How did you get started in wood turning?

[PapaDoc]

One of the first threads of the old forum was this question: How did you get started in woodturning?
It was a very popular thread, yielding some good narratives about life changes and transitions. I am doing a series in the AAW magazine about this topic and hope to vary between well-known turners as well as average guys like me.
While I am downloading all the input on the old site, would you care to enter your own story as to how you came to invest this much energy and money into this wonderful endeavor known as wood turning?
Thanks,
David Galloway
GAW

 

[Jeff Jilg]

Well, I'm not a well known turner, but would classify as an average guy...except for my nerdy tendencies

I had an old Fine Woodworking article from an Israeli turner who did router fluting. That article was always just plain fascinating to me. How did he dream up that fixture? How did he figure out how to set it up and do the 4 or 5 turnings they showed in the article? I always wanted to try and emulate some of the stuff I saw in that article - it really just stuck with me. If there was ever some time, I wanted to do it. I always seemed to be too busy (long hours at big computer companies).

We also happened to be in Brisbane, Australia around 1995 at the botanical garden there. And they coincidently had a woodturning exhibition at the same location. It was free and we walked thru it for about an hour looking at the instant gallery. I always remembered that show and thought "Wow - those folks created some cool stuff, someday I'd like to try it".

So I bought a used lathe about 8 years ago. Didn't know anything about it. Good intensions. But the lathe sat unused with some collected wood in the garage until 2.5 years ago. It was a Harbor Freight installed on a stand.

I turned my first piece out of spalted sycamore. It was a 13" salad bowl with a glossy finish. That went out as a wedding present for the brother in law. Well, everyone who saw it was just wowed and it spurred a lot of discussions at the post wedding reception at their house. One item in my favor was the wood was just gorgeous. But I also spent a lot of time on that bowl. It was a piece that anyone would want. And the net reward was all the kudos. I'm sure drug addictions start the same way.

I turned about 15 more pieces on that lathe. Most were big, and most of them turned outboard. The lathe was just not up to par. The motor was just about fried from all the catches and stalls. And I had started the other addiction - collecting wood. After a lot of analysis I bought a PM 3520a. Then I started turning more and more. Last year I had a lot of free time and turned over 400 pieces. Most are still roughouts. The garage is now a turning studio.

Another thing that added to the addiction was that friends and relatives really like to see the studio, the gadgets, and all the turned items. The entire hobby spawns a lot of discussions. My lunch buddies always want to see or hear about the latest turning. Sometimes I take a finished piece when I meet a buddy for lunch. It's a craft that the layman can understand and the expert can talk about. That's not always the case and I think that's why it leads to easy discourse, and it's fun to do.

 

[hockenbery]

David,
I'm a local turner having fun.

I became fascinated with the wood lathe in high school but I wasn’t allowed to use it because I only took 1st year shop and you had to be in 2nd year to use it. In 1975 I bought a cheap delta 12†and a cheap set of tools and started turning. I got Dale Nish’s book and used that as my teacher.
In 1987 hung up my softball glove, decided that I had built my last furniture, and started turning as much as I could. I gave turnings to friends and as hostess gifts. Then the people would call me and ask me if they could pay me to make a piece like I gave so and so. Several offices where I worked began giving my bowls as wedding gifts.

The biggest change for me began around 1990 when my wife bought me an AAW membership using a form Craft Supplies included with an order. Because of that Frank Amigo called me up and invited me to a meeting of new woodturning group, the Chesapeake Woodturners. I did my first show in a booth I shared with Frank and two other turners. I took classes that Frank arranged for club members with Liam O’neil, David Ellsworth, Michael Peterson, Christian Burchard, and Johannes Michelsen at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. Then Frank asked me to teach woodturning at Maryland Hall for the creative arts. Now I run the woodturning program at Maryland Hall with Joe Dickey and I arrange classes for club members with Lyle Jamieson, Trent Bosch, Al Stirt, and Cindy Drozda.
Sherry, my wife, started turning around 1996 and we’re having ball.

 

[Whit]

David, I too am not a famous turner, just a guy having a lot of fun.

Up until about 5 or 6 years ago I was "flat" woodworker and made some fairly nice stuff. Then on a whim I bought an old Rockwell (Delta) 12 inch lathe on an eBay auction. I hadn't a clue what to do with it but I bought Richard Raffins basic book. I tried turning a few things without any noticable success and a fair amount of fear and uncertainty. Very soon the lathe got shoved off in the corner of the shop and I went back to flat work.

Then 2 summers ago my wife noticed an introductory woodturning class offered through our local community college and announced she was going to take it. Would like to, also? Yeah, I guess so, said I.

The class was a 2 day class of 3 people (we each had our own lathe to work on) in Lyle Jamieson's studio. We didn't know, of course, that Lyle IS one of those famous turners.

The class was a revelation. We learned how to turn a decent bowl easily and safely. Success without fear. What a concept.

After Lyle's class we came home and pulled the lathe out of the corner and started turning things. We almost immediately discovered that part of the fear had been caused by the lathe - not very heavy or stable (even after I added about 300 pounds of sand to the stand) and its slowest speed was 990 RPM. Trying to rough out even a modest sized bowl was, to say the least, exciting. No, downright scary.

The weekend after the class I attended my first meeting of the local AAW chapter, Northwest Michigan Woodturners here in Traverse City, MI. Lyle is the chapter president. I met a bunch of really great people there who offered help and encouragement and joined us up on the spot. That was in October of 2002.

