Informal poll question...

[Stephen Walker]

Just turned 51. I've been turning for a year and a half. I bought a used PM 4224 as my first lathe, (just decided to skip all the upgrades) but find myself wishing that I had a second one now. My dad seems to have an interest in learning this turning thing, and I just don't know if I could stand idle and watch while he was using MY lathe. Some how I think I landed in a bigger vortex than most, as I will probably end up supporting his habit as well. Oh well, I guess that will be the payback for all that he has done for me.

[Steve Mawson]

This is kinda of fun reading about everyone. Turned 64 this year and wish I had saved more so I could quit this working thing. Did my first turning on Uncle Bob's Craftsman 8" lathe when I was about 8. Got a Dunlap lathe, another 8" for Christmas about a year later with carbon steel tools-still have the tools and use some of them. Then college, army, wife, kids, apartments-etc so not much turning. Got a Shopsmith in about 1981 but not much turning. One big turning project was a maple bookshelf with 20 spindles-4 spindles holding each shelf. Jet 1014 about 2005, then Delta 46-460VS, sold the Jet and then my Uncle Bob, same one that got me started gave me some money in 2009. That is when the PM 3520B came. This forum has made me a better turner along with Great Plains Woodturners-Lincoln, NE and Loess Hills Turners which is the Omaha, NE club but meets in IA. Looking forward to a class or symposium in the future and learning more here as well.

[Betty Fox]

I'm 29 (ask Ron he'll agree) and I started turning when Ron got me a jet mini about two years ago for my 29th birthday. My first project was an egg at a 'learn to turn' event and I'm STILL trying to perfect that egg. My dream is to make an egg box and that dream keeps getting put off by other more interesting projects like pens and peppermills. My current project is an end-grain walnut bowl. I may have to shelve it for some softer wood for my first turning on the big lathe. It's givin' me fits.
Oh well, maybe Ron will buy me some bowl turning tools for my 29th birthday next year!!!!
Betty

[Thom Sturgill]

I turn 63 next month retired last month and have been turning since May 2009. I turned on a metal lathe in High School and not since until I bought a Jet 1220 to turn spindles for as yet incomplete shaker tables. I joined a local club and took a course the club sponsored through the local community college and since took a weekend course at John C Campbell in the NC mountains. I have been to three symposia and plan on going to the NC symposium in about a month and the Florida symposium in Feb. I now turn on a Jet 1642. The sessions have been well worth the cost as have most of the DVDs in my library!

[Peter Elliott]

42yr.. I started turning about 2yrs ago when Tony DeMasi offered to give a free lathe here on the SMC. I was second inline to a young lady (I'm sure I was Tony!). After losing out, Tony D. and I would meet up here and there in the Washington, DC region. It wasn't until the sand-baggers Cruz and Hintz came along that pushed me over the edge and I got a Jet1642EVS. I proud to say, I was up and running before they were. I did a lot of spindle work when I was younger, mostly for furniture and used someone else lathe at the time.

Bowls and other stuff has really caught on again and I am mainly influenced by BILL GRUMBINE. Between his videos and some club demos, his style has really influence the way I go about bowl turning. Mike Mahoney is running a clear 2nd. I enjoy harassing our little crew on here (DeMasi, Cruz, Hintz) and treated the same.

-Peter

[Chris Burgess]

32, started turning a week before easter this year when I made some tops for the Kids easter baskets.

[Don Orr]

I'm 52 and started turning in Nov. of 2000 at a pen turning class given by the woodworking club I belong to. That was my high dive into the abyss. My wonderful wife got me Jet 1014 for Christmas that year and she has been a turning widow ever since. Picked up an old but never used Craftsman tube frame complete with tools and accessories (all never used, 14 yrs old at the time) and went from there. Upgraded to a Jet 1642 many years ago. It has done everything I have asked of it. One of the founders of our local turning club does a beginner class most every year. Used to do it at his house but does it at the club shop now. Went through that and many, many demos, videos, books, workshops, symposiums, etc. I hang out on several turning forums and have learned a great deal, especially that I still have a lot to learn. Still have the Jet mini and it is not a buffing station. Sold the Craftsman. I now have my FIL's old Craftsman from 1936 that he got when he was 14. I really want to get that set up so I can use it.

Happy Turning everyone !

[mickey cassiba]

54 going on 16... been turning for about 30 years, but first put steel to wood about two years ago. Boy did I have to unlearn a lot of stuff. With no local support, I've relied on the good folks here, and of course utube. Michelle's comment strongly describes me as well, I've attempted lots of things that are theoretically impossible, that came out nicely. I do mostly pens, and spindle type trinkets, but have pulled off a few small vessels as well. Wife is extremely supportive, keeps me out of her hair. And she gets first picks, so none of the good stuff goes to market. I'm making enough off of the pens to support my habit, and branch out a little. Won't never be in league with the Extraordinary Gentlemen( Steve, JK, and Mr Leo), and Michelle's stuff just wows me, but I try new stuff every chance I get(my scrap barrel runneth over. My little Delta has served me well, Currently trying to work out a deal on a big Delta, whose owner has fubar'd.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I'm 31 yrs old, and I started turning a 7-8 years ago. I got serious with it about 3 years ago, and I'm currently going about making my very modest livelihood woodturning and woodworking. Started turning on my dad's awful, and I mean awful, sheet metal bed and frame Grizzly lathe. The first lathe I purchased was my big pattern maker's lathe, a buying opportunity that I couldn't pass up. Currently I do most spindle turning on a NOVA 1624-44.

