Name: Gary Herrmann

How young are you? Gonna be 42 this summer

Physical description:
Gimpy former basketball player; 6’7”, 230 lbs., 3 knee surgeries, middle age and beer are conspiring against me. I’ve had a buzz cut for years – unfortunately there are getting to be fewer trees in the forest.

Where is home?
I live in St. Louis. Been here about 17 years. Grew up in South Florida. Never thought I’d leave the state, then I met my future wife, and she got a really good job offer when I was finishing up grad school. Now I’m a land locked Mid Westerner. Ugh. Still haven’t adjusted to that.

Family information:
Been married almost 18 years. Used to travel, then the wife was working on her Masters, so we were married 10 years before we were gifted with the mancub. He’ll be 7 shortly. 4’3”, 65 lbs. of non-stop movement and attitude. My mother’s curse came true. Good thing my wife’s DNA is there to smart him up, calm him down and make him handsome.

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Prior to being real parents, we had labs for years. Still have two – black and yellow boys. Like all labs, they’re full of love, and basically morons. We also have a Maine coon cat that tolerates being carried like a baby by my son and being occasionally chased by the dogs. You do have to repair a kitty condo when a 90-lb lab tries to climb it. Don’t ask how many times.

Do you have a website?
I built too many web sites to want to have my own.

Vocation:
I’m an IT PM. Mostly custom develop and web sites. Currently thinking about getting out of consulting and settling down at my current client – 4 miles from my house – yeah! Prior to that I was a mgmt consultant. Prior to that I was a statistician. So, I’m not really good at anything, I guess.

Shop Overview:
I’ve been slowly taking over the basement for the past few years. I have a decent flatwork shop with the usual tools. I also like hand tool work and am getting better at that. Turning is addictive. You get an almost immediate result. However, my darling bride has been very supportive and understanding about all this madness. I’ve built 4 or 5 pieces of furniture for the house. There are several more in the queue. As a result, I’ll never get away from flat work. It provides us a reasonably decent piece of furniture that fills a specific need or desire. She indulges me with the turning thing. That doesn’t mean I can avoid my son’s loft bed or another table for the pool deck or whatever. But yes, she knows a bigger lathe is coming some day.


How many lathes do you own?
I have a Fisch mini lathe my wife picked out after reading the FWW review of minis a few years back. She picked it up at the Collinsville WW’ing show.

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Surprised the heck out of me. I’m coveting a Robust, Stubby or Oneway. Probably never happen. A 3520b would be just fine – someday.

How many turning tools do you have?
I’ve got 8 or 9 turning tools. I’m still pretty new to this. I did make a tool for sanding the inside of pencil pots. Cut a kerf into a dowel so I could wrap sandpaper around it. Isn’t that impressive 

How long have you been turning, and what got you started in the first place?
I took a class 18 months ago, but have only been turning “regularly” for about 12 months or so. SWMBO is a pen geek so that’s what started it. I’ve been pretty lucky and have sold a dozen or so. I really like turning bowls. I hope to continue to improve my skills and get into vahses and hollow forms. Having an old house, a big yard and a young son take up a lot of time. Priorities. 

What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby – self-fulfilling prophesy.

What do you enjoy most about turning?
Watching the shape evolve as it spins. Seeing the look on people’s face when you give them a finished piece is nice too.

What do you enjoy the least about turning?
Sanding.