My interest in woodworking really began when I worked for my uncle as a carpenter during the summers while attending college. Due to several changes of majors and occasional lapses in study habits it took me seven years to complete a four year degree. By the time I finally received my Bachelors degree in (are you ready for this?) PHILOSOPHY, I had become a pretty good carpenter, which was a good thing because I couldn't find anyone willing to pay me to sit around and think. I wound up as a general contractor building custom houses and remodeling mostly in the mountains in Colorado.
I also had a hobby workshop where I built furniture for my wife and I and friends and family as relief from the business world. I had seen clips of lathe work but never done any and was curious about it. While attending the Denver woodworkers show in 1997 I saw the booth of the "Front Range Woodturners". I was amazed by the beautiful creations but decided that I had neither the time nor the money to get involved with a another hobby. A couple of months later another contractor working in the area asked if I had a nail gun he could borrow. I had one that I really didn't like and said I would sell it. He had a lathe he had won and offered to trade and I accepted. It was a Chinese round tube contraption but it made the wood go round and with it and a $20 set of tools from the local hardware store and a dog-eared instruction book I started turning.
I was instantly hooked!!!!
I never wanted to do flatwork again. I joined The Front Range Woodturners in Denver and, later the Rocky Mountain Woodturners in Fort Collins, where I met some of the nicest people I have ever known. Many demonstrations and classes later I feel that I have become a reasonably decent turner.
Because I have developed COPD I have moved from Colorado to Coos Bay, Oregon where the air is much thicker and where I have joined the South Coast Woodturners and hope to keep turning for many more years.
I also had a hobby workshop where I built furniture for my wife and I and friends and family as relief from the business world. I had seen clips of lathe work but never done any and was curious about it. While attending the Denver woodworkers show in 1997 I saw the booth of the "Front Range Woodturners". I was amazed by the beautiful creations but decided that I had neither the time nor the money to get involved with a another hobby. A couple of months later another contractor working in the area asked if I had a nail gun he could borrow. I had one that I really didn't like and said I would sell it. He had a lathe he had won and offered to trade and I accepted. It was a Chinese round tube contraption but it made the wood go round and with it and a $20 set of tools from the local hardware store and a dog-eared instruction book I started turning.
I was instantly hooked!!!!
I never wanted to do flatwork again. I joined The Front Range Woodturners in Denver and, later the Rocky Mountain Woodturners in Fort Collins, where I met some of the nicest people I have ever known. Many demonstrations and classes later I feel that I have become a reasonably decent turner.
Because I have developed COPD I have moved from Colorado to Coos Bay, Oregon where the air is much thicker and where I have joined the South Coast Woodturners and hope to keep turning for many more years.
