Woodturning is said to be the safest form of woodworking, that said it can still be dangerous and care should be taken at all times

The methods and procedures I show here are what I do at the moment and feel safe doing, I am not suggesting that you should do things the same way, that is up to you, if you don’t feel safe doing it one way find another way of doing it.

Above all take care and remember if this is your hobby it is supposed to be fun so enjoy it.

Apples are fun projects to do and sell well at craft fairs.   The biggest problem some people have with making them is getting the shape right, there are lots of ways to do this the easiest way is probably to make yourself a template like the ones below.   You can find a picture on the Internet and download it and print it out or draw one yourself.   The size doesn't matter as you can hold it closer or further away to see how you are doing.

Apart from your normal tools and the wood for the apple there are a couple of other things you will need if you want to do it the same way as I do.   The first is a homemade screw chuck, how I make them is explained HERE, the one I will be using here has a 5mm double thread screw in it.   A piece of leather this is used to cushion the apple when I put it on the screw chuck, a good source of small pieces of leather is your local furniture shop they usually change their sample patches a couple of times a year.   You will need a small piece of wood for the stalk, at the moment I use some 6mm hardwood dowel as I have a lot of it but you can use anything you have handy.   Lastly a clove to put in the bottom of the Apple.

I usually use a piece of wood about 3” square, this can be piece cut from a board as in this example or a piece of branch etc.   Mount between centers, turn round and put a chuck spigot on one end.

Mount in your chuck and turn the first end to shape, I turn the top of the apple first for two reasons.   Firstly it is the largest part of the apple and will give better support when turned around and put on the screw chuck.   Secondly if I make a mess of the shape there is usually enough wood left so that I can turn it into the bottom of the apple.   Make sure you go in fairly deep  in the center where the stalk goes, this is quite often the part that spoils the look of a turned apple.

Put a Jacobs chuck in the tail stock with a drill of a suitable size to drill a pilot hole for your screw chuck, I use a 4mm drill for my 5mm screw chuck, and drill a hole deep enough for the screw.

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