Learn to Turn is a woodturning book for true beginners. If you've considered trying woodturning—but have been intimidated by other books available on the subject—you'll find artist and author Barry Gross puts the fun back into turning with this approachable and enjoyable guide.

Inside you'll learn:

• How to select the lathe that's right for you
• All about turning tools and how to use them
• Basic woodshop set-up
• The nuts-and-bolts of sharpening, sanding and finishing

8 Step-by-step Projects including:

• Pepper Mill
• Ornamental Birdhouse
• Simple Bowl
• Natural Edge Bowl
• Vessel
• Simple Lidded Box
• and more!

Barry Gross is an expert woodworker and artisan specializing in transforming wood and other media - such as Corian - into art and useful every-day items. He has been named in Who's Who in 2005. Barry is a member of the American Association of Woodturners, the Bucks County Woodturning Association and the Scroll Saw Association of the World. Barry was recently invited to join the prestigious Pen Makers' Guild. His work has been commissioned by DuPont Corporation and can also be seen at Langman Galleries in Philadelphia. Barry Gross is the author of Pen Turner's Workbook and a frequent contributor to Scroll Saw Workshop magazine and Woodturning Design Magazine. He lives in Bensalem, PA.

Learn to Turn is a very good resource for new and not-so-new turners that want to learn the basics the right – and safe- way, the first time. The very reasonable cover price of $14.95 (10-19-2005) can be easily made up in saved wood by learning the information it contains.

I was impressed with this book. It is for the beginning turner, as its title implies, containing excellent straight forward information about many topics of importance to a person interested in woodturning.

What a GREAT book. For $14.95, this is a book I would recommend to a new turner or for a turning instructor as a classroom text. I know my copy will become a well-worn text in my shop.

I am just embarking on teaching woodturning myself and expect to use this book as an excellent resource for my classes and will recommend it to my students for their study. I was initially impressed that Chapter 1 is on Safety.

With each project building on skills learned in former projects, by the time a beginner completes the author's list, he or she would have quite a thorough understanding of turning tools, procedures and necessary fixes.

The subtitle of this book, "A Beginner's Guide to Woodturning From Start to Finish", says it all. Gross's book is a classic example of how best to instruct - clear concise language; topics introduced in a logical and sequential format; critical tasks augmented with clear photos or illustrations; and new terms explained when they are first used.

One of the great strengths of this book is its user-friendly nature, coupled with the fact that, if you follow it in the right order, you'll never be running before you can walk. There is no intimidating jargon, instead there is an approachable and informative style that will put you at ease.

Barry Gross is an accomplished woodturner, with many years of experience in the craft. In his book, Learning To Turn, he states that it is a 'Beginner's Guide To Woodturning From Start To Finish'. In this reviewers opinion he has done a very thorough job of covering all aspects of the basics of woodturning with excellent use of photographs to completely guide the beginner. In my experience, learning to reverse a turning from end-to-end in a four-jaw-chuck without some precautions to avoid scaring the finished portion of the vessel takes more precaution and guidelines than the glossed over coverage in the book. In all other portions of the book, I thought the author did an excellent job of covering the necessary details to guide the beginning turner, along with giving good guidelines for the more experienced turner as well.

I recommend this book with reservation. I feel there was almost too much information to the uninitiated turner, which I assume this book is for. Overall, I would recommend this book for someone who has had one or two introductory classes to turning. But I really did think it was well done and a good resource for a beginner turner.

Excellent reading for the beginning wood turner, a good review for the experienced turner, and a book that I would recommend for all woodturning club libraries. This book closes with a very useful troubleshooting section, company resources, and a glossary of useful terms.

If there is a redeeming feature of the book it is the nicely illustrated step-by-step description of projects, especially the spindle turning projects. What is missing for the beginner is the essence of how to turn wood or the basic use of the tools.

As a novice woodturner, I found the description of tools and workspace insightful, as was the section on wood choice. The tool sharpening section was extremely helpful and the projects varied to suit a wide variety of possibilities and capabilities.

With some creativity, practice, and the guidance of this excellent book, novice turners will successfully gain the proper techniques and safety necessary for years of enjoyable turning.

Overall, an excellent book for beginning turners.