http://Weekendturner.comHappy Thanksgiving everybody!
I have a day job....
But I’ve been woodturning on the weekends for a few years now. Not every weekend, mind you, because I’m happily married and prefer to stay that way.
I discovered turning about 5 years ago and after a couple of classes (Bill Wallace, Alan Leeland) I was hooked. There’s something magical about turning a block of wood into something useful, beautiful or at least interesting, within just a few hours.
Some years ago I gave over my half of the garage to woodworking, and my car hasn’t seen the inside of it since. I used to do woodworking projects — shelves and bits of furniture — but with limited time, tools and skills, they would just sit there week after week and make me feel guilty about finishing them long after I lost interest.
My day job also has me constantly working with numbers, so there’s something quite freeing about creating free-flowing forms and almost never needing a ruler — matching pieces just need to be “this” big and not half of 3 and 5/16ths.
In about three years of weekend work I’ve managed to turn small bowls, platters, pens, boxes, a few goblets, vases, holiday ornaments, spinning tops, bookmarks, keychains, bracelets, rings, coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, and other round toys or gadgets.
I’m often looking to try something new and am always amazed and impressed by what I see other turners accomplish. I’ve found that most woodturners seem to fall into three categories: a few professional tradespeople who make a living at it, some full-time artists, but mainly retirement-aged men and a few women with a lot of time on their hands.
I guess I’m a bit of the odd duck since I’m a part-time hobbyist who is far from retiring, with no tradesman skills and very little sense of the artist. I enjoy figuring things out and learning new skills, and I think I have a pretty good eye. Its just that my level of skill, talent and vision sometimes work out and other times just don’t work together at all.
But I have a good time, most of the time, and its rewarding to make things with my own hands. I would recommend it to anyone.
Oh, I'm also on the board for the woodturnersguild of NC, where I manage the web site and shoot video of our monthly demonstrators. Look for me, weekendturner, on YouTube to find these.
Oh, oh, and I sort of maintain a blog at weekendturner.com.
-- Norm
I have a day job....
But I’ve been woodturning on the weekends for a few years now. Not every weekend, mind you, because I’m happily married and prefer to stay that way.
I discovered turning about 5 years ago and after a couple of classes (Bill Wallace, Alan Leeland) I was hooked. There’s something magical about turning a block of wood into something useful, beautiful or at least interesting, within just a few hours.
Some years ago I gave over my half of the garage to woodworking, and my car hasn’t seen the inside of it since. I used to do woodworking projects — shelves and bits of furniture — but with limited time, tools and skills, they would just sit there week after week and make me feel guilty about finishing them long after I lost interest.
My day job also has me constantly working with numbers, so there’s something quite freeing about creating free-flowing forms and almost never needing a ruler — matching pieces just need to be “this” big and not half of 3 and 5/16ths.
In about three years of weekend work I’ve managed to turn small bowls, platters, pens, boxes, a few goblets, vases, holiday ornaments, spinning tops, bookmarks, keychains, bracelets, rings, coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, and other round toys or gadgets.
I’m often looking to try something new and am always amazed and impressed by what I see other turners accomplish. I’ve found that most woodturners seem to fall into three categories: a few professional tradespeople who make a living at it, some full-time artists, but mainly retirement-aged men and a few women with a lot of time on their hands.
I guess I’m a bit of the odd duck since I’m a part-time hobbyist who is far from retiring, with no tradesman skills and very little sense of the artist. I enjoy figuring things out and learning new skills, and I think I have a pretty good eye. Its just that my level of skill, talent and vision sometimes work out and other times just don’t work together at all.
But I have a good time, most of the time, and its rewarding to make things with my own hands. I would recommend it to anyone.
Oh, I'm also on the board for the woodturnersguild of NC, where I manage the web site and shoot video of our monthly demonstrators. Look for me, weekendturner, on YouTube to find these.
Oh, oh, and I sort of maintain a blog at weekendturner.com.
-- Norm
