Half of every commission → your club

Shop tools. Fund your craft community.

When you buy woodturning gear through BrightLathe, we earn a small commission — and we send half of it (50%) straight back to your woodturning club. Same price for you. Real money for the community that keeps this craft alive.

Currently:

Pick your club

Choose from our list — AAW, World Wide Wood Turners, and more — or suggest your local chapter. It's remembered, so you only do it once.

Shop through University

Our Equipment and Tools pages link to the lathes, gouges, and gear we recommend.

Your club gets half

50% of the commission we earn on your purchase goes straight to your chosen club — funding demos, tools, and meetings.

🪵 Why this matters: most woodturning clubs run entirely on membership dues and volunteer time. This turns everyday tool purchases — gear members buy anyway — into a steady, no-cost stream of support for the chapters that teach and grow the craft.

The honest part

We believe affiliate links should be transparent, not buried in fine print. Here's exactly how it works:

Some links are affiliate links. If you click through to a retailer (Amazon and specialty woodturning sellers) and buy, BrightLathe may earn a commission from that retailer.
It never costs you more. The price you pay is identical whether you use our link or not. The commission comes out of the retailer's margin, not your pocket.
We split our commission 50/50 — we don't pay you to buy. Your club's half comes from the commission BrightLathe earns after a sale, which we choose to give back. You're not being paid or rewarded to make a purchase.
Amounts vary and aren't guaranteed. Commission rates differ by retailer and product, and are reversed if you return an item — so we can't promise a fixed amount per purchase, only a share of what actually clears.
Club payouts happen after commissions settle. Retailers pay us on a delay (typically 60–90 days, net of returns); club shares are distributed after that.

How we choose what to recommend

Recommendations are never for sale. What appears on our Tools and Equipment pages is chosen on merit — quality, value, and what genuinely serves woodturners. A retailer cannot pay to be featured, and a higher commission never buys a better placement or a kinder write-up.

The affiliate relationship funds the site (and the clubs); it does not decide our opinions. Where we think the best option isn't something we earn from, we'll still tell you.

Formal disclosure

BrightLathe is a participant in affiliate advertising programs, including the Amazon Associates Program and specialty woodturning retailer programs. As an Amazon Associate, BrightLathe earns from qualifying purchases. We may receive a commission when you click an affiliate link on this site and complete a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Fifty percent (50%) of the net affiliate commission BrightLathe earns is donated to the woodturning club selected by the visitor, where applicable. This disclosure is provided in accordance with U.S. Federal Trade Commission guidelines (16 CFR Part 255).

Last updated June 2026 · Questions? Contact us.

For clubs & chapters

Are you a woodturning club, guild, or AAW chapter? Joining is free and there's nothing to install — your members just pick your club here, or follow a link we'll give you that selects it automatically. You'll get a running tally of what your members have raised.

Add your club via the option, or get in touch and we'll set you up.