to their ease of application and quick improvement of the look of the wood surface. As a side note, I used to find it very therapeutic to re-apply coats even if it is a bit of a messy process. The Shop Issue My problem with these non permanent finishes was when the Bowl was displayed in a shop setting; the lustre would die fairly quickly due to the amount of people walking around the shop constantly moving air and evaporating the finish. Constant touching would also greatly increase the loss of the Liquid Paraffin finish and also add greasy fingerprints. Eventually the Bowls would look dull & lifeless. Customers would not be so keen to buy the Bowls in that condition so I would end up with unsold Bowls at the end of the season. In a home environment, this would not be too big of a deal at all but in shops your Bowl must look like the Bowl was turned yesterday! Danish Oil I went to one of the shops I supply a few years back to check remaining bowl stock and to drop off a few more new pieces. What greeted me was four dull looking bowls with paw marks and rain water droplet marks all over. I was more than a little upset to see that my carefully created pieces ended up looking like this. No wonder they hadn't sold, I probably would not have bought them myself in that condition. I immediately set about experimenting with more permanent solutions. In comes Rustins Danish Oil which provided a great finish but unfortunately 24 hours between coats. Next I tried Hampshire Sheen Food Safe Danish oil and I ended up going with this due to its easy application and only 20 minute between coat intervals. The Danish Oil needed 3 coats with the final coat rubbed with 2,000 grit while wet with the freshly coated oil and the excess gently wiped away after a few minutes. The Danish Oil made sure that bowls kept their shine even after shop handling although it should be noted that fingerprints are still an issue. No matter what finish you choose, fingerprints are going to be an issue because grease and other substances are always present on human skin. Danish Oil protects the wood because it soaks into the fibers and provides a moisture resistant finish. I need to highlight resistant, not waterproof. More explanation in the Water and Wood section below. Care needs to be used in disposing of the Danish Oil application rags as they create heat as they cure and there is a possibility of spontaneous combustion. Dispose of in a fireplace, not the bin! Water and wood When you use the bowl for food, things start to change. The introduction of water or liquids will change the finish of the bowl if and also when you wash it. The type of detergent you use will also affect the finish. Some detergents contain salt among other things which are abrasive to any finish so try and find something neutral if you can and only use this on wood products. Also, remember a bowl comes from a tree which sole function was to procure and transmit water from the ground to the top of the tree without loss. Wood is dried out completely to stabilize it before it can become something like a salad bowl. You need to be careful how much water you expose the bowl to or it may change shape and or discolour. Check my After Care page if you are unsure of how to treat wood products. Always Looking for Improvement I am constantly looking for great finishes which protect the wood up to the point when a customer buys the product and even better if it is easier to apply when finishing the Bowl. If everything works as planned, the customer is buying the product in the condition I intended it to be sold. I have found a new Hard Wax Oil that gives a great finish and doesn't have some of the roughness that Danish Oil can leave behind once cured. Don't Be Fooled! There is no such thing as a completely waterproof finish on wood and none that would be certified as 100% food-safe. Wood is a natural material and is constantly moving because of moisture in the air or changes in room temperature and this affects the permeability of any finish you apply. Anyone who tells you something is waterproof doesn't know any better or is lying to get you to buy their product. Even if you coat wood with layers of plastic, water would eventually find its way in underneath the finish if you expose the bowl to water. Far better to allow the wood dry naturally and let any water evaporate away. So what happens when you wash a new bowl Ok, if you use a bowl for food and need to wash it you should see the shop bought shine diminish or disappear. This is perfectly normal and happens every wood product that is washed. Wood requires TLC to keep it in good condition. The initial shine is achieved by the Woodturner so that you see the wood for the beautiful material that it is. It is then your responsibility to maintain it to whatever standard you choose. The wood may also roughen up a little as the surface fibres stand up after water exposure, perfectly normal for wood. Check my After Care page if you are unsure of how to treat wood products. New Hard Wax Oil My latest finishing product. If you choose to display the bowl as is, the bowl will look stunning forever and the only thing needed is to give it a wipe with a soft dry cloth or household dry tissue. Keep it away from direct sunlight though or the wood will darken. If you wash the bowl after food soiling then you need to take care of it. Before plastic became common, many items in the kitchen were made of wood, Cutting Boards, Rolling Pins, Bowls etc. and these all developed their own natural roughness and colour without any great care taken. In our modern world we have the ability and products to take care of these things so that they always look their best. This finish is smooth, almost as smooth as I can achieve with Liquid Paraffin. Due to the nature of this finish, application marks may be possible. They will be hard to see but your bowl will be better protected. Check my After Care page if you are unsure of how to treat wood products. Again, if you use water the finish