First one should examine what projects might catch ones interest. This may be as simple as deciding to make a table for a change and then wanting round legs. In turn this leads to determining what the legs will look like and how they will be decorated. It may also lead to considering that the table top might be round and then the whole table could be made into a pedestal table and so on. Of course there is no particular reason that this has to be considered as only one project. Instead it could be decided to make a rectangular table with round legs as well as a round, pedestal table or indeed more than one.
Perhaps it would be good to start with a question of scale. Some wood turners consider themselves to be pen turners and almost everything they turn will be a pen. This is itself leads to small scale turning. Among others, two obvious questions may be raised. First, what about moving to larger scale items? Second, what else might be turned using the same scale? In the first case, one will find that the spindle techniques used in making pens lend themselves quite well to larger items such as tool handles, candlesticks and mallets as well as many others. Some thoughts for the latter might be light pulls, key chains and Christmas ornaments.
One of the best things that wood turners can do for project ideas is to look at what other people are turning now or have turned in the past. Magazines abound with turned items. Not all of these are wood turning magazines or for that matter even woodworking magazines. Instead, architecture, housekeeping and design magazines often have turned objects in many of the pictures. If it is desired to have greater instruction, there are many woodworking magazines with woodturning projects having detailed information. Even more prolific is the web where ideas abound. Looking over a selection of projects can often lead to intrigue as what it would be like to make some of those things.
Woodturning is known for its diversity. It may be necessary for some woodturners to think not only outside the box but also outside the bowl or outside the pen to move on with new skills and even greater enjoyment for this craft of the ages.One thing that bowl turners quickly learn is the high cost of bowl blanks and the limits on available sizes. While the answer is also quickly learne, namely cutting one's own blanks, the question remains as to how to do so. That answer is generally found int he use of a chainsaw and in making a couple of cuts, one of which is seldom done except by woodturners.