Well, I could wax poetic
about how I love the “mystery of a piece of wood, and the joy of
discovering the beauty hidden inside” – and true as it may be, that’s
what other woodturners always seem to say. For me the deeper truth is
that I simply love turning wood into artful round things. I have always
enjoyed working with flat pieces of wood, but there are certain
constraints like exact angles and measurements involved in most
traditional woodworking. Round wood, on the other hand, is more of a
free-for-all. Woodturning is gloriously messy, yet it still requires a
combination of strength, finesse, and precision. It can be very
spontaneous, or meticulously planned, yet in most cases there are no
real requirements for measurements until after the piece is done.
And
of course, there’s the look on someone’s face the first time they see
the beautiful things hiding in a piece of wood that would otherwise end
up in a fireplace or wood chipper. So I guess we’re back to the
“mystery of a piece of wood, and the joy of discovering the beauty
hidden inside” bit, huh?
I’m a recently-unemployed technical
editor/writer in his early 50s, married to a sweet lady. We live with
three fuzzy canine children in the foothills on the northern edge of
Los Angeles. We are literally on the edge of town, with the Angeles
National Forest about three good Frisbee throws north of our house. I
moved to Southern California in 1991 after growing up most of my life
in New Mexico. I have done woodworking off and on since I was about 6
years old.
In 2004 my then-fiancée and I bought a house
together, and when I saw the two-car garage with lots of built-in
storage, I immediately claimed it for a shop. For the first year or so,
I made simple flatwork projects and started adding tools to my meager
collection. In researching a new tablesaw, I made the eye-opening
discovery of woodworking forums on the Internet. Wow. Who knew? Through
the forums, I realized the amazing work that could be done on a lathe.
My antennae went up. I really wanted to learn to make hollow forms.
After
a very brief encounter with a free Harbor Freight lathe that I ended up
throwing away before somebody got hurt, I bought a little 1/5 HP Wilton
mini lathe. By then, I knew that the lathe was just the beginning of
the expenses, but I figured it couldn’t cost me more than another $100
or so to get started. Boy, was I wrong. I soon realized the Wilton was
only good for small things like pens and bottle stoppers, so before
long, I found a 15” Craftsman (Palmgren) lathe on Craigslist. I
eventually ended up making quite a few pieces on it, so I figured I
needed to start selling them to make room in the house for more. That
spring, my wife and I did our first art show, and by the end of the
year, the Sears lathe had paid for itself plus added a decent chunk of
money back into the shop fund.
After about a year (and quite
a few turned pieces), I’d reached the limits of the Craftsman lathe,
and by then was thoroughly sucked into the vortex, so I moved up to a
Powermatic 3520B. I got approval from the finance committee (the wife)
to get the lathe, and to equip it with accessories like a vacuum chuck,
an upgraded hollowing rig, and a coring rig. By then, I had adopted the
attitude that good tools were an investment with potential to pay for
themselves with the sale of a few pieces.
Aside from a few
videos I’ve purchased, I’ve learned what I know so far about turning
from other folks on the Internet. If not for the sharing and helpful
nature of most turners, I’d still be grinding away dry wood with a dull
skew used as a scraper, feeling my way in the dark of the Abyss. I
still have a lifetime of learning left to go, but I’m having a lot of
fun in the process.
Thanks for the opportunity to tell a
bit about myself. Although it seems perpetually in need of updating, I
have a website at www.workingwoods.com. Feel free to drop by and browse
around. |
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Ironbark Red
Eucalyptus, 7” wide by 5 1/2"
tall
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Bradford Pear,
10 1/2" long by 8" wide
and 4 1/4" tall
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Old Growth
Redwood, 12 1/2" wide by 1
1/2" tall
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Curly Maple,
18" long by 14" wide by 3
1/4" tall
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Madrone Burl,
4" wide by 3 1/2" tall
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Madrone Burl, 4
1/4" wide by 3 3/4"
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Red Ironbark Eucalyptus,
8" wide by 5 1/2" tall
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Feathered
Walnut, 6 1/4" wide by 2 3/4" tall
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Mystery
Ironwood, 4 3/4" wide by 3 3/4"
high
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Curly Bubinga,
9 5/8" square
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