Spindle turning, or turning between centers, is a woodturning

Woodturning

Woodturning is a form of woodworking that is used to create wooden objects on a lathe . Woodturning differs from most other forms of woodworking in that the wood is moving while a stationary tool is used to cut and shape it...

 method referring to a piece of wood on a wood lathe

Lathe

A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...

 that is being turned on its center axis.

Method

For spindle turning, the wood is held on the lathe

Lathe

A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...

either by both ends (between the headstock and tailstock) or by one end only.

Wood is generally removed by running a turning tool down the slope of the wood from a larger diameter in the wood to a smaller diameter.

Examples

Spindle turning is the method used for items such as chair and table legs, lamps, cues, bats, candlesticks etc. i.e. long and thin objects.