We kept trying to work with the old Rockwell with moderate success, all considered. At the next meeting one of the guys had a catalog page showing the Nova DVR 3000. It looked really good to me but no-one there had ever seen, let alone used one. That meeting was in one of our members shop and he had a straight Nova 3000 which was used for a demo. I got a chance to try it briefly. To shorten the story, when I got home and got on the Internet, found Technatool's website, read everything I could about the DVR, and found that Woodcraft, their dealer for it had a shop in Canton, MI, near Detroit. I gave them a call. They had two in stock and would be open the next day (Sunday). Bright and early the next day I drove the 250 miles to Canton and brought it home. A couple days later I finished building a heavy 2 x 10 and plywood stand with 350 pounds of sand. That's the last flat work I've done.

What an incredible difference. Control! I was off and running, turning nearly every day. The fireplace woodpile was decimated and we started finding other wood to rescue. My wife was so intimidated by the Rockwell that she stopped turning. By the time she tried the DVR she had lost all confidence and stopped turning.

I had given away a bunch of bowls and such for wedding, birthday, etc. presents and, like Jeff, got a whole lot praise. Last summer my sister saw a notice of an Arts and Crafts Fair being held in a small town near here. A juried show of about 35 or so booths. After some prodding I applied and was accepted. For me it was a huge success. I sold just under $900 worth. I took 41 pieces to sell and came home with 9. A number of people, including the fair directors told me I was badly underpriced but how would one know? I have pretty much figured out why the 9 didn't sell as well.

This summer I'm juried into 3 fairs and waiting to hear about 2 others.

Oh, by the way, my wife retook Lyle's class last January and is turning some really nice things. She'll have some of her work in the the fairs, as well.

I've gone on far too long, I know, but this is all still so new and exciting for me. And to think I can get paid for having a ball. Wow!

Whit

 

[arbud]

An accident

I'm a "neophyte" (2.5yrs) wood turner; I began turning in Nov. of 2001.

How did that happen? I was "retired" on 14 Sept., 2001. I had nothing to do but sit around the house and look for another job. To kill time my wife and I went to one of those traveling tool shows in late Oct. There was a wood lathe with a set of carbon steel tools for $59.99. I bought it, set it up in the shop, and started turning wood.

I had no experience, no training, I'd never turned a piece of wood before and
had no idea of how to attack a spinning piece of wood. I had at it and something relatively nice showed up--I was addicted! I spent many hours a day in the shop making things. My wife thinks that wood turning kept me as close to sane as possible.

Problem: We had no money other than Soc. Sec., so how am I going to support my "habit?" I put a few pieces to auction at a wood worker's auction site. The pieces actually sold--habit money!

I now turn whatsoever a cheap lathe will let me turn. I have to be a bit inventive at times... I'd love to have a 3520 or a DVR, perhaps if I win the lotto...

There you have it, David, accidental therapy for the unemployed.

 

[Bill Hunt]

Got tired of doing flat work

I'm new at this, less than a year, but it's great! My wife and I worked the craft shows in Tx, LA, MS, etc for too long. I built , she painted, We sold. Then we started building furniture which was painted. then added Faux Finishing and Murals. After I retired in early 2000, at the insistence of the company I had spent almost 30 years with, We moved back to the farm in MS. Really started building larger and larger pieces, Armories, Entertainment Centers, Chests of drawers, etc.
Finally got tired of trying to make other people happy, Oh, I want one exactly like that, EXCEPT....... I want it a littlelarger/smaller/wider/taller/shorter/differentcolor... What do you mean the price won't be the same?

Closed both the retail and the woodworking shop, sold a bunch of machines, moved back to the farm again and bought a Jet Mini and decided to turn bowls for my enjoyment. The surprising thing is that everybody likes them. Have not sold any yet but I am giving them to people who appreciate them.

Picking up my 3520 this Friday and if I decide I want to I may begin to try to sell some bowls.

Bottom line is that burn out led to a different direction that is really working for me.

My wife is going to try her hand at turning pens on the Jet Mini.

Bill Hunt , (The only turner in Wayne County MS.)

 

[Chris Wright]

A tale of 3 lathes (in 2 years)

I started turning in January of 2002. Well, if you could call it turning. It started in November of 2001 when my mom asked what I wanted for Christmas. I was looking for a new hobby/art form and had just decided that woodcarving took way too long. I started to think back on the other things I had tried or seen and remembered my dad making spindles fly off of his Shopsmith Mark 5 when I was 10 or 12. He never really made anything, I think he just wanted to be able to say he had tried every configuration of the machine.

So, I told my mom that I had seen a lathe at HF on sale for $79 and a set of 8 tools for it for $10. What a bargain we thought, and cheap enough that if it didn't stick, it wasn't much of a loss. I picked up a basic turning book, read it from cover to cover and turned a VERY basic, crude looking goblet with a stem about 1/2" in diameter. I was hooked. I spent another $50 and bought the Delta mini tool set and started turning bowls up to 5" in diameter with the 1/4" spindle gouge. If only I had known then...

Later in January, I contacted the local club (AVWA) and got an invite to the meeting. By April I had worked out a deal to obtain a Garrett Wade 16" shortbed lathe. Also in April, I got the chance to attend a Stuart Batty demonstration and also to spend the day in the club president's shop, learning one-on-one. Those were great things as I progressed quickly after that and in June of 2003, I demonstrated for General Lathes at the AWFS Fair in Anaheim, CA. I started selling and parlayed my earnings into a PM 3520 just 1 1/2 months ago. Also in this last month, I was accepted into my first 2 galleries, one of which has already sold a piece.

