Dennis Liggett, out of King City, Missouri, grew up in a small town where everybody was his own carpenter, car mechanic, electrician, plumber, and farm labor. There was never time to attain mastery, nor money for good equipment. From these frustrations, he developed the personal goal of excelling in just one thing by seeking out the best teachers and the best equipment. Luckily, he chose woodturning at a time when the great renaissance of the craft was underway in the mid-90’s.
Dennis defines his training as “English,” which means that he most often picks up the skew when most American turners would reach for some kind of gouge. He studied in Stuart Mortimer’s woodshop, and has been a teaching assistant for both Allan Batty and Richard Raffan. Dennis has a unique perspective on the evolution of the craft from his work with these fine teachers. He continues to take classes, even though he is a teacher himself, just to keep up with the rapid pace of technical change in the craft.
From his understanding of traditional turning craft, Dennis has chosen to focus on twist work and hand thread chasing, which were always considered the pinnacle of the turner’s art. He has demonstrated and taught goblets with inlaid twisted stems, pigtails and rams horns, threaded canteens, hollow forms with twists, and, most recently, stone inlay.
Dennis always starts with a 30-minute focus on making a practice stick before getting down to work. There are no slick tricks for Dennis, just very meticulous care and precision at each step. Not surprisingly, Dennis is a great teacher for beginners, because he never glosses over the simple things that are essential for success using the tools.
No matter what level of creativity you may pursue with your woodturning designs, there is no escape from the need for good craftsmanship. Traditional criteria of excellence go well beyond finish quality. The fit of a utilitarian object in the hand, the weight and balance that are pleasing, and correct fit and proportion of parts to the whole can be learned from making a simple small cup, as Richard Raffan does. The teaching collection part of this website illustrates some of the objects that are touchstones for Dennis Liggett’s work.
His teaching and demonstration schedule changes frequently. In addition to more formal scheduling, Dennis works as a mentor with the Pikes Peak Woodturners, and provides private instruction upon request. You may contact Dennis at liggy@mindspring.com, or by phoning him at 719-481-8754.