Hello all!  My name is Howard and I'm a new turner.  Day two counting today.  Picked up an entry level lathe from HF and several pen kits, as well as roughly a million dollars worth of supplies from Penn State and Woodcraft and eBay.

I never figured that the lathe would be the cheapest part of this experience.  LOL

In any event, I am a retired educator who never had an interest in woodworking…ever until I saw a pen video on youtube a couple weeks ago.  I was lucky enough to attend SWAT in Waco a couple two weekends ago and it's been downhill from there.  I'm having fun, but I'm out of my element to a great degree.  I spend most days doing hobby welding and powder coating Yet, RTIC, and other cups as a way to augment my pension.  Not looking to sell anything but just to make gifts and such.

I'm learning small with pens, but I've always wanted to do segmented items like pens and bowls.  I plan on putting an ad in the classifieds to see if I can barter my powder coating services in exchange for someone building a wedgie-sled for me so if you read this and have an interest, please pm me.

Thanks for the admission.  This looks like a great place to read and learn.  I'm looking forward to both.

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of good folks on here who are willing to share our knowledge.

Welcome from a mite west of you--located about 30 miles N of Victoria.
Had I not started another career, would've been a retired Teacher by now or seriously thinking about it.
I too had a HF lathe to start.