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Brandon Sloan

Brandon Sloan

Brandon Sloan

Joined
Mar 7, 2019
Messages
145
Likes
80
Location
Victoria, Texas
Hello everyone, my name is Brandon and I have been turning for over a year now. I started woodworking because I was frustrated with the lack of decent coffee tables at the local furniture store. I became obsessed with “collecting” old iron and bought two PM 66’s an old 20” delta bandsaw from the 60’s along with a Powermatic jointer from the 70’s.

I had been helping a lady get her house ready to sell after her husband passed away. He had a delta midi lathe in the garage and I told her that I was always intrigued by wood turning. Long story short, she gave me the lathe for helping her out.

That was the day my life changed forever... Although I’m relatively new to turning, I think it’s only fair to be honest about how many hours a day I spent learning on the lathe. 8 to 10 hours a day was pretty normal. If I wasn’t on the lathe, I was on YouTube or this forum soaking up knowledge.

I recently upgraded to a Grizzly lathe and continue to put money away for my next lathe purchase. I didn’t buy the most expensive lathe I could afford because I took half of my budget for accessories.

I’m 37 years old and can say that the woodturning community is amazing. Some of the best people I’ve met my entire life.

Here’s some of my work, feel free to critique.

17F06A2F-4610-403E-9810-DF62B47E6D81.jpeg 8DE9A963-6EB9-4EC9-B3CA-58CB602DDC7A.jpeg EFFAD11B-ECAD-40BC-87CC-483052670467.jpeg 0AF6F798-AC6D-4F3D-95FB-D5034474D24A.jpeg FC172F6F-F883-4088-988D-9D6F5EF373F4.jpeg 7CCDE8AA-1B94-4949-BE60-99BF4A86869B.jpeg 546E4B75-A5CF-4300-A029-08248579F311.jpeg 3694D25E-5BC7-410B-B478-83F08E85CB11.jpeg
 
Brandon,

You are off to a good start, learning different techniques and turning a variety of items will rapidly build your turning skills. When I have free time I usually try to find a new item to turn on the lathe and work on mastering the process and method of making these new items.
 
Mike Johnson said:
Brandon,

You are off to a good start, learning different techniques and turning a variety of items will rapidly build your turning skills. When I have free time I usually try to find a new item to turn on the lathe and work on mastering the process and method of making these new items.
Click to expand...

I definitely haven’t found a style and may never. I just like to turn. I usually just put a piece on the lathe with no idea of what I want to make. As I cut, something pops into my head.

I’m not sure about other turners journey, but when I started, the ratio was 1 to 5 on pieces I let someone see to pieces that ended up in the trash. I always learn more from my trashed pieces.
 
Brandon Sloan said:
Hello everyone, my name is Brandon and I have been turning for over a year now. I started woodworking because I was frustrated with the lack of decent coffee tables at the local furniture store. I became obsessed with “collecting” old iron and bought two PM 66’s an old 20” delta bandsaw from the 60’s along with a Powermatic jointer from the 70’s.

I had been helping a lady get her house ready to sell after her husband passed away. He had a delta midi lathe in the garage and I told her that I was always intrigued by wood turning. Long story short, she gave me the lathe for helping her out.

That was the day my life changed forever... Although I’m relatively new to turning, I think it’s only fair to be honest about how many hours a day I spent learning on the lathe. 8 to 10 hours a day was pretty normal. If I wasn’t on the lathe, I was on YouTube or this forum soaking up knowledge.

I recently upgraded to a Grizzly lathe and continue to put money away for my next lathe purchase. I didn’t buy the most expensive lathe I could afford because I took half of my budget for accessories.

I’m 37 years old and can say that the woodturning community is amazing. Some of the best people I’ve met my entire life.

Here’s some of my work, feel free to critique.

View attachment 30168 View attachment 30169 View attachment 30170 View attachment 30171 View attachment 30172 View attachment 30173 View attachment 30174 View attachment 30175
Click to expand...
It shows that you are spending many hours on the lathe. Good job. Welcome to the most addicting hobbies you could have chosen, LOL
 
Welcome
You have some pleasing curves on your bowls.

You did not mention a local AAW chapter in your life.

The “South Texas Woodturners” meet in Victoria. I suggest you go to a couple of meetings if you can.
Meeting other turners can have a profound impact. - speedup your learning curve, expanding you horizons, and open the doors to creativity.

Also SWAT is a great regional symposium. Waco aug 23-25
Well worth a trip.
 
hockenbery said:
Welcome
You have some pleasing curves on your bowls.

You did not mention a local AAW chapter in your life.

The “South Texas Woodturners” meet in Victoria. I suggest you go to a couple of meetings if you can.
Click to expand...

I joined the “South Texas Turners” great guys. That’s where I met David Hill. He let me use his shop while I was just visiting back in February. He’s a great teacher and friend.

Thank you for the comment on the curve of the bowls. It’s something I worked hard at. When I first started, it was all straight wall bowls.

I want to thank everyone for their comments.
 
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