"charlieb" wrote in message
...

How long did it take you to find The One type of turning
you do almost exclusively?
or
How long have you been searching for The One?

An interesting inquiry, Charlie. Certainly in the year and one-half I've
been turning, I've discovered some preferences for certain woods and certain
tools. For example, I love wet maple of all types, but especially hard
varieties. And I love my Ellsworth gouge--it does almost everything
reasonably well.

However, finding myself no better than an experienced novice in turning, I
try virtually every tool on almost every piece of wood I turn. Within
reason, of course--I don't use spindle tools on bowls, and vice versa. The
learning curve is flattening out a bit now, but I still glean something
every time I turn a new piece of wood. For example, yesterday I found
myself thinking that wet yellow poplar doesn't seem to scrape well, notably
the end grain.

No doubt I'll form some strong preferences with time, but for the present
I'll attempt to be as flexible as possible. I have a lot to learn.

Max