 

[Karl Ziegler]

How I got started

When I was a kid, my dad had an old Craftsmans metal lathe. Since I had just gotten to use a wood lathe in shop class, I set it up, and started using it.

After nearly a 30 year hiatus I purchase a Jet Mini this past Fall. I still had the old carbin tipped Craftsman tools my dad bought me when I was twelve, but I also picked up a set of high speed tools also.

One day I might get a bigger lathe like a Jet 1442, but right now I am content making small boxes and bowls, candle sticks and Salt and Pepper mills. I have even sold some of them.

I am getting a Jet band saw soon. I am havng a blast, and it really is theraputic.

 

[Joe Herrmann]

How I got started in woodturning

I turned my first bowl in high school shop class; it was made from oak and looked like a dog dish. I still have that thick-bottomed bowl someplace and run across it now and again--it reminds me of how I started.

Shop was an important part of my high school life and it was only natural that I went off to college, became a woodshop teacher and taught woodworking and turning to the kids as best I could. About that time, Fine Woodworking magazine made its appearance and I (along with many of my students) made several of the segmented bowls that graced the front cover of that premiere issue. All the bowls were scraped and it took about 8 hours to sand the bowls (by hand with folded up pieces of abrasive paper) to what I thought was an acceptable level. I knew that a flawless finish made up for a multitude of sins.

I muddled along for several years and eventually took a 5-day course with Dale Nish at Craft Supplies in Utah. There I learned that if you shear cut with a bowl gouge instead of attacking the wood with a scraper, it didn’t take 8 hours to sand the bowls! It was the best course I had ever taken, including those in undergrad and graduate school. It was a “life changing†experience.

A couple of years later, I attended the Provo Symposium and saw what “real turners†were creating and from then on was hooked. I did a demo for my turning club, the NorthCoast Woodturners (AAW’s alpha chapter) on making natural edged bowls. It was one of the techniques covered in Dale’s class. Being the first demo I had ever done for adults, I over-prepared and passed out a 12-page handout.

Someone suggested that I submit it to a magazine. I sent it in to Fine Woodworking; they accepted and published it. That was the 2nd “life changing†experience in my professional woodworking career. I loved writing about woodworking--it was like writing term papers for money!

I started to create so many bowls and other turnings that I needed an outlet to get rid of some of them--you can only give away so many to friends and family--so I started doing craft shows. I eventually started doing major shows on the East Coast and in Ohio and Michigan.

It was at a show in New Jersey that I met the then editor of Creative Woodworks & Crafts magazine and, at the editor’s urging, submitted an article. I soon became a contributing editor for them doing simple turning and woodworking articles. I did close to 70 articles for them over the next several years and eventually was selected to become the editor of their new turning magazine, Woodturning Design.

I don’t turn as much as I did, but enjoy the new experience.

Joe Herrmann

 

[PapaDoc]

These are great! There a bunch on the old site if you care to look before they are erased. Hope many of you will take the time to put down the circuitous route by which you became addicted.
David Galloway

 

[jprice]

Like most of us, I'm just an "average guy" who got sucked into turning...hook line and sinker.

About four or five years ago, my neighbor ,Butch, from across the street told me that he was going to attend a weekend bowl turning class with Jerry Kermode up in Northern California. I made the mistake of responding that I had always wanted to learn how to do that. (I wasn't too bad as a rough framer, but could never be called a carpenter.) Butch gave me the name and phone number and said that their might be space left. Bad mistake....

To make a short story longer...Nancy got a nice weekend at a nice B&B and I got hooked on mighty fine wood shavings up my nose....A month later and I owned a little Delta Midi with some real cheap gouges off of E-Bay. What started out as a crude little Walnut bowl that cost us about $1,000 for the bowl and the weekend, has expanded to over more than I ever immagined. (New gouges, new chucks, face plates, strange woods, chain saw, grinder, grinding jigs, new and bogger lathe, pick up truck to haul everything in...it just seems to go on and on without end <g>)

I may gripe about the cost and all....but the pure satisfaction of watching the bark disappear and then the wood shavings fly off of a piece to reveal such wonderful beauty is worth every penny.

 

[Wally Dickerman]

My life in woodturning started in 1936, when I decided to turn a bowl in high school shop. My teacher didn't know any more about bowl turning than I did, but with a lot of trial and error, and the use of most of the available tools, I got it turned. With the proceeds from a summer job that year, I bought a small sears lathe and a few tools. I had become fascinated with woodturning, and nearly 70 years later, that fascination is still there.

In what I call the "dark ages" of woodturning, there were very few turners, no clubs, no videos, very few books, certainly no turning websites, no bowl gouges or scroll chucks, and tools and lathes were all designed for spindle turning. I wanted to turn bowls, so I had to make many of my own tools. I never met another turner until 1982, when I attended a demo by Dale Nish at a local woodworkers store. There I met a number of other turners, and my turning life changed completely. Since that time I've helped in forming three turning clubs, I've taught almost 300 turners in classes, I've done demos at AAW, Provo, and at many clubs, I've sold many hundreds of my pieces and I've become sort of a senior citizen of turning. I'm now turning on my eighth lathe, an 800 pound Nichols. What a wonderful, fascinating, lifetime hobby woodturning has been!

