AAW forum launches May turning challenge for bud vases

The May AAW Forum challenge leaves little room to procrastinate: make a bud vase, or weed pot, after the prompt dropped on May 15, then get it posted by 11:59 PM UTC on Friday, May 29. If you have a small piece half-planned on the bench already, this is the kind of deadline that can push it across the finish line.

The rules are simple and firmly aimed at fresh work. The entry has to be made after the May 15 prompt, and the only hard requirement is that a lathe must be involved. Beyond that, the forum gives turners room to decide whether the piece stays all wood or brings in other materials, and whether the surface remains natural or gets embellished. Voting opens May 30 and runs through June 1, which keeps the cycle tight from first cut to final tally.

The thread also does what the better AAW challenges always do: it shows examples instead of just talking theory. Mark Durrenberger, Paul Russell and Dave Roberts are all featured with sample pieces meant to spark ideas, which matters when the format is this accessible. A bud vase is a clean short-run project for newer turners, but it still leaves plenty of room for wall thickness control, proportion, grain choice and finish work. It is the kind of project that can be kept simple or pushed hard, depending on how much time is left on the clock.

There is also the usual AAW wink in the prize. The winner may take home a rusty Shopsmith lathe with bent tubes, described in the thread with the kind of “vintage” humor that fits the forum’s style. That joke lands because these challenges are less about high stakes than momentum: make something, show it, and keep the gallery active.

The May contest fits into a busy stretch for the American Association of Woodturners. AAW says its 2026 International Woodturning Symposium will run June 4-7 in Raleigh, North Carolina, with nearly 100 vendors, more than 85 demos and panels, and more than 1,000 pieces of artwork in the instant gallery. The association is also marking its 40th anniversary in 2026, and its member show Turning 40 will premiere in Raleigh before traveling to Saint Paul, Minnesota.

April’s challenge showed the formula still works. That salad bowl prompt drew 20 participants and 20 submitted bowls, and David Wyke won the People’s Choice vote after voting closed on May 3. For anyone eyeing the May bud vase, that is the real pressure point: the window is short, the bench time is even shorter, and this is exactly the kind of small project that can be turned, posted and judged before the month runs out.