Woodturning Magazine issue 422 spans projects, techniques and profiles

Woodturning Magazine issue 422 lands as a proper cross-section of the craft, not a narrow theme issue. Andrew Potocnik opens with a wall-art piece, and that choice sets the tone immediately: this is a magazine comfortable moving from decorative turning to everyday shop work without pretending those are separate worlds.

A spread that mirrors the bench

The project line-up is wide enough to keep more than one kind of turner engaged. Les Symonds brings Western-style bolo ties, Sue Harker turns a Corinthian-style jardiniere, Rick Rich makes a traditional porridge stirrer, George Watkins builds a black-and-white ebony box, Ian Woodford turns a shallow bowl with a carved rim, Andy Coates finishes a miniature Windsor chair, and James Duxbury creates a bowl with winged handles.

That mix says a lot about where woodturning sits right now. Bowl workers get their fix, box makers get detail work, chair and furniture people get something with a stronger historical line, and the smaller gift or novelty projects are there too. The porridge stirrer is the kind of practical object that reminds you turning does not always have to end in a showpiece, while the ebony box and carved-rim bowl push the decorative side hard enough to keep the issue from feeling purely utilitarian.

Technique pages that earn their place

The techniques section keeps the same practical balance. Kurt Hertzog answers reader questions, Richard Findley continues his box-making series with a drill-bit storage box, and Mark Palma digs into the details of box lids. That combination matters because it covers the stuff that trips people up between projects: what to ask when a method is unclear, how to build storage that actually belongs in a working shop, and how to get lid fit and lid behavior right on a box.

This is the part of the issue that will probably get dog-eared first in a real workshop. A drill-bit storage box is not glamorous, but it solves an everyday problem in the same language turners already use at the lathe. Box lids are another one of those details that can make or break a piece, so Palma’s focus is the sort of grounded instruction that tends to pay off long after the issue itself gets shelved.

Profiles with real visual and technical range

The feature articles widen the frame beyond the bench. Richard West is profiled through the wild Irish landscape around his Connemara home, which gives the issue a strong sense of place and reminds you how often turning style is tied to the ground a maker lives on. Mike Stafford’s look at sharpening woodturning tools brings the conversation back to basics, and that is exactly where a magazine like this earns trust.

Sharpening is one of those topics that never stops mattering, no matter how long you have been at the lathe. A good edge affects roughing, finishing, and confidence, so putting it in the feature section rather than burying it in a sidebar is the right call. Pairing that with West’s landscape-rooted profile gives the issue both a human face and a shop-floor backbone.

Why Les Symonds stands out in this mix

Les Symonds is not just another name in the project list. He began turning in 2013 and is described as the only professionally registered woodturner in Snowdonia National Park, which tells you something about the scale and character of his practice. He often works with locally sourced timber, much of it from storm damage, so even a small object like a bolo tie sits inside a larger material story.

That background helps explain why his contribution feels especially aligned with the issue’s range. A Western-style bolo tie is compact and wearable, but in Symonds’ hands it also reflects a turning practice rooted in place, salvage, and the practical realities of available wood. It is the sort of project that looks simple until you realize how much judgment goes into making it clean, balanced, and worth wearing.

A magazine that still knows its audience

Issue 422 is published by GMC Publications and Woodworkers Institute, which continues to position Woodturning as one of its core magazines in both print and digital form. That matters because the issue is not trying to be a glossy one-note showcase. It is built for people who want to make things, solve problems, and still be surprised by what the craft can do.

The issue page also points to a selection of woodworking books to give away and a preview of the next issue. Those extras are small, but they reinforce the magazine’s role as an ongoing working companion rather than a one-off collection of pretty pictures. You finish one issue and there is already another one waiting, plus reading material that extends beyond the lathe.

A snapshot of a busy woodturning month

The broader June 2026 woodturning calendar gives issue 422 even more context. The American Association of Woodturners’ 40th International Woodturning Symposium is scheduled for June 4-7, 2026 at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The AAW calls it the biggest and most well-known annual woodturning event in the world, and the numbers behind it back that up: nearly 100 tradeshow vendors, more than 85 demos and panels, and over 1,000 pieces in the instant gallery, with both in-person and virtual attendance options.

That kind of calendar helps explain why an issue like this feels so broadly pitched. In a month when the craft’s biggest gathering is pulling in vendors, demonstrations, and a giant gallery, a magazine issue built around wall art, bolo ties, bowls, boxes, tool sharpening, and furniture forms makes perfect sense. It is the same language of variety, only on paper.