When our dog Digby died after twelve years, I wanted to make something worthy of him. This film follows that project: a lidded memorial urn, turned from sycamore with a lid of newtonia, coloured with the Intrinsic Colour range and finished in polished satin lacquer.

There are two things happening on this channel, and they work quite differently. One is slow and considered, running to around twelve or fifteen minutes. The other is short and direct, rarely more than a couple. Here's what each one is, and why I make them the way I do.

Black palm isn't really a wood at all. Botanically it's closer to grass than to a hardwood tree, and it behaves completely differently on the lathe because of it.

It's rarely the successful piece that moves you forward. The bowl that turned out exactly as planned is satisfying, yes. Worth making, absolutely. But what did it teach? It confirmed what you already knew. It proved you could repeat a process. That has value, but it's not where growth lives.

A Mallee burr from Australia is about as dramatic as anything you can put on the lathe. Dense, knotted, full of character in a way British hardwoods rarely manage.

In an episode of Turner's Journey a while back, I told you I'd stopped making YouTube videos. I was quite definite about it, as I recall. So if you've come here expecting consistency from me, this might be the moment to look away.

Here's something that surprised me when I started teaching: I feel I got better at turning not despite the time spent teaching, but because of it.

There was a piece of ash on my bench that most people would have thrown on the fire. Too small to be useful for anything grand, too honest to bin. That's exactly the sort of wood I like to start beginners on, and it's the wood in this video.

I've been sitting on this one for a while, and I'm thrilled to finally say it out loud: some of the most-loved products from the old Hampshire Sheen range are back. The Danish Oil, the Cellulose Sanding Sealer and the full Intrinsic Colour Collection have all returned, now made under my own name, and they're every bit as good as you remember.

Every piece of wood carries a history you can read if you know how to look. The tight growth rings from a harsh year when rain was scarce. The wide bands from a season of abundance.

There's a moment in every turner's development when the tool collection starts growing faster than the skills to use them. I've been there. Most of us have.

Emma Cook arrives at The Woodturning School next month, and I've been thinking about what makes her work resonate so strongly with people who see it.

If I could give a new turner only one piece of advice, it would be this: learn to sharpen properly! A dull tool fights you. A sharp tool cooperates. The difference isn't subtle. It's the difference between struggling and flowing, between torn surfaces and clean cuts, between frustration and satisfaction.

There's a particular kind of Monday evening that I've come to look forward to more than I probably let on. The workshop's set up, the camera's on, and the Zoom window fills with familiar faces from all over the UK, Europe, the US and Canada.

The sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term "third place" to describe spaces that exist outside home and work – cafes, pubs, community centres, places where identity isn't defined by domestic duty or professional role. These spaces, he argued, are essential for social health and personal wellbeing.

As winter turns to spring, I wanted to share what's happening in the workshop and what I'm excited about for the months ahead.

I have been talking about the Golden Ratio for years. In the book, in workshops, on YouTube, in just about every conversation I have about form and design at the lathe. It is, without exaggeration, one of the most useful concepts I have ever come across as a maker. Not because it gives you a formula for perfection, but because it gives you a starting point for proportion.

The question comes up regularly: "Am I too old to learn woodturning?" The answer is always the same: Can you stand comfortably at a lathe and grip a tool? Then you can turn.

If you've been with Turner's Journey from the beginning of this season, you might remember how it all started. Back in June 2025, I introduced Season 2 sitting by a lake, saying that I do an awful lot of my best thinking when I come fishing. It felt right to end the season in the same place.

I've been thinking a lot about Turner's Journey lately, about what it is, how often it should land, and where it goes from here. After all your generous comments and suggestions over recent weeks, I've decided to bring this first season to a close at Episode 30.