 

[Texascop47]

IN December of 2003 I was flipping thru the channels on TV and caught a program on woodturning and they were turning a rolling pin. I looked and they had several different shows coming up in the next couple days. I watched or taped the shows for viewing later. I told my wife and friends I found something I was going to do. I looked up on the internet for wood lathe and anything to do with it. I found out that Woodcraft in the Dallas area had one. I had never seen a wood lathe before. I had about 20 years ago worked on a metal lathe and had though then how nice it would be to hold the tools and be able to cut. I went to Woodcraft to look at the lathes and ask some questions. I was looking at the jet or delta 12 to 14 inch size. While there they asked where I lived which is about 60 miles away and they told me that there was a woodturner near me. They gave me his name and address. By this time the 16 inch jet was looking good. I also signed up for a beginning turners class but it would be February before I could take it. I called the number and a friendly person answered and invited me over to his shop. Well he set up a block of pine in the lathe and showed me how to make it round and then start making beads and valleys. He just let me cut this wonderful thing down. He had a powermatic 3520 boy was this a nice lathe. I asked how much a lathe like that cost and where to get one. I was hooked big time. I called the number and the next thing I knew I had a nice 3520 and bandsaw sitting in my garage. I went to woodcraft and said I need tools and they complied. I grabbed a piece of firewood and started turning. I then started reading and asking more questions on every forum I could. Well I am having fun and the wife has bowls, goublets, scoups, and I am now starting to turn some hollow vessels. I have a lot more tools and each one is a learning curve. I keep trying different things I see on the forums and books and this has helped me greatly. Also everyone I have asked has bent over backwards to help this newbee along the path. I still consider myself a beginner but when people at work and down here where I live ask to buy what I have and just name a price. I have giving most of them something maybe only a desk pencil holder or candy bowl. I guess I will have to start selling some of the bowls and vessels now or build a bigger place. I have about 23 rough bowls ready and dry to finish and 17 hollow forms ready to complete. I try to turn from 2 to 3 a week. As you can see I am ADDICTED big time but loving every minute of it.

 

[George Balock]

I got started...

When I saw Palmer Sharpless demonstrating at a local woodworking show. Plamer was having so much fun I decided that I wanted to give it a try. Eight years later, I'm still at it. I've gotten more involved with the turning community and I'm still learning and loving it.
George

 

[woodwish]

Midlife Crisis

I have worked around wood as a hobby or job most of my life. I have been a high school teacher for 27 years, and many of those years were as a wood shop teacher. I did a lot of flat work in that great shop after hours for myself but never messed with the huge ancient lathe much. I did take a few scraps of old 4x4 posts and made them round. Never did enjoy it much and the tools I had at that time were pretty rough. I had no knowledge or time to learn how to sharpen them. Students were never allowed to use it because I really didn't know how to teach them to do anything.

About 10 years ago we phased out all of our wood shop classes in this area so all those great tools disappeared from our school. I started teaching video productions, which I absolutely love, plus I stay much cleaner and cooler at school. I missed being able to make things so I slowly starting gathering tools and working in my garage, but never considered a lathe.

About a year ago my wife insisted on parking her car in her garage/my shop. We decided that the smart thing to do was build a shop in the back yard. For some reason my wife and daughters bought me a Delta Mini-lathe and some tools for my birthday last June. I was hooked rapidly making anything I could turn, and spending late night hours online doing research or spending money on accessories. I also started the shop, 16' x 32', which I finally moved into just a few months ago. I am still building benches and cabinets for the shop, but I wander off to turn some wood as often as I can.

I've joined the closest AAW chapter (50+ miles away), attended some seminars, read some books, and watched some videos. As my skills have gotten better I realize that soon I will be looking for a new bigger lathe. My big objective for attending the AAW Symposium this summer will be to look for my next lathe.

After a long day at school, expecially on rough days, nothing relaxes me like getting away from everything else and making some wood shavings. Some men have a midlife crisis when they turn 50 and buy expensive sports cars, I just go out back and turn wood.

Ray

 

[JRutten]

All thumbs

I grew up with five brothers and everyone of them could take an engine apart, put it into another car and make it work. I'ld break something just changing the oil. So you can imagine how worried I was when after asking for bids to refinish our basement with tongue and groove wall boards and having EVERY one of the contractors bid it for paneling my wife suggested we do it ourselves. The help given to us by my wife's father was invaluable. He would tell us what to do between weekend visits. I would sometimes shake my head in wonder like when he told us to put the baseboard an inch above the floor. I couldn't figure out why were doing that until the carpet layers came and asked us if we had had it professional installed because usually people forget to leave the space under the baseboard for the carpet. Our basement remodel was a complete success. After that my wife, the in-laws, and I started going to the wood show every year. On a whim I picked up on of those things that converted a drill into a lathe. I don't know what it was but the first time I put tool to wood I knew this would become my hobby. I don't spend as much time on it as I would like (my job usually averages 60-70 hours a week) but I do what I can when I can.

 

[Dominic Greco]

An enthusiastic amateur

I had been working "in the flat" since High School. My Dad had always loved wood working and always wanted a shop of his own. I guess this rubbed off on me. In 1998 I had just set my first "real" shop up in the basement of my old house and had several furniture projects under my belt.

