Oregon Woodturner Harvey Bower Gives Advice to Beginners

Just as an artist brings a canvas to life with bold colors, Harvey Bower brings blocks of wood to life, turning them into decorative forms and shapes on a lathe.

At the time of this 2015 article, Bower was a professional woodturner in the historic gold rush town of Jacksonville, Oregon, in a valley beneath the Siskiyou Mountains. He works in a small converted garage that was once a dentist’s office.

He coaxes beauty out of wood and often gives his creations to the community, from burial urns to spindles for stair railings to commemorative gavels. He uses his skill to help restore the town’s antique homes, provides elegant pieces for the town’s fundraising auctions, and donates ornamental vessels to college galleries.

The magic begins in Bower’s shop, a model of efficiency. Every bit of space is used. Tools line the walls. Wood chunks, finishing supplies, waxes, and oils fill the cabinets. A lathe and other equipment take up the floor. Even the rafters hold stacks of wood.

“Think of a single-car garage, something that would fit a Model T. Then cut the length in half. That’s the size of my woodturning shop. The other half is used for storing wood,” Bower says.

“Because it’s such a small area, everything I need is within reaching distance. I can turn around and pick the tools right off the wall. So I don’t have to walk across a big room to change tools.”

“When you’re turning, you’re forever changing tools. You may have 10 seconds on this one before you switch to another that works better. I’m constantly switching tools back and forth all the time. If a tool is too far away and you don’t grab it, then you start to make do. And that’s not good,” he explains.

Bower’s work grows out of his fascination with wood: the way it feels, its sweet aroma when freshly cut, and the warmth and wild beauty of its colors. He once worked as a wood carver but switched to woodturning because he found the turning process immediate and deeply satisfying.

“Nothing Beats a Good Tool.”

Bower will be the first to tell you that to succeed at woodturning, you first need a passion for wood. Next, you need to master basic woodturning skills, which takes practice and patience. And finally, you need the right tools.

“Nothing beats a good tool,” he says.

So Bower buys tools made from high-grade steel. Most come from English companies like Crown, Hamlet, and Robert Sorby. Others he buys from Thompson Lathe Tools in the United States.

“I’m an old metallurgist. When I see a diamond checker on the end of the tool to see what the hardness is, I know it’s a quality tool. If you want something that’s going to do the best job, it has to be the right steel,” he says.

It takes a variety of tools to shape wood on a lathe. A beginner may be tempted to buy a basic starter kit. Bower’s answer: “No! Because it’s somebody else’s concept of what your ability is. You’ll likely end up with tools you’ll never use and so waste your money.”

He says beginners can start with a few basic lathe tools. He recommends:

• Spindle roughing gouge, ¾ inch
• Spindle gouge with fingernail profile, 3/8 inch
• Curved scraper, ¾ inch
• Round nose scraper, ¾ inch or 1 inch
• Parting tool, 1/8 inch
• Bowl gouge, ¾ inch (if you’re going to turn bowls)

All these tools come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, so beginners can buy more as their skills and needs grow. Another tool to add later is the skew chisel. It’s the hardest tool to learn to use and sharpen, but it has many virtues once mastered.

Mini-Lathe, Micrometers and More

All of these tools are used with a lathe. Because his shop is small, Bower uses a mini-lathe with an 18-inch bed instead of a larger lathe. The mini-lathe, ideal for smaller objects, turns spindles up to 18 inches long and 12 inches in diameter.

Even though his lathe is small, he insists on the most powerful motor available for that size. He also recommends a speed control, so you don’t have to move the belt to a different pulley every time you need a different speed.

“To change the speed on an inexpensive lathe you have to move the belt to the proper pulley size in order to get just one speed setting. So an electronic speed control, which gives you an almost endless choice of speeds without the hassle, is pretty important,” he says.

“It must also be able to turn in both directions. This allows me to cut in one direction and sand in another. You want to sand the wood in the opposite direction because you don’t want debris spraying into your face. You want it going into a vacuum system, which is a lot safer,” Bower notes.

Although he owns a drill press, he says 90 percent of his drilling is done on the lathe. A woodturner also needs a band saw, a small gentleman’s saw for final cutoffs, and a chainsaw for cutting logs and larger pieces of wood.