will dull and you may have to recoat with something to keep protecting the wood surface. After Care for you I am currently working on a Liquid Paraffin/Beeswax/Carnauba Wax mixture that I will be able to sell to the public so that you can easily give your wood products a quick rub and buff to restore them to full luster again. This new product would be non permanent but will allow you to easily and safely polish your bowl to make it shine again. Outside of that I sell HS Danish Oil and hope to sell small batches of the new Hard Wax Oil too. Update on mixture; I have decided not to go forward with my own mixture. While the products on their own are food-safe, once I mix them I would probably have to get them re-tested officially before selling commercially. The cost and risk of making the mixture is therefore not worth it. If you are a Woodturner and considering your own mixture, I would advise taking advice before going forward. This stunning bowl is coated with Hard Wax Oil, you can see more salad bowls here. The Business Plug As someone who owns a Craft based business I can tell you that each sale I make is very important and gives me the will to carry on and keep creating beautiful pieces. If you liked the Post, maybe you would consider a small purchase in my online store. No matter how much you spend, you will make a difference in my life....Thank You and thanks for reading! David

Setting the Scene; You've just watched a video on Facebook or YouTube where a Woodturner has turned something, seemingly at great ease. It could be a bowl or a small ornamental piece and it looks so easy. Like a hot knife through butter, the Woodturner glides the Tool across the wood surface peeling away the waste to reveal the beautiful shape underneath. The curly shavings are flying away at speed from the work and it all looks fantastic. Your thoughts... 'I can do that' instantly spring to mind. Following this video, you start searching online for a Lathe, Tools and other accessories through the maze of ads, videos, websites, blogs, vlogs and you are getting nowhere fast. You eventually end up on a site like Donedeal in Ireland and buy a second hand lathe that is in your price range and maybe pick up a few chisels as part of a deal. Ever wonder why the lathe was up for sale in the first place? You have probably made a huge mistake and your Lathe will end up idle after a few weeks. You chose poorly, you bought what you thought was ok and after only a few short weeks Woodturning you are now upset to the point of giving it up completely. The Lathe gathers rust and eventually becomes a place to put allsorts on until it is no longer visible and becomes absent your thoughts entirely. Do the first 2 paragraphs sound familiar? Make sure you Keep Reading Sometimes when you land on a Blog Post about a topic you are interested in, you bounce out and go on following other links because the information you wanted is not in the first paragraph. If you want some good and solid advice about buying a Lathe from a Professional Woodturner & Teacher I would strongly suggest reading until the end. I have been doing this for a long time and I will give you some good pointers so you go in the right direction. If you don't read to the end you will probably make a mistake and buy something unsuitable for your future Woodturning progress. Budget for Buying a Woodturning Lathe Many of my students have had similar experiences to the first 2 paragraphs. I often get asked what is the best way of buying a Woodturning Lathe if the budget is €500. My answer is none. I normally advise people to multiply their budget by 3 to get the machine they probably should be buying. A €500 or less lathe is normally a double bar bed non variable speed lathe and will end up annoying you after a short while. I normally get blanks stares from students when I tell them how much they should spend or how much my machines cost me. If you like Woodturning and are interested in continuing to do it, spend a bit more! If you really like it, spend a lot! In the long term, this approach is much cheaper and you will still be turning wood a year, two years later or more. Buy decent Hand Tools for a start and don't use any tools that come with a Lathe without taking advice from a Professional Woodturner first. Sometimes you can get a good second hand deal from someone who bought the right gear but for various reasons has chosen to give up Woodturning. This is actually quite common; Woodturning requires a lot of commitment of time, money and research. It's not for everyone and if it was easy, the world would be full of Woodturners. It isn't! For anyone choosing to buy right first time, I sell a range of Hamlet Spindle Turning tools here. Excellent quality and should last you a very long time if looked after. I use Hamlet almost exclusively and find their quality to be excellent. You need a Sharpening Station, don't forget! A sharpening station is also a must for Woodturners and should be high up on your initial buying list. Many new Woodturners forget or skimp/skip this vital part of Woodturning. They put it on the long finger and then wonder why turning is so hard. If you can't sharpen your tools on the spot, you can't turn safely or enjoyably! Money spent on a top quality Sharpening System will pay dividends the more experienced you become as a Woodturner. I recommend a slow or half speed grinder from Axminster with at least 1 CBN wheel for starters. I have another blog post that shows this Grinder in action in 2 videos, Sharpening a Spindle Roughing Gouge here if you'd like to check it out after reading this page. My 2 slow speed grinders are below, both have 2 CBN wheels which should last me the rest of my career as a Woodturner. I also have a Tormek T7 and an older Record Power whetstone grinder. I rarely use these anymore, preferring to use the slow speed grinders for their convenience. I used to recommend the Record Power or the Tormek Whetstone Grinders but changed my mind when I saw what some former