But my turning addiction started with a visit from my friend Dave Smith in the Summer of 2000. He and I had been conversing via the internet (on Badger Pond) for some time. And when it came to pass that he was visiting family in the area, he decided to stop by. He gave me and my wife a very pretty big leaf maple bowl. I was hooked. :cool2:

I officially started woodturning when my wife bought me a Jet Jwl-1236 for Christmas in 2000. I later took a class with my friend Bill Grumbine and received instruction from the late (and much missed) Phil Wall.

About 2 years ago, I got to the point where I felt the bowls I made were good enough to sell. With some of the proceeds from this, I was able to upgrade to a Jet JWL-1642EVS and I couldn't be happier (unless someone gave me a Stubby lathe!).

 

[Mark Mandell]

After having made most of the furniture in the house, I get a Raffan book for X-mas from one of my kids with the note, "Only thing I could find that you haven't done, yet." Month later I go to a wood show and, on PURE impulse, snag the show's floor-model JET 1236 for $500.

A day's lesson with Bill Grumbine in PA, and a couple $hundred to Jacques Coulomb for some good tools . . .

Done

[The table saw weeps so softly you can barely hear it and only when all else is dead quiet . . . ]

 

[Chuck Ludwigsen]

Life takes a Turn

Some hobbies you start at the wrong time in life and some you start at the right time. Sometimes, the turns that life takes make all the difference.

I first got started turning in 1996 when I went to Branson, MO to visit my in-laws. My wife and I went to her cousin's one day and her fiance was in his shop turning. He had a small Delta lathe set up. He was just finishing a platter. I loved it.

Well he wasted no time. He chucked a piece between centers and said "here, you try it.". He guided me through the process and, at the end of the day, I had a set of candle holders (one walnut and one cherry). I bought my first lathe a few months later, a 1983 Buffalo lathe with solid spindle. I took a class from Dick Absher, a local turner and middle school art teacher here in Memphis. I joined the newly formed Midsouth Woodturners Guild at the first meeting. I would stay out in the shop turning until 2 to 3 in the morning. My wife felt like she had lost me, but I was hooked.

Or so I thought.

About a year and a half later an illness caused me to step away from my lathe and my shop for a bit. By the time I was fully recovered, I was also trying to start a new job and dedicating alot of time out of town. Mostly in NYC. September 11, 2001 brought me home in more ways than one. After a struggle to get another job, and a long path to financial recovery, I went out to my shop to just clean it out and relieve a little stress on the lathe.

About that same time, I discovered the Midsouth Woodturners Guild had moved to a location closer to me and also stumbled onto WoodCentral. Between those three events, the candle was re-lit.

But this time, I have grown up more, value my time with my wife and family more, desire to "do it right" more. So I have managed to turn more pieces while maintaining a better balance with my time.

My wife no longer feels like a wood widow. She is part of what I do and encourages me every day.

Through the internet, I have also met the likes of Russ Fairfield, Wally Dickerman, John Lucas, Terry Daniels, Pam Rielly, Herman De Vries, and so many others that guide us gently and encouragingly through this craft.

My hope is to someday retire from Information Technology and open a workshop where I can teach woodworking and woodturning. A place where people, who do not have the means or space to put a nice shop together, can still enjoy woodcrafting by using My Workshop.

Happy turning...
Chuck in Memphis, TN.

 

[PapaDoc]

This thread continues to fascinate me with the variety of starting points but a common passion. As I am continue to formulate this article, your response are very encouraging.
Thanks to each one who has responded.
David Galloway

 

[terry q]

20 odd years ago my wife and I were restoring antiques and refinishing furniture. We lived on an old farm with a couple of outbuildings. One of which was our "work shop". Landlord was retiring and selling off his property and we didn't want to buy this one. Moved to town and lost all buildings. Sold all tools and just about went nuts that first winter with nothing to do. Ended up buying a scroll saw and became addicited usually scrolling 40+ hours a week after putting a 40 hour week at a paying job. For the most part I only scrolled for the next 15 years. I like to think I am a professional. But in the back of my mind I knew that I have always wanted to try my hand at turning. It appeals to the engineer in me just like scrolling does. A little over a year ago an older man in my wood club told me his health was not very good and he was going to start selling the things he wasn't able to use anymore. We had talked about turning in the past and he knew I was ready to make the jump. He offered me his old Delta/Rockwell 4 speed and all the turning tools for a price that was shamefully small. I jumped and was hooked immediately. Since then I have upgraded 3 times. The next lathe, which was 3 months later was a Delta 16/42. I figured I would turn on this lathe for another 4 or 5 years and upgrade before I retire. Then a chance at a Stubby. Sold the Delta and bought the Stubby. I am pretty much self taught and realize I have a lot to learn. I will get a chance this year to have some one on one with Soren Berger. I also own a Jet VS mini which my wife and I and a neighbor turn pens/tops/mushrooms. Oh, as for scrolling......well I just don't have the time.

By the way I passed the Delta/Rockwell along for the same price I bought it for and that same person upgraded and bought my 16/42. He in turn hooked another with the Delta/Rockwell. What a great hobby!

Terry Quiram

 

[Tony Reynolds]

It started many years ago (the early 60's) as a little boy watching my Grandfather turn simple candlesticks and stair parts in his basement workshop. Finally in 1988 or so I bought my first lathe, a Craftsman pipe lathe. I turned many ugly items over the next several years, some of which I still have. My wife won't let me burn them. In 2000 I upgraded to a Nova 3000 and finally started to learn what curves are. Being self taught I learned how to use scrapers to do just about everything. I managed to turn some pretty nice bowls. Finally in 2004 I decided to get serious and took some classes from Lowell Converse, Jim Burrowes, Andi Wolfe, and David Ellsworth. Life will never be the same. My favorite tool of choice now is the 5/8" bowl gouge. Several weeks ago I was able to upgrade the Nova to a 3520a. Turning appears to be a life long addiction with no cure in sight.

