Hi! I've been active on the forum for a little bit, but I've never written an introduction post. Here it is!
First off, this community is great. Being able to participate in challenges, be inspired by gallery postings, and interact with so many like-minded folks is such a treat. Beyond the excitement of the forum, I know it's expanded my skill-set and knowledge of the craft tremendously. So, thanks everyone!
I've been woodturning for a year (as of today actually), and have been woodworking in general for a few years. That said, nothing comes close to the joy and satisfaction I get from turning. It is a great creative outlet for me, and gets me working with so many types of wood. I just love it so much, and anticipate this will be a life-long obsession.
For the better part of the last decade my main passion/hobby was rock climbing. It took to me to a lot of great places, and introduced me to a lot of nice people. Here's an interesting photo of my friend taking a photo of me during a trip together a few years ago to Yosemite National Park:
I thought climbing was the be all, end all; however, once I had a kid, my mindset changed. The risks I was willing to take were different, and the time I spent away from home (that was never an issue before) made me sad. So, as my son grew (he's currently 1.5 years old), I spent more and more time at home, and eventually caught the woodturning bug. Hard. My wife and I are expecting our second baby boy in a week or two. Soon! Here's my wife and son together this past Halloween (they both dressed up as Tom Cruise in Risky Business, haha):
For my profession, I teach Anatomy & Physiology (and other biology courses) at Chattanooga State Community College. It's 90% enjoyable--students are great, the schedule is fantastic, but non-teaching obligations are a drag. Besides woodcraft, I really love to cook and make drinks. Here is an alcoholic concoction that I made this summer (it's currently bottled [to be opened in a couple of weeks], and is very, very sweet and dark--bonus points if you know what it is [black walnuts are the hint]):
Back to woodturning! My shop is our single car garage. It's pretty narrow, but it works. I've got a bit of a hoarding problem, so it stays cluttered--working on improving the situation though. I've done most of my tuning on a Nova Comet 2 1216. It was a fantastic little lathe to learn on. A few weeks ago I bought an older used Vicmarc VL300 from a guy in Alabama. It's an amazing beast, and is by far the biggest, most expensive tool that I've ever bought. The logistics of getting it to my shop--what a day/weekend that was. I just got it powered up last week, and and have made a couple of pieces with it so far.
Continued in the next post (reached my photo limit)
First off, this community is great. Being able to participate in challenges, be inspired by gallery postings, and interact with so many like-minded folks is such a treat. Beyond the excitement of the forum, I know it's expanded my skill-set and knowledge of the craft tremendously. So, thanks everyone!
I've been woodturning for a year (as of today actually), and have been woodworking in general for a few years. That said, nothing comes close to the joy and satisfaction I get from turning. It is a great creative outlet for me, and gets me working with so many types of wood. I just love it so much, and anticipate this will be a life-long obsession.
For the better part of the last decade my main passion/hobby was rock climbing. It took to me to a lot of great places, and introduced me to a lot of nice people. Here's an interesting photo of my friend taking a photo of me during a trip together a few years ago to Yosemite National Park:
I thought climbing was the be all, end all; however, once I had a kid, my mindset changed. The risks I was willing to take were different, and the time I spent away from home (that was never an issue before) made me sad. So, as my son grew (he's currently 1.5 years old), I spent more and more time at home, and eventually caught the woodturning bug. Hard. My wife and I are expecting our second baby boy in a week or two. Soon! Here's my wife and son together this past Halloween (they both dressed up as Tom Cruise in Risky Business, haha):
For my profession, I teach Anatomy & Physiology (and other biology courses) at Chattanooga State Community College. It's 90% enjoyable--students are great, the schedule is fantastic, but non-teaching obligations are a drag. Besides woodcraft, I really love to cook and make drinks. Here is an alcoholic concoction that I made this summer (it's currently bottled [to be opened in a couple of weeks], and is very, very sweet and dark--bonus points if you know what it is [black walnuts are the hint]):
Back to woodturning! My shop is our single car garage. It's pretty narrow, but it works. I've got a bit of a hoarding problem, so it stays cluttered--working on improving the situation though. I've done most of my tuning on a Nova Comet 2 1216. It was a fantastic little lathe to learn on. A few weeks ago I bought an older used Vicmarc VL300 from a guy in Alabama. It's an amazing beast, and is by far the biggest, most expensive tool that I've ever bought. The logistics of getting it to my shop--what a day/weekend that was. I just got it powered up last week, and and have made a couple of pieces with it so far.
Continued in the next post (reached my photo limit)
