charlie b wrote:

Big SNIP of good stuff


So what turning milestone(s) did you attain in 2006?

What's your 2007 turning goal?

charlie b

This will sound strange. But I have two goals as far as my woodturning
goes.

1) Turn more. My remodel/repair business has dictated a lot more
flatwork and finishing, lots of hands on stuff in the shop and out on
site. Not nearly enough time for turning. When my consulting aspect
of my biz is good, then I have time and the inclination to turn as I am
not worn out at the end of the day. Mentally fatigued, but not
physically beat. And with the temps around here well over 100 degrees
(105-106) for many days in a row this last summer, I was uninterested
in getting out to turn when I did have a chance. Especially if I had
been working out in it all day. But back at the lathe in cooler
weather reminds me of how much I like to make shavings

2) Paricipate more here. When our little local woodturning club (7
members) was just that, I was inspired much more by those that
frequented this group. Although I had turned years before, I had never
owned my own lathe, as a contractor with a shop full of tools I
couldn't see buying another tool, especially one that needed its own
floorspace. Then... Woodcraft had the Jet mini show up around the end
of '97 or so. It was affordable, and everyone in my extended family
chipped in to buy it for me. I went to HD, and bought the Delta tool
set, which I still have today. I immediately started to have a lot of
fun, and then I found this group while surfing around one day soon
after getting the lathe.

I found the people here to be helpful, informative, generous, and
encouraging. It was great, and with such a large source of information
and experience, my skill level accelerated exponentially. I missed a
lot of problem areas, and was exposed to many creative and useful ideas
every week. It was like coming to the clubhouse to talk about turning.


So many have come and gone here for all manner of reasons, but at any
given time this group can be great. I am really tickled to see some of
the guys come back, but due to bad conduct many have decided to go
elsewhere, like WoodCentral. It is a shame to me because I like the
unmoderated group with Arch's musings to help us think about woodturning outside of the box, completely honest tool reviews that cite specific manufacturers and products, and an occasional off topic post that lets us know how things are going with fellow turners.

Now my hope for this new year is that we will get a lot more active
participation here. I'll bet there are a lot of untapped wells of
information and great stories that are waiting to be told.

I'm staying tuned.

Robert