Tony

 

[lampman]

How I got started in woodturning

Hi David, I am 70, I don't have the facilities to do work now. Pardon my grammar I am not good with words. 20 years ago I did some wood turning, it is not traditional wood turning, but nevertheless it was turned on a lathe. I will send you the history of this piece. My first conception of the (4) spiral lamp I did some years ago. I was at a friends house, she and her daughters showed quarter horses. I was sitting in the living room, on a wall there was three long shelves filled with trophies, one trophy in particular caught my eye. It was a single spiral with a cup on it. The trophy was made of-- plastic--.(Pop metal). In my mind's eye, I could see the single spiral made of wood. It put my mind to thought, mentally I designed a way the single spiral could be made of wood. A thought came to mind, that would make a beautiful lamp. How can I put a hole through the middle of a spiral, in my mind I designed a way to do that also. While giving this more thought, I would need a cylinder of wood, dissected 360° from top to bottom, but there are 4 spirals in the cylinder of wood. Thus, was the birth of the 4 spiral lamp; ( Five minutes later). At this time, I had a business in North Miami Florida, building designer mailboxes. One of my designs, I sold to the Fulton Corp. Fulton Illinois. I designed and produced, built the tooling, the machinery, and the hardware. It went nationwide and is still on the market, I received a royalty for 10 years. I had the facilities in place to work on the lamp. The five minutes it took to design a method to do the lamp, took three years, and $75,000 to implement. Since there was no machinery to do these applications, I had to develop and build the equipment. Dissect a cylinder 18 in. long, 10 1/2 in. Diameter, Into 4, 360° spirals, make each one of the spirals round, and bore a hole through each spiral. The one and only, the prototype, is made of green cypress, cured with PEG-- polyurethane Geico--. ( All) woods can be used. The 1 spiral, the 2 spiral, the 3 spiral. All are good spirals, when one or more of the 4 spirals did not work out, I used those to make the 1, 2, and 3, that's how they came about. I was hoping at the time to put it in production, I was unable to come up with the funds to do so. ( It become my labor of love) I did take it to two trade shows on Miami Beach, one was for the home interior designers, the other was for the general public, I had very good feedback at both shows. If I had a product to sell, I could have sold out everything. Over the years I have improved on curing the wood and other aspects of the project.
P. S. Go to this web site for pitchers.http://home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-lampman
In the AAW picture gallery, look under (lampman) have a wood day. Dan

 

[Kenny]

how / why i got started in woodturning

I am a beginner woodturner but intermediate in furniture building. I love creating something out of nothing. I have been working with wood for the past 27 years (yes that would of made me 9 years old- but even back then I loved to create.) Anyhow, 2 seasons ago I had to rid my property of a terminte destroyed 60 year old black walnut tree. when I started cutting the individual logs into planks for future wood projects ( only 1/3rd of tree destroyed by insects) the smell of the wood cutting, the freshness of the log, the purity of knowing that what was formally a tree is now being honed into furniture sparked something dorment in me. up till this time I only constructed furniture from store bought lumber. While taking a wood class the following season I was told of a Wood turning artisan that loved to teach people the trade- I jumped at the chance and instantly fell in love with the ability to mold God's creation into an alternate form of beauty. A few thousand dollars later and much debt I was off and running. I have never regreted the leap.

 

[The Spin Doctor]

Start in Woodturning

I became interested in building a stereo cabinet back 25 years ago. I bought some Sears woodworking tools and made the cabinet and some additional furniture. Over the years I made a house full of furniture but sold the Sears lathe early on.

I went to the local wood tool store and saw a Oneway lathe and some beautiful turnings and decided I had to become a woodturner. We must all be affected in the same positive way by the beauty of the color, form and grain of turned wood. It is a wonderful experience to take a piece of non-descript wood and transform it into a work of art, especially since we use hand tools. There are few ways to get better satisfaction!

Unfortunately, I have gotten all wrapped up in an idea to make a better hollowing system and not matured as a woodturner. I do look toward a future full of creating and certainly marvel at the wonderful work on display in the AAW Gallery on this website. Keep up the good work!

 

[PapaDoc]

This thread is rich with history and shows the variety of background from which turners come. Thanks for all the responses. As others come on this new format, I hope you will add your story.
Blessings,
David Galloway

 

[Whit]

David,

Thank you for asking. All of these 3 pages of postings are fascinating. My offering is up near the top, but anytime I see a new post I immediatley go to see how others have come to what I call this "magnificent obsession." It never ceases to amaze me what beauty can be found inside a piece of wood I had nothing to do with producing. It was "given" to me. I'm only discovering what was there all along.

Whit

 

[Bob Hadley]

About 10 years ago I wanted to graduate from case work to furniture. I decided to go big: a Maloof-style rocker (you can see my latest at: http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/bphadley@pacbell.net). But this required a lathe to make the legs. The lathe required tools. The tools required sharpening. The turning required practice. The practice required more projects. Bigger projects required a better lathe, more tools, and finally an AAW membership! Before I knew it, I was sucked into the vortex!
BH

 

[Jeff Myroup]

How I got started.

