40 years old, married for 18 of those to Donna. We have two boys- Noah 11 and Samuel 8. I've been a machinist-fabricator for 25 years and just recently was promoted to Process Improvement Engineer at work so now I have a whole plant to overhaul. 

  I never saw it coming!

  We had a small farm with a new home that kept me busy for years with all the mowing plus working a second job to make the payment on the new house and the tractor that I needed to take care of the place with.

  Ultimately, we decided it was just all too much and sold everything. We scaled way down moved into a much smaller house on a half acre lot.

  I found myself with some real 'spare time'. I did a lot of piddling in the existing shop out back but never really found a hobby until one day I wondered in Woodcraft next door to where my wife was buying shoes. I had never been in a woodworking shop like this. As I browsed around I came across the book by Malcolm Tibbets on Segmented Turning.

  WOW, now I got to try this!

First was the Jet Mini lathe and before I new it I'm in $25k with a full blown woodworking shop. The skills come fairly easy for me due to my life long job in the metal working industry. But I will definitely say that working 'organic' materials such as wood is a whole nother critter.

  I've now been turning bowls, making tables, and collecting wood for almost 5 years.  I have quite the collection of all of them.  I really like finding out what shape each piece wants to be and the grains it will reveal.  I prefer natural finishes on the bowls so that the beauty of the wood is the focal point. 

  I've also got quite the tool collection.  I began the quest to find the right tools for the job and the best quality tools for each job, all at a fair price.  I got frustrated with all of the time and expense I used up sharpening tools. I was used to carbide cutting during metal work, where I would just replaced the cutter and keep going.  I also felt that the traditional gouges and tools were hard to work with as they kept wanting to catch and turn and you had to be in exactly the right position for the cutting edge to make a correct pass.  I found that the shavings all over me ant he beating and bainging and twisting took most of the fun out of it after awhile.  I had little desire left for the finish cuts.

   So I used my brain and applied my years of experience with sound cutting principles and developed the Ci1 Easy Rougher and the Ci2 Easy Rougher Mini.  With encouragement from many professional turners and friends, I decided that everyone should have a chance to have a tool that allows them to get to that last 'money cut' quicker, with less wear and tear on their body too.  I have a lot more ideas on updating woodturning standards. I've now begun this new journey in my life with manufacturing, selling, and developing tools.  I hope to get back to turning more over the winter months if my day job, my tool job and my family give me some free time.

  In the end, I could not have made this journey without the true friends I have found here at WR and I share the glory with you guys and gals.  I hope the little bits of advice I'm giving back on some topics make a difference for the next guy.