students were doing to their tools and the stone wheels. I now recommend the Axminster Slow Grinder with a minimum of one White Aluminium Oxide Wheels. Never use the included grey Carborundum wheel on this or any model grinder as it burns High Speed Steel. Get rid of the White Aluminium Oxide Wheels as soon as you can afford to as they are messy and require a lot of maintenance and attention to keep them true. My own early experience Buying Lathes In telling you that you should spend well over €500 on a Lathe, I myself bought a very cheap lathe for around £100 Irish Pounds to start with wand I outgrew it almost straight away. It is from this early mistake that I can advise you. It was a single barrel bed machine and not capable of much to be honest. The Lathe pictured below is the 2nd lathe I bought, a Draper WTL100. The picture was taken long after it was decommissioned and gone rusty. It is now used as a polishing or sanding device with the bed bars long gone. It was purchased for about £400 old Irish pounds and while it did what it was supposed to do ( it spun wood) it had a huge amount of drawbacks. This machine served me fine for about 12 months and then the limitations kicked in. In truth, early issues appeared but my inexperience at the time meant I didn't know any better. You may end up hating woodturning if you buy any of the cheaper models like I did, so buy with proper advice always. I did stop turning for a few years because of the quality of Lathe, Handtools and the lack of proper Tuition so please learn from my experience. Save yourself some time and money, go for a lesson with a Professional Woodturner before you start Turning and get good advice on everything from Lathes to Tools and Accessories. It will be money well spent! Combined Tool Offers There are combined offers online for lathes, handtools, chucks and wet grinders out there. They sound great but there are drawbacks to buying these. These cheap offers will normally be inferior machines with inferior motors and accessories. Most people who continue Turning will end up buying the same equipment again (but better quality brands) down the road so will in effect be buying twice. You might buy the cheap machines with the intention of upgrading later on but from talking to many of my students this rarely happens. They ended up stuck with the machine they bought believing they are still getting value for money when in fact they are struggling to see results they need. A word of warning about these inferior machine motors. These weak motors heat up quite quickly and can get very hot after a few minutes of use. The presence of wood shavings or finish application rags around these motors is a fire risk so be very careful and double check them before you leave your workshop. No point buying a cheap machine only to have it burn down your workshop with all your tools in it. Buying a Lathe I won't advise on the exact model Lathe you should buy in this post as I prefer to show students my 7 Lathes directly and show the pros and cons of each and what you should look out for. It's very hard to give this advice over a Blog Post and give all the relevant information briefly and accurately. Buying a good quality Lathe is incredibly complicated and shouldn't be taken lightly. Seeing the machines working 'in the flesh' makes a huge difference to your opinion of these machines and their functions. I go through all the pros and cons with my students when they attend one of my Tuition Sessions. You can only learn so much from a YouTube video as the person recording is normally sharing from their limited perspective. It's also hard to ask questions to the YouTuber but far easier in person during a class. I currently have catalogues of various Lathe manufacturers and I can point you in the direction of Irish Tool retail companies that will look after you when you are purchasing. Buying Advice, A Little Taste To steer you on the right track, I have a couple of good pointers which I will briefly mention here; A variable speed lathe is a major plus, belt changing for speed is a real inconvenient pain Look for an M33x3.5 Spindle thread, if you get a bigger machine afterwards you can still use your accessories and keep your old Lathe for other uses. Look for a dual cast iron lathe bed, stay away from double round bar bed lathes Pay attention to the weight of the machine, heavier is nearly always better A swivel head lathe is not always a great purchase, some machines are far too light for this function to be safe. Cheaper machines may have inferior motors, these can heat up very quickly and break down. Takeaway One final piece of advice I will leave you with. When starting out in Woodturning be prepared to spend at least €2,000 to €2,500 to get you started with some reasonable equipment. Don't feel bad about spending this much money at one time. You can add small items after that when you can afford to. If you want to buy cheap equipment you won't last long Turning. Many people think they have to buy equipment using cash on hand or what is in their account. Why not take out a small Credit Union loan? Buy the right gear and don't worry about a huge initial outlay. Repay a bit extra every month and you will soon clear the loan. The worst thing you can do as a Woodturner is go in half-hearted or half-asses because you will buy cheap and you will regret that later on. You will not replace these cheap options and will instead probably quit. Woodturning is an expensive hobby but the rewards are worth shelling out good money for if you enjoy what you are doing. Once you are armed with that knowledge, you shouldn't have any problems going forward. These are very small pieces of information I'm sharing now. In truth; I could fill lots of blog posts with all the information I have but that is just not practical. There is a lot more I can share with you so come and attend a Woodturning Session in my workshop in Tralee and ask all the questions you need. Woodturning Tuition in Tralee Happy & Safe Turning!