A decorative wooden wall hanging featuring a circular design with intricate patterns in black and gold, surrounded by concentric circles of varying shades of brown and beige.

The Beginning

It started at an agricultural fair in 2014. Someone was making garden dibbers on a lathe, simple work done with quiet competence, and I could not stop watching. Whatever he did with his hands, the wood answered. No screens, no renders, no waiting. I asked if I could have a go, and he said yes.

I had spent years as a photographer and designer, working with images and layouts. This felt older than any of that. I went home, dug my uncle's Myford Mystro out of storage, and made a run of honest disasters. Each one taught me something the next one needed.

The Journey

Curiosity turned into commitment, commitment into craft, and craft into teaching.

I became a Registered Professional Turner in 2018. The RPT is the professional standard for turners in the UK, awarded by the Register of Professional Turners in association with the Worshipful Company of Turners of London. It represents a commitment to the craft that goes beyond being able to turn things.

I co-founded The Woodturning School near Alton in Hampshire with Les Thorne, where we teach complete beginners and experienced makers looking for focused practice time. In 2020 I started Woodturning360, an online club that meets twice a month with members in eleven countries. I have been demonstrating at clubs and events, at home and abroad, since 2015.

There are two books. Woodturning: Form and Formula draws on my design background to explore proportion and balance in turned work. A Maker's Mindset is thirty short lessons on what the craft teaches you when you slow down enough to listen.

Close-up of a metallic circular object with concentric rings and a spiral pattern at the center, possibly a decorative or industrial design element.
Sculpture resembling a spinning top with a tall, pointed finial, made of dark polished metal, on a slim stand.

How I Think About Woodturning

Photography taught me to look at composition, at how the eye travels across a surface, and at the relationship between positive and negative space. The same principles apply at the lathe. The Golden Ratio and the Rule of Thirds are gentle guides towards pieces that feel right, and once you understand them you can break them deliberately.

I call mistakes design opportunities because that is genuinely how I have learned to see them. A catch that takes too much wood becomes a chance to explore a different profile. A crack that opens during drying becomes a feature that tells you where the timber has been.

Finishing is where respect for the craft shows. The last ten per cent of a piece takes fifty per cent of the care, and that is where it comes alive.

Teaching has never been a one-way exchange. Students ask me questions I cannot immediately answer, which sends me back to the lathe to find out. What I enjoy most is watching someone make their first box and realise they can actually do this.

Woodturning changed me. I would like to help it change you too.

Find Me Online

•     Website: msabansmith.com

•     The Woodturning School: thewoodturning.school

•     Woodturning360 club: woodturning360.com

•     YouTube: youtube.com/@msabansmith

•     Register of Professional Turners: rpturners.co.uk

An abstract wooden sculpture featuring a circular cutout with textured black frame and smaller carved sphere inside, mounted on a black textured base.