Stuart Batty is a third-generation apprentice woodturner with over four decades of professional turning experience. Under the expert tutelage of his father, Allan Batty, a world-renowned master spindle turner, Stuart began woodturning at 10. By the age of 16, Stuart had become an accomplished production spindle turner and instructor and had gained wide notoriety for his technical proficiency and teaching abilities.
Stuart has taught more classes and demonstrated at more clubs and symposiums than any other woodturner in history and is recognized as one of the world’s most accomplished woodturners.
Through years of production turning and teaching hands-on woodturning classes, Stuart developed a unique style of the European push-cut technique. His style uses fewer tools and simple grinds to produce large-volume cuts without torn grain, low physical effort, and ready-to-sand surfaces. Stuart has pioneered many techniques and terminologies that all woodturners use today, such as the push-cut, pull-cut, negative rake scraping, 40/40, and bottom bowl gouge grinds.
Stuart’s early work included balustrades and newel posts for Royal and Stately British Homes. Stuart’s art pieces are pure turned, emphasizing detail and crisp edges from denser woods. One such piece is in the White House Permanent Collection.
Stuart now focuses on teaching classes to help students improve their woodturning technique. Stuart specializes in taking woodturners to the next level, which includes many of the well-known international turners who wanted to improve efficiency on a lathe.
Web: stuartbattytools.com
Demonstrations
Bowl Turning Fundamentals
Stuart will demonstrate how to use his 40/40 and bottom bowl grinds to cut the bowl’s side and end grain surfaces with no torn grain and with a low physical effort by selecting the correct handle length for improved leverage. Included in this session is how to complement these two grinds with his negative rake scraping technique and how to jam chuck to finish the base of the bowl successfully.
Spindle Turnning Fundamentals
Stuart’s woodturning apprenticeship and background in production spindle turning have enabled him to evolve a more ergonomic turning style that never creates torn grain. In this demonstration, Stuart will show when it is better to use a gouge rather than a chisel to create any shape with ease and repeatability. Stuart will also cover broken surface cuts for spindle turning and all the fundamental cuts.
Off Center Winged Bowls
Stuart has specialized in off-center winged bowls for decades. He will show the fastest and easiest way to cut the wings close to finish shape, followed by his negative raking scrapping technique for the final thickness. He will also cover shapes and designs that are more pleasing for this style of work.
End Grain Bowls
Stuart will demonstrate his method for howling out end grain bowls using his 40/40 grind and how to finish the inner surface with his negative rake scrapping technique to refine the final shape and ensure there is no torn grain. The outside of end grain bowls requires spindle turning technique and Stuart will show how to use the 40/40 bowl gouge grind to shape the exterior surface. The techniques shown in this demonstration help with many other spindle turning projects, like goblets and boxes.