Because measurement is critical in woodturning, Bower uses micrometers and calipers. For example, if he wants a lid to fit perfectly on a wooden vessel, he’ll use a micrometer. Micrometers are used for measuring diameters, while calipers measure inside and outside diameters as well as depth.

Bower sharpens his tools every five minutes or so to keep them from grabbing or gouging the wood. “If the wood is turning about 2,000 rpm, that’s like sticking your foot out a car door while going down the road at 60 mph. Think of the abrasive action; it doesn’t take long for the tool to get dull,” he says.

For sharpening, he uses an 8-inch slow-speed bench grinder with sharpening jigs that help him get the correct angle on each tool. “Because the jigs are very precise, I don’t have to guess about the angle. I can sharpen my tools at the same angle every time,” he adds.

Checking Moisture Is Critical

A moisture meter is another essential tool Bower keeps handy. “You really need to use a moisture meter,” he says.

“Some of the wood I use is very expensive, anywhere from $100 for a small piece and up. I have one piece that’s $900. When you spend that kind of money on wood, you don’t want to turn it with the wrong moisture content in it. It can crack or shrink. That’s why I use a moisture meter, to prevent that from happening,” he says.

“When I cut a top to fit perfectly on a vessel, if I don’t check the moisture content, either it won’t fit next week or it will bind up so tight that it will never work. Or, if I use poplar wood for staircase spindles, it has to be checked for moisture… It also has to stabilize in your environment. You can’t store it somewhere else and then bring it in and think you’re going to work on it because it will swell or crack. That’s why it’s critical to check for moisture,” he says.

Bower works with many different woods, including black cherry, maple, figured maple, fruitwoods, pecan, tulipwood from Brazil, and jet-black ebony from Africa. Species differ in density and structure, so a moisture meter needs the right species setting to give an accurate moisture content (MC) reading for each wood you turn.

Bower uses Wagner Meters’ pinless moisture meters. The Orion^® line has species settings for common hardwoods and softwoods as well as many exotic species, so you can measure the MC of each wood you work with.

Another thing he likes about Wagner meters is that they’re pinless, so they don’t leave holes in the wood surface. “If you’re testing a board that you just finished planing, you don’t want to stick pins into it. You want a pinless meter. They’re probably the best meters for any operation because they cover the spectrum,” Bower says.

“If you invest the time, effort, and money into your work, it’s just good economics to use a moisture meter,” he adds.

Be Safe and Comfortable

Safety and comfort are also important in a woodturning shop, and Bower takes both seriously.

For one, he’s installed plenty of lighting, including a high-intensity LED light. “When I throw the lights on, it looks like the landing craft of ET’s spaceship. But you need to see what you’re doing to prevent costly mistakes and prevent accidents,” he says.

Since his shop is on concrete, he built a thick platform from industrial plywood so he doesn’t stand on the hard concrete floor and is less likely to slip. It also gives him a height advantage at the lathe.

In the winter, he uses a large parabolic electric heater and has infrared heat lamps installed on the ceiling directly above the lathe. The infrared lamps help keep his hands warm and flexible.

To manage dust, Bower uses a vacuum system with two different types of filters that sits beside the lathe. He also wears a face mask for dust and for woods that may cause an allergic reaction.

“Some people don’t realize that certain woods are highly toxic. It can be like turning a poison ivy branch. So breathing toxic wood is not good. Once I worked on some rosewood from either Indonesia or India. The next morning I woke up with a rash from head to toe,” he says.

Now Bower checks woods online for toxicity and has learned which woods are harmful. He also uses Mark Baker’s book Wood for Woodturners as a reference.

He wears a face shield when he works with wood that could break apart on the lathe. And to cut down on shop noise, he has insulation in the ceiling and walls and wears earplugs when using loud equipment.

The Best Tools Are Worth the Investment

A good woodturner values wood, so it makes sense to use the best tools, whether they cut, measure, or monitor moisture levels, to create beautifully crafted work.

“Having the best tools makes all the difference in producing quality work. They are a pleasure to use and are well worth the extra money. They are easier to use and harder to abuse than cheaper, inferior tools. They’ll repay your investment in no time,” Bower says.

Shop Orion Moisture Meters

Last updated on October 13th, 2026