As You can see from my profile, one of my main hobbies is skydiving. When the season ended last November I found myself very bored. One day while watching Dave Hout demonstrate on the DIY network I got interested. My father used to have a craft business and recently moved down south. He gave all his equipment to me including a 15 year old Shop smith. I knew I had all the parts to start turning. I went out and cut a limb from a maple tree. I knew nothing at this point. I had an idea about mounting between centers. So I gave it a try. It seems like so long ago. My first piece was a bowl made of Osage Orange. The Power company trimed the trees across the street about 6 months before. All I really had was a spindle gouge and a 1/2 scraper. I did not know at the time how hard Osage was. I found out in a hurry. It took about 3 hours to hollow, and what seemed like a week to sand. After I was done it turned out pretty good. I have since bought much better tools and hope to up grade to a real lathe later this year. The shop smith does a alright job, but considering I am 6'5" it is way short and hollowing kills my back. Everything I make my wife takes into work and sells. I guess she is tired of seeing it all on top of the entertainment center. Here the weather has been rainy for what seems like forever. So I have yet to jump this year, but am able to spend all day in the shop when not working. I owe a lot of thanks to the members of this site, and many others for my progression. I have learned alot and keep learning. Thank you

Jeff

 

[Erwin Nistler]

100 yrs ago +/-

Way back when, before the time of automatic pin setters in bowling alleys, I used to set pins after school and weekends. These pins were made of solid maple. When one would get chiped they were for the scrap pile of for me. I took these home and turned stuff from them.
My lath was home made from an oak plank, old grinding arbor and pointed bolt. The local blacksmith, everybodys friend, welded an acceptable drive center on the end of the arbor. The tail was made of wood with a pointed bolt and a couple nuts and washers. Tools were files, screw drivers, wood chisels etc. ground to suit. I had on store bought tool, a gouge,purchased with my pinsettig money.
I had never seen wood turned or met a woodturner. There was no www for advice or to see what others were doing. When I finaly made a chalace, with a captured ring on the stem, I was realy happy with the results.

Then, I left home and done no turning untill I retired and bought a real lath. I remembered how I enjoyed turning so bought a real lath and have been turning since. As recently as this morning. I enjoy it more then ever. I am still happy when I produce a nice piece just like in the olden days when I made stuff from bowling pins.

EAN

 

[PapaDoc]

I am getting fired up for AAW convention. I hope to meet many of you who have posted on this thread. Hopefully, I can get a few interviews in for future articles. If you see me and want to tell your story in person, let me know.
Hope to see you in Orlando.
David Galloway

 

[pjreilly]

I always liked working with my hands, but never had the time or tools to do anything "real". After moving to MN with my husband, I saw a re-run of Home Improvement where Al is turning on a lathe. I mentioned to my Mom how I thought it would be neat to have a wood lathe, never having any idea of what I would do with it, but I'm also a bit of a tool junkie. Well, Christmas 2001, a HF lathe is "under the tree" from my parents. Before I ever unboxed it and put it together, many, many hours were spent on the internet figuring out what tools I needed, the variety of things I could make, what safety concerns there were, sharpening.....the list goes on and on. February 2002, I started actually turning and haven't regretted one, single second of it. I started out making bowls, progressed to boxes and hollow forms, but boxes are my favorite. I now have my work in 3 galleries, belong to two clubs, and have demoed box making for one of them. I have "met" wonderful people on the internet with an almost overwhelming need to share what they know. This is the best addiction there is

Pam

 

[gray2steel]

How I got started in woodturning.

Hi Dave,

I am a faithful "Norm" watcher. Saw him turn a spindle on one of his shows and was taken up by it.
I went to the annual Woodworking show in NJ and witnessed many turning demonstrations.
I was then hooked for sure.Got a lot of books on "Turning"
I received a Delta 407 lathe as a Christmas Present in 1998. Started turning bowls and plates from the exotic woods purchased at the Woodworking show.
Great gifts have come from this lathe.
I was going on vacation to NC for a week and needed something to do, so I purchased a Jet mini lathe and took it with me. I wound up turning more than a dozen pens, key rings, wine stoppers and tops. They sold very well a Christmas time.
I have since purchased a duplicater for my Delta. I was commissioned to turn "Antique" stairway spindles for an Old Brownstone in Brooklyn. Two different lenghths.That was my first real job that I was paid to do it by a contractor.
I find turning one of the most rewarding things to do.
Wishing I had a lot more time to turn, but settling for the perecious time I get to turn.
Hope this helps your article.
Sincerely
Ginny Steel

 

[David Gillie]

almost 30 years later...

In the 7th grade I fell in love with woodworking. Spent every lunch and study hall in the school shop. When I got out of HS, I had made enought pieces of furniture that I was sort of known for it and started a business. That was all well and good but the family was pushing for me to go to college and then make my killing in the corporate world.
Well, I did. Even owned the company and then one Monday morning said "the hell with it" and quit. Went back to my love of woodworking and quickly found myself backordered by 6 months or more.
Even though I a professional woodworker, none of my work requirres a lathe. And yet, I remember the fun I had in high school on the lathe.
I can't justify a high-end lathe like my professional tools, but my crappy little lathe provides immense enjoyment on the rare occasions that I have time for "hobby work".
It's kind of interesting and strange to be a professional who's advise is sought after on other forums and at the same time to be a newbie novice turner.
A formation meeting will be next Thursady night for a local AAW chapter. Looking forward to rubbing elbows with the "pros".

