Tonight, while turning a small piece of kingwood for the neck
ring of a small vase, I remembered back to my early turning
experience, not much more than a year ago.

Early on I didn't know what gouge/chisel did what, how to hold
or use them and only a vague idea of how to sharpen any but
the skew chisel - I knew how to sharpen bench chisels, mortising
chisels, firmer chisels and hand plane irons. A few nice catches
and a few more spiral cuts and I gripped the handle more tightly,
held the tool on the tool rest as if anti gravity were trying to
rip it off the earth, and kept my whole body tense, ready
to react to the next adrenaline occurance.

But tonight I realized I'd developed a light touch - edge to wood
and a relaxed, light grip. No clenched jaw, no knotted shoulders
and neck, no locked knees, no boxer stance - ready to dance
out of harms way in an instant. Now it's more of a flowing
shift of positions and weight. Amazing how easy things get when
the tool is sharp and I finally know how to use it.

My New Year's Resolution is, by the end of 2007, to learn to use
another turning tool now that I've got a curved edge skew down
pretty well.

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

What's your 2007 turning goal?

charlie b

ps If you leave green roughed to round pieces of apricot
in a stock pot full of the Magic LDD Solution, with
the lid on tightly - for a YEAR, that solution will make
it almost to the center of a four inch diameter cylinder.
The wood will still crack if you don't take extra ordinary
precautions , especially if you drill a hole down the
middle and add a kingwood neck to it.
it

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

A goal of mine that I have been working on for almost 9 years (which is
when I first started turning) is to turn a bowl that doesn't need
sanding. I am getting closer, but not there yet. Don't know if I ever
will get there, but one can always improve.
robo hippy
wrote:
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

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 23:50:39 -0800, charlie b
wrote:

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

Did a small amount of turning & cabinetmaking early in the year, then
I loaded all my furniture & tools in a seatainer in March,
anticipating buying a 5 acre block with my eldest son and having a 20
x 10 metre shed for a workshop. The seller was a con artist, saying
he had engineering certificates and local council approval for
earthworks he had done. Fortunately, approval was a condition of the
contract and on checking with the council he had no chance of getting
it, so the contract was void. His interpretation of a 1 metre
high retaining wall was 1 metre above a datum point on the road
outside the property, the council's was 1 metre above actual existing
ground level. Ground level 50 metres inside the boundary, where he
had built the walls, was 1.5 metres below the datum point.
I have had to buy a standard suburban block with house and smaller
workshop than I had before and am levelling the garden ready to
receive the seatainer, which will be my metalworking workshop, the
existing shed, with a 2 metre extension, which is all the council will
permit unless I move the whole thing another 500mm away from the rear
boundary, will be for woodwork.
The milestone will be getting the ground prepared and the seatainer
delivered before the end of the year.

What's your 2007 turning goal?

Move the lathe and woodworking tools out of the seatainer and get
started again.

I had to dispose of about 2 tonnes of Jarrah, Sheoak, Norfolk
Island Pine, Olive, Apricot, Jacaranda & Mulberry as there was no room
in the container.

Alan

Robert - may you and the group have warm, heartfelt holidays and the feeling
of success and satisfaction with the new year.

TomNie

wrote in message
oups.com...

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

wrote:

Snip

I had to dispose of about 2 tonnes of Jarrah, Sheoak, Norfolk
Island Pine, Olive, Apricot, Jacaranda & Mulberry as there was no room
in the container.

Alan

Ouch.

-Phil Crow

Tom Nie wrote:
Robert - may you and the group have warm, heartfelt holidays and the feeling
of success and satisfaction with the new year.

TomNie

Thank you, Tom. And of course the same best wishes to you and yours.

I am sure looking forward to hearing about the projects coming out of
that *finished*
shop ;^) soon!

Come on back and post some more. Let's keep this group active.

Robert