I have been turning pens for about 20 years. The hobby grew out of an addiction to fountain pens. I don't use kits. However after 20 years of penturning I decided ot go for variety and am starting to turn small boxes and bowls. I am limited by the size of my Nova comet II lathe. However, I just joined our local maker space and now have access to a massive Oneway. So the sky is the limit. I'm fortunate to have a number of experienced turner's who are members of the maker space. There is also a local turners club, Monadnock turners, with some great talent. The recent heavy we snow storm in our area has provided me with a great source of Maple bowl blanks, it also made a mess of my driveway!