NAME: My legal name is David but my nickname since I've been 16 has been Big Country / BC
COFFEE: Black
BIO: I'm old enough to have taken shop class in middle school as part of the normal class rotation, but didn't pursue it past that (though I still have the clock & letter holder that I made). Other than giving my dad a hard time about watching This Old House or New Yankee Workshop on the weekend (before DVR's), I knew my dad was handy but it was never something I pursued. Then in the summer of '24, the place I had moved to had a garage and I started picking up some used woodworking tools on FB Marketplace / Craigslist after watching a bunch of YouTube woodworking videos and figuring I could make a little shop & figure out a project to work on. During one of those YouTube watches where I went down a rabbit hole, I came across a woodturning video. The next week I saw a used Jet 1014 lathe for a few hundred bucks on Marketplace that seemed to be in good shape, so I picked up. Including woodturning videos in my YouTube viewing rotation meant that quite a few videos referenced something that I hadn't heard of...so I added it to my ever-growing list of "things to research". Now it wasn't just videos but reading threads in various forums about starting out woodturning...I ordered some things from Amazon. One of those thoughts was "I wonder if they teach classes for this stuff", and a quick trip to Google led me to the Chicago School of Woodworking (CSW). They offered Woodworking 101 and also a Turning 1 class so I signed up for both. The 101 class was only hand tools, which was fun to learn and realize saying "that's close enough" doesn't necessarily look good when glued up (or stand up straight). I enjoyed the woodworking but that Turning 1 class though...it started with lathe review (which I "knew" the basics from all the videos & forums), then safety, then reviewing some tools and them showing how to make a cut on a spindle...beads & coves, beads & coves. Then 30 minutes in they handed us a piece of wood and said "now you try". That's when I got hooked & jumped as a cannonball into the deep end.
I joined my local woodturning club in October and haven't looked back. As I learn about the many different types of things you can turn & see what other people are doing, the more I want to try everything...so my "things to research" list continues, it's a bit more organized now but still a work-in-progress. I've been absolutely spoiled by the woodturning teachers we have at the school (Andy, Clint, Al, and Graham) and also the wealth of knowledge at my local club has been amazing.
LOCATION: Greater Chicago area, IL
CLUBS: Chicago Woodturners (CWT), Windy City Woodturners, Segmented Woodturners
WOODTURNING INTERESTS: Really enjoy what I've been able to dabble with regarding multi-axis turning. Initially I bought a bunch of pen & ornament kits thinking that's what I would mainly do...and then we made a bowl in class and I've been enjoying those the most.
CLASSES / DEMOS TAKEN: Turning 1, 2, & 3 at Chicago School of Woodturning (9-week classes). Pens & Bottle Stoppers (1-day class CSW), Bowls (1-day class CSW), Segmented vases (3-day class CSW), Simon Begg (club demo then 3-day class), Donna Zils-Banfield (club demo then 3-day class), David Ellsworth (3-day class...RIP)
Got to attend my first national Symposium in June and had a blast (and somehow stayed within my self-imposed "budget"), looking forward to Raleigh next year. Currently on a wood diet -.-
Cheers! -BC
TURNING 101
COFFEE: Black
BIO: I'm old enough to have taken shop class in middle school as part of the normal class rotation, but didn't pursue it past that (though I still have the clock & letter holder that I made). Other than giving my dad a hard time about watching This Old House or New Yankee Workshop on the weekend (before DVR's), I knew my dad was handy but it was never something I pursued. Then in the summer of '24, the place I had moved to had a garage and I started picking up some used woodworking tools on FB Marketplace / Craigslist after watching a bunch of YouTube woodworking videos and figuring I could make a little shop & figure out a project to work on. During one of those YouTube watches where I went down a rabbit hole, I came across a woodturning video. The next week I saw a used Jet 1014 lathe for a few hundred bucks on Marketplace that seemed to be in good shape, so I picked up. Including woodturning videos in my YouTube viewing rotation meant that quite a few videos referenced something that I hadn't heard of...so I added it to my ever-growing list of "things to research". Now it wasn't just videos but reading threads in various forums about starting out woodturning...I ordered some things from Amazon. One of those thoughts was "I wonder if they teach classes for this stuff", and a quick trip to Google led me to the Chicago School of Woodworking (CSW). They offered Woodworking 101 and also a Turning 1 class so I signed up for both. The 101 class was only hand tools, which was fun to learn and realize saying "that's close enough" doesn't necessarily look good when glued up (or stand up straight). I enjoyed the woodworking but that Turning 1 class though...it started with lathe review (which I "knew" the basics from all the videos & forums), then safety, then reviewing some tools and them showing how to make a cut on a spindle...beads & coves, beads & coves. Then 30 minutes in they handed us a piece of wood and said "now you try". That's when I got hooked & jumped as a cannonball into the deep end.
I joined my local woodturning club in October and haven't looked back. As I learn about the many different types of things you can turn & see what other people are doing, the more I want to try everything...so my "things to research" list continues, it's a bit more organized now but still a work-in-progress. I've been absolutely spoiled by the woodturning teachers we have at the school (Andy, Clint, Al, and Graham) and also the wealth of knowledge at my local club has been amazing.
LOCATION: Greater Chicago area, IL
CLUBS: Chicago Woodturners (CWT), Windy City Woodturners, Segmented Woodturners
WOODTURNING INTERESTS: Really enjoy what I've been able to dabble with regarding multi-axis turning. Initially I bought a bunch of pen & ornament kits thinking that's what I would mainly do...and then we made a bowl in class and I've been enjoying those the most.
CLASSES / DEMOS TAKEN: Turning 1, 2, & 3 at Chicago School of Woodturning (9-week classes). Pens & Bottle Stoppers (1-day class CSW), Bowls (1-day class CSW), Segmented vases (3-day class CSW), Simon Begg (club demo then 3-day class), Donna Zils-Banfield (club demo then 3-day class), David Ellsworth (3-day class...RIP)
Got to attend my first national Symposium in June and had a blast (and somehow stayed within my self-imposed "budget"), looking forward to Raleigh next year. Currently on a wood diet -.-
Cheers! -BC
TURNING 101