 

[Ed Davidson]

My first experience with woodturning was 35 years ago in high school (Dallas Texas...Hillcrest). I turned a walnut bowl, designed to be 8" across, but ended up being about 6"...I got a "C".

It was strictly casual turning from then until 1999...two years after I quit working full time, enjoying the good life. A machinist friend of mine decided to begin making aluminum yoyos about that time and asked if I'd make some boxes for his creations, so he could sell them as a package. We argued for a while on whether the boxes should be square-sided or round...I wanted them to be square. Luckily for me, we finally agreed on round.

So, between 1999 and this year, I've made over a thousand little boxes for my friend Frank Dif-e-Yo Aluminum Yo-Yo's , and that's how I got into serious turning.

 

[PapaDoc]

Any new folks on the site want to add their story? We are hoping to add a feature in the magazine about how both ordinary folks got started as well as some of our luminaries. Please tell us your story, as well as reading others.
David Galloway

 

[DSKIPPER]

Long, long ago in a wood shop far, far away ....

The first time I turned I was in sixth grade. I turned a walnut rolling pin as a test in shop class. It didn't do anything for me.
It wasn't until spring of 1999, when I started working at Paxton's Woodcraft Store, that I saw a poster of pieces that Ron Fleming had turned. I convinced my manager that I couldn't sell any woodturning supplies and tools without any knowledge of turning. So at night, after hours, I would practice on the store lathe-- a Delta 12".
My first piece I turned flew off the lathe and landed square into my forehead. That taught me to make sure the tailstock was tight. That piece was basically a turned spindle but I was going for a vase. Having never seen anyone hollow anything before, I stuck it on a drill press and drilled out the center. Needless to say, I spent days on this piece filing it on the inside with Micro-plane files. Crude yes, but I was hooked.
My manager encouraged me to take a woodturning video home before I killed myself. My next piece was better--a 4" walnut bowl with "turned" out center, not drilled. It had really nice 1/2" thick walls which I proudly took to my first woodturners meeting. Criticism of the clunkiness broke my heart but it instigated an ongoing obsession for almost transparent walls.
The first month I turned 30 pieces and soon bought my own Jet mini and one 1/4" spindle gouge that was used for everything.
In a matter of a few months, I was invited to participate in a charity art auction. It opened up opportunity to be invited to display in galleries around the Tulsa area.
Four years later, I still use my Jet mini and my 1/4" spindle gouge. But now they're lost among my arsenal of turning tools I've compulsively aquired over the years. I now have a 20"x60" Oliver pattern maker's lathe.
Turning is becoming my full-time job. I am also enjoying teaching my child and others the fun of woodturning.

 

[rustyvolvo122]

My start to woodworking began in when I was a little kid, probably in the 1980s. My grandfather had a basement full of antique hand tools. I would go down there and drill/cut 2x4s until there was almost nothing left. I went on to highschool and took 4 years of woodworking along with 2 years of metal/jewelry sculpture. The turning bug hit me in 1995 when I first started using a lathe. I turned a walnut bowl for my mother for xmas. I went on to make a independent study up my senior year incorporating woodworking and metal working. I was fortunate enough to design and create this piece http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~milone/pics/art/sculpture/nation1.jpg (sorry for photo quality). It is made from walnut and pewter. The piece took first place in the Connecticut Scholastic Art awards and went on to the national level where I received second place.
I was accepted into an art program at UMass Dartmouth, with a healthy scholarship. I decided instead to go to UConn and study computer science. I quit my job in August and decided to try a more noble career. I started turning bowls from local trees which were damaged by disease or storms. So far I have only sold two pieces. I am hoping to get a bunch of work together and head out to local galleries. I'm not sure if it will be a career in woodworking, but I'm going to try my hardest to get involved in furniture making and more woodworking.
-Gil Milone
Connecticut

 

[Angelo]

How I got Started

Back in 1991 I started a "woodworking shop" in my garage. My thought was to finally get to building that house full of furniture that I read about in some magazine or other. At the time I was "sold" on Craftsman tools and was filling my garage with 'em. I wasn't using them much but I sure was buying them. Then one day it dawnwd on me that the only machine I was missing was a latahe. Didn't know what I would use it for, specifically, but I knew I "needed" one.

My Uncle Cosmo had one that he bought many years ago and wanted to sell it. He told me that the price was $1,000 plus all the extras. When I bought it I found out that the "extras" included one of every tool that Diamic and Henry Taylor had ever produced, up to the time he bought his equipment. PLUS a Pick up truck load of lumber. Mostly Teak and Walnut......SCORE!!! I was in business.

The problem was, that when I went to turn I threw everything off the lathe! Mostly with a surprising shock and whallop! So I figured I'd beter get some instruction before I hurt myself.

Funnily enough the Brookfield Craft Center was offering a week long class with a schlock turner from Michigan....Lacer, I think his name was....can't quite recall. All I know is that after THAT class all other forms of woodworking took a back seat to turning. Then, and even now, most of the other equipment make great tables to hold the next turning project.

Sadly, Uncle Coz passed away March 15th 2003 but the fire he ignited is still burning! Thanks Uncle, see you on the other side

Now to get into that pick up truck load of wood

A :cool2:

 

[PapaDoc]

Wanted to reintroduce this thread to some of our new folks. Add your stories!
David Galloway