john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
I guess I should join in. I was born in Southern Indiana but we left when I was 2. Moved to Perry Park Kentucky and then Louisville, and then Nashville where I graduated in 1967. During my Tour in the Air Force my parents moved to Atlanta. Hey Al, my last tour of duty was at a small radar sqaudron on Ft. Meade. That's where I got into racing dirt bikes. Moved back to Tennessee where I 've been ever since. Graduated with a Degree in Physical Education but had minors in Industrial Arts and Mass Communications. When I graduated the only job I could find was selling Cameras. I had a bunch of odd electronic repair jobs after than but finally ended up back in the Photography end of things. That led to my job as a Photographer for Tennessee Tech University. That turned out to be a godsend as I'll explain when I talk about my turning.
During College I started doing woodworking. Making shelves and really rustic furniture mostly with a jigsaw,hand saw, router, chisel and hand plane. It's really amazing what all I made back then. I probably could have written a book on all the different ways you use a router because I did it all. After I graduated in 1978 I moved to Nashville and bought a Shopsmith about 1982. Of course it has a lathe so I was turning (OK really scraping) back then along with all the other woodworking projects. What got me really hooked was when I moved to Cookeville and took the Photography job. Part of my job was to photograph art pieces for the Appalachian Center for Crafts which was part of our school. Joe Looper was the head maintenance guy and also had a turning studio there with a lathe that had 54" swing. He was using tools that were 8 feet long and turning large green wood things. I was really really broke because I took massive pay cuts after getting layed off 3 jobs. That's why I was able to take the photo job at Tech that didnt pay worth a darn. Anyway I couldn't buy wood to continue my woodworking. Joe Looper introduced me to green wood turning. Heck I lived in the woods so my wood was now free. I cut everything up with a bow saw, hatchet, and Ax, but was able to get it on the lathe. I started with a really crappy Delta 12" reeves drive lathe. I was fortunate in that my Friend Joe got me interested in rebuilding and modifying an old J-line lathe. I had access to some machine tools at Tech so I made whatever parts were needed and got that lathe running. I put a DC drive on it and had really good lathe. I keep upgrading and now have a powermatic. During the last 20 years I've slowly been upgrading my shop and now have something that Norm Abrams could appreciate. Of course turning is still my main love but having a full shop you never know which direction my turning will take.
I enjoy helping people learn to turn and try to make videos. I hope to do more but I'm not computer literate and really fight to learn the programs as they change frequently. I write articles for the magazines to try and speed up the learning curve for other turners. I have taught classes at various places and done lots of demos for clubs. I've been retired for 5 years and stay so busy I don't know how I ever worked and still had time to turn.
During College I started doing woodworking. Making shelves and really rustic furniture mostly with a jigsaw,hand saw, router, chisel and hand plane. It's really amazing what all I made back then. I probably could have written a book on all the different ways you use a router because I did it all. After I graduated in 1978 I moved to Nashville and bought a Shopsmith about 1982. Of course it has a lathe so I was turning (OK really scraping) back then along with all the other woodworking projects. What got me really hooked was when I moved to Cookeville and took the Photography job. Part of my job was to photograph art pieces for the Appalachian Center for Crafts which was part of our school. Joe Looper was the head maintenance guy and also had a turning studio there with a lathe that had 54" swing. He was using tools that were 8 feet long and turning large green wood things. I was really really broke because I took massive pay cuts after getting layed off 3 jobs. That's why I was able to take the photo job at Tech that didnt pay worth a darn. Anyway I couldn't buy wood to continue my woodworking. Joe Looper introduced me to green wood turning. Heck I lived in the woods so my wood was now free. I cut everything up with a bow saw, hatchet, and Ax, but was able to get it on the lathe. I started with a really crappy Delta 12" reeves drive lathe. I was fortunate in that my Friend Joe got me interested in rebuilding and modifying an old J-line lathe. I had access to some machine tools at Tech so I made whatever parts were needed and got that lathe running. I put a DC drive on it and had really good lathe. I keep upgrading and now have a powermatic. During the last 20 years I've slowly been upgrading my shop and now have something that Norm Abrams could appreciate. Of course turning is still my main love but having a full shop you never know which direction my turning will take.
I enjoy helping people learn to turn and try to make videos. I hope to do more but I'm not computer literate and really fight to learn the programs as they change frequently. I write articles for the magazines to try and speed up the learning curve for other turners. I have taught classes at various places and done lots of demos for clubs. I've been retired for 5 years and stay so busy I don't know how I ever worked and still had time to turn.
