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Took The Plunge

Good purchase!

Congratulations Darryl - You are really going to like that lathe!

I do hope that you will avail yourself to the many skilled woodturners who are members of a woodturning club near you to help get you started correctly. You can obviously learn woodturning by yourself, as many turners have done, but your skill development will be much faster if you can get some helpful comments and instruction from someone with experience. Above all, be sure to have your safety (and that of others) at the top of your priority list when doing anything on your new machine! And also remember that ALL of the woodturning video clips you may find on the Internet do not necessarily demonstrate the best or even proper or safe technique. All the more reason to associate with experienced woodturners in person.

Welcome to the enjoyable and addictive vortex of woodturning, from which you will likely never want to escape!

Rob Wallace
 
I second what Rob has said about joining a local club -- I have been a closet turner for one year and last month finally joined my local club. I have loved every minute! They are a great group of people willing to share their knowledge of this wonderful craft, they are keen on mentoring and sharing ideas. We are lucky enough to have one meeting night per month, but also a hands on night as well - best thing I have ever done was join the WGO! 😀
 
Rob & Colleen have it right, woodturners are generally a nice group of extremely helpful and non judgmental individuals who gather to teach and learn on a fairly regular basis (meetings)... I'm a grumpy hermit, generally, but go to several meetings because of the friendly HELPFUL environment.
We all start knowing little to nothing about our hobby/sport and never get far enough away from newbies to forget that and become jaded.

On top of that opportunity/benefit, you have elected to invest in a state of the art lathe to learn on. Makes the learning curve shorter and more enjoyable.
 
congratulations, enjoy
 
You do realize that you only dove into shallow water. In a few months, the thought of a bigger lathe will enter your mind. Then a new chain saw, then a hollowing system, then......................Good luck!
 
Welcome to the enjoyable and addictive vortex of woodturning, from which you will likely never want to escape!

Rob Wallace

It's possible to escape?????😱
 
It's possible to escape?????😱

I am unaware of any definitive data that shows one can voluntarily escape the vortex - there are probably a few documented cases of turners having to give up the lathe dance due to health reasons, etc. - but this certainly is not done willfully. Turning, in my opinion, is one of the few addictions with many psychological benefits.

Vortex-on, my friends! 😀

Rob
 
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