Hutch

[Johnny Taylor]

I'm 37 and started turning almost 3 years ago, with no real prior woodworking skill,not even as a school kid, here in the UK schools became so paranoid about injury,s ect that they only let us near files and sandpaper! It made woodwork and metalwork classes pointless!

[Tim Rinehart]

I'm 52 and started turning on my 50th birthday, almost to the day, and have been at it now for about 2 1/2 yrs. I had built a workshop many years ago that was more storage than anything else, and I decided to reclaim it as a shop a few years ago. Ironically, I came across a sketch I made of the shop floor layout before I built it in 1996, and there at one corner was a rectangle labeled "lathe". The lathe was the only tool I didn't have that I 'thought' I needed . Little did I know that I'd end up making it the primary tool.

I got a used Jet 1642 to start on. I realized potential for harm so I took a full day class at our local Woodcraft that following weekend, and I highly recommend it for others who are looking to get started. I turned nearly every evening I could, with occasional stops only when home projects were required. While I liked the Jet, I saw a cowboy hat demo by one of our club presidents, and knew I wanted the capacity to do that sort of work or similar. I started a lathe fund, auctioning off stuff like a dozen or so nice Redline Hotwheels and other stuff I had no use for, including a vintage Fantasia fiber light (the really big chrome one from the 70s) for cash towards the fund. I used the Jet exactly one year, sold it and bought the PM 3520B with change left over for the Delta 46-460. (the Delta is my 'going to workshops' and 'going to relatives' lathe). It's also signed by Jimmy Clewes after giving me some one on one during a workshop.

My favorite turning is hollow forms and I built my own Jamieson style rig for both my Jet and PM. I do like bowls and the challenge of getting a smooth transition on the inside, a challenge for many of us. There isn't much I haven't tried on the lathe, perhaps it's the curse of the amount of sensory input I get. I enjoy it all, some more than others. I've not done any segmenting...yet...but it's on the list. Right now, I have too many big blanks to really justify building one up till they start running out. I'm a bit of a wood hoarder...ooops.

[ray hampton]

I figure that I was the oldest member but even David are older than I am [just kidding] I am 69 and I bought a sears tube lathe way back in 1980 or 81 that were before the internet and DVDs, other things got in the way but now my lathe of choice is a 7x10 metal lathe which will serve as a wood turner also

[Jack Mincey]

I[m 51 and started turning in 1974 during high school shop classes. I have taught high school shop for 29 year and turned on the old rockwell lathes in our shop until 5 years ago when I got serious about turning. We now have a PM3520B,a jet mini, and a delta midi in the shop to go along with the two old rockwells. I built a shop at my home 5 years ago to give me a place to work in my retirement years. I put a 1640 Oneway in it for my first lathe to own. I'm self taught on the lathe and still learning every time I see some one turn either at a club demo or on the Internet. I plan to retire at the end of this year and do more work in my home shop.
Jack

[Tim Leiter]

I turned a little in Jr. High School in the late 60's, I can remember making a lamp out of an old bowling pin in class. My dad had an old farm lathe, made a bat once. I didn't turn again until I bought a Jet 1014 in about 2000. The only reason I bought the lathe is because I have always loved and collected all kinds of pens and I wanted to make my own. After I bought it I turned 4 or 5 pens and didn't touch it again for quite awhile. I was forced to resign from my job in 2005 because of some disabilities that krept up and I was having problems with having very little to do and was not making good use of my time.

I am 58 years old and in 2007 I decided I had to get a hobby to keep myself busy and out of trouble, so I dusted off the lathe and tools. I have turned a multitude of pens and sold a lot of them very cheap, just enough money to keep me in kits and blanks. I starting casting a couple of years ago and liked it but I have since decided to mainly use hardwoods and white-tailed deer antler. I could never get my PR blanks to come out as good as I would like (I am very particular), so I haven't cast or turned acrylic pens in a couple of years. I started trying my hand at making bowls and have not been very successful. I am too impatient and end up trying to go too fast and ruin lots of wood. I am continuing to make pens, a lot of bullet/cartridge pens out of antler because many people have wanted them from me. I don't advertise my pens, just sell by word of mouth. I am surprised at how many I have sold. I bought an HF #95607 to mainly make pens on earlier this year. I really like the variable speed. I made a hand wheel for the headstock and I like the lathe quite a lot. I am using the Jet for my bowls and I have recently made a walnut mallet and a couple of mortar and pestles that came out very well. Last week I got a great deal on an old Shopsmith 10ER and am happily restoring that lathe. I plan on using the 10ER to make longer items, of course and maybe I will have better luck on the bowls too I hope. I belong to 4 woodturning forums and just started in 2 Shopsmith forums. I enjoy reading and learning from the forums. I like woodturning very much and plan on doing this for awhile. I think I need to just be more patient when attempting bowl turnning and eventually maybe I can make some I can be proud of. I very much like the Sawmill Creek forum. I have quite a few physical challenges that don't allow me to spend a lot of time turning without taking many rest breaks. I think that is why I am too impatient with bowlmaking.
Tim.

[Bill Bulloch]

Okay I'll fess up ... I'm 70. I was introduced to the lathe in my High School Wood Shop back in 1954. What an experience; I had a catch so violent I had to go home and change my pants. I didn't touch a lathe until 54 years later. In Oct 2008, I saw a wood turning demo at a local festaval. I was so intrigued that I bought a lathe that same week. Now I can't decide which is my most expensive hobby: Woodturning, Golf or Poker.