Hello everybody,
I’m from Clinton, Utah. I first learned to turn from my Dad, many years ago. When I was a freshman in high school, I turned a miniature baseball bat about 10 inches long from some of my Dad’s scrap. I took it to school to show some friends on the baseball team and they loved it. I quickly sold it for $3 (a lot then), and had several other orders. Unfortunately, we had an assistant principle who was sure that all the boys in the school were on the verge of splitting up into gangs to start a “rumble.” He saw one of the bats and called my Dad, apparently informing him that I was the arms dealer to the entire north end of the valley. When I showed my Dad what I had made, I was rewarded with quite the eye roll, but was told not to take any more projects to school. Thus ended my budding career as a production wood turner.
Since then, I have turned off and on, but always wanted to turn more. A few years ago, after turning a pedestal for a table top I had inherited from my grandfather, I decided to make an effort to turn and learn more. I still don’t get as much time to turn as I want and I am currently relegated to the garage (cars don’t really need a garage, tools do). Lately I’ve mostly been making small boxes and bowls. Hopefully I will have real shop soon, and more time to turn. I look forward to gleaning more information and ideas from all of you.
I’m from Clinton, Utah. I first learned to turn from my Dad, many years ago. When I was a freshman in high school, I turned a miniature baseball bat about 10 inches long from some of my Dad’s scrap. I took it to school to show some friends on the baseball team and they loved it. I quickly sold it for $3 (a lot then), and had several other orders. Unfortunately, we had an assistant principle who was sure that all the boys in the school were on the verge of splitting up into gangs to start a “rumble.” He saw one of the bats and called my Dad, apparently informing him that I was the arms dealer to the entire north end of the valley. When I showed my Dad what I had made, I was rewarded with quite the eye roll, but was told not to take any more projects to school. Thus ended my budding career as a production wood turner.
Since then, I have turned off and on, but always wanted to turn more. A few years ago, after turning a pedestal for a table top I had inherited from my grandfather, I decided to make an effort to turn and learn more. I still don’t get as much time to turn as I want and I am currently relegated to the garage (cars don’t really need a garage, tools do). Lately I’ve mostly been making small boxes and bowls. Hopefully I will have real shop soon, and more time to turn. I look forward to gleaning more information and ideas from all of you.
