Stuart Batty Bio

Stuart Batty grew up in the city of Newcastle in northeast England. He began woodturning at age 10 and is a third generation woodturner. Under the expert tutelage of his father, Allan Batty an internationally recognized woodturner, Stuart learned to make spindles and a variety of other production turning articles. These techniques have been used and passed on through apprenticeships for centuries in Britain.

Stuart started working as a full-time production woodturner and teacher in his father's woodturning studio at the age of sixteen. At nineteen he started working for Craft Supplies Ltd. in England, which was the largest woodturning supplier in the world.

During the six years he worked for Craft Supplies, Stuart was the company's in-house woodturning teacher and demonstrator. He also set up Craft Supplies first sawmill, and was in charge of importing over 300 exotic woods, which were sold around the world. Stuart also developed and tested woodturning tools for Robert Sorby who at the time was Craft Supplies Ltd. sister company.

Over the past twenty-seven years Stuart has taught over 3,000 amateur and professional woodturners. He has demonstrated and taught in twelve countries, including over 180 different American Association of Woodturning clubs across the USA.

Stuart's style of work is greatly influenced by his background as a spindle turner with precise cuts and sharp detail. He uses very simple tools and grinds to create his pieces. His work is "pure" lathe work, with no carving or surface texturing. Stuart's artwork has been sold through prestigious galleries across Europe and the USA. He also has artwork displayed in the permanent White House collection.

Stuart believes we have only tapped the possibilities of what can be made on a wood lathe and the only limiting factor for most woodturners is their skill level and imagination. With production woodturning as his background, Stuart's foundation in woodturning helped him develop the push cut style and other techniques like negative rake scraping. These techniques allowed him to produce very delicate high-end pieces for galleries.