Informal poll question...

[Bill Walsh]

I'm 56 years old, started turning on a no name wood lathe that one of my friends gave me. First projects were lamps to be given as gifts for Christmas to my family. Bought a Delta lathe tool set and thought they'd stay sharp unless dropped (wrong). I can remember hanging on for dear life to the tools in between catches!!!! After turning a couple of lamps I thought to myself this isn't for me. Well in the spring of 2002 I bought a Delta 16" lathe not sure the model but its the steel bed vari-speed model along with a Wolverine sharpening system and an 8" grinder. Had problems with the drive on the Delta, kept shutting off. A few months later joined a woodturning club. I was one of four other people that had jointed within the last couple of months so one of the very experienced turners had us come to his shop one night a week to help get us started. Once I saw the shavings going over my shoulder I knew I had been sucked into the vortex. By the end of the year I bought a Oneway 1640 followed by a Powermatic 3624B in 07. Traded the Delta for the out board attachment on the 1640. Have seen a few demos, DVD tapes, club demo and learned a lot from the very talented fellow club members along with lurking on this site.
I'm trying to get my son involved but no luck yet, he has a welding shop on the side that keeps him busy. I'm hoping that if he does take up turning he starts earlier than I did...

[cal thelen]

I just turned 53. started turning last december. just to make a couple pens for family for christmas. and now headed down into that vortex swirl. had a harbor freight lathe. in feb I bought a rikon and altho i really like it i am looking forward to upgrading to something with variable speed. maybe a little more hp. I am also self taught and really have alot more to learn, but to me that is always the fun part. I do alot of internet searching and utube videos. Need to get a couple DVDs and a good book or two. I gave my harbor freight lathe to my 16 year old nephew, along with a gift certificate to the local woodcraft show for some lessons. I told him I will help you along but I really dont want you turning like i do, would rather he learn the safety part of it from someone who knows what they are doing. Its been tons of fun and hopefully lots more fun to come. by the way this is a great thread. thanks

[Rick Prosser]

I am 54. Started turning in 2008 after taking a pen making class and a bowl turning class. Purchased a Shopfox W1758 lathe which I still have. (hope to upgrade eventually)

After a few months of turning, we bought some property and built a shop - but also started tree farming and had to put turning and other things aside for a few years. Just now getting back into turning, and relearning some of the things I had figured out before.

[Scott Hackler]

I just turned 42. I started turning in 2009 and am self taught for the most part. When I started I watched every youtube video I could get my hands on. I still watch a lot of videos and concider myself a constant student of the art. I love to study the forms of others and take mental notes of what I find appealing about them. I turn on a Nova 1624-44 but foam at the mouth over a Robust. Someday....

[Russell Neyman]

Will turn 63 this December, and I inherited a Shopsmith from my grandfather in the 1980's and the lathe accessories lay dormant for years. The "system" included some lightweight faceplates and cheap chisels. I have used that five-in-one machine and other garage workshop tools for 30 years to build cabinets and cases, so I'm hardly a novice at woodworking, but I didn't do much turning except the occasional spindle. Couldn't sleep one night in 1998 and went to the garage to work out my frustration, and mounted up a small piece of curly maple and started making sawdust. I cut the entire thing using a skew chisel, mostly getting a finish via sandpaper.

[I should interject, that the Shopsmith is a horrible woodturning lathe. Runs too fast and doesn't have enough weight, but somehow those first few bowls turned out okay.]

Like the others, I'm essentially self-taught, but since I moved to Puget Sound where turners abound I have picked up lots of tips watching the other guys turn. The local Olympic Peninsula Woodturners here include some absolutely wonderful and talented craftsmen, and just listening to them has advanced my skillset. In my case, the biggest advances have more to do with the equipment; a better lathe with greater variable speeds (especially lower speeds, for larger irregular blanks), a sophisticated sharpening station, and refining my finishes have taken me to a point where I'm shown in several galleries. It has been a long, satisfying journey.

If my son were to catch the turning fever -- I think he will, eventually -- my advice will be purchase the best available machinery and to READ/VIEW EVERYTHING he can get his hands on. The biggest deal in chasing the learning curve, I think, is to simply try every possible technique and every type of turning, and don't be afraid to fail.

[Joe Bradshaw]

I am 67 and I first turned in 1958 in high school shop class. I have turned off and on since then. I really started to get serious in 2003 when my wife bought me a Oneway 1224. I have since acquired a Oneway 2436, Jet 1220 and Jet 1014. I use the Jets for buffing stations. I have taken numerous classes and am still learning

[Jeff Belany]

I'm 61, started turning in 1998 doing mostly pens. I have done a few larger pieces, a few baseball bats and some small vases. Would really like to get into bowls someday but I would never have the patience to do the HF pieces I see on this forum. I still make a few pens but not as many as I used to. I have 4 lathes -- 2 Sherlines for pens, a JET mini and a large Craftsman. Should get rid of at least 2 but I love my tools.

Started a laser business 2 years ago after becoming unemployed for the first time in my life. Have been laser engraving for 12 years. Was a printer before that for about 20 years.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[David DeCristoforo]

I am 22 years old and began turning on a mini lathe my uncle bought for me when I was three.

Edit: As moderator, and knowing the truth, I cannot let this blatant misstatement of fact stand uncontroverted!!! The reality is David is 97 years old, and his first table saw was steam operated. In fact, he does have an antique lathe that was his great grandfather's - hickory and ash, as I recall, but he turns on an Art Deco lathe of recent renovation. No one really knows much else about David - he is one of those roaming artist types, nomadic one might say, but rumor has it that he settled in the hills of California in search of gold - somewhat late to the scene, but successful nonetheless.

[Russell Neyman]

I am 67 and I first turned in 1958 in high school shop class. I have turned off and on since then. I really started to get serious in 2003 when my wife bought me a Oneway 1224. I have since acquired a Oneway 2436, Jet 1220 and Jet 1014. I use the Jets for buffing stations. I have taken numerous classes and am still learning

I'm amazed how many of the mini-lathes end up being buffing stations! Ha!

[Tony De Masi]

I am 53 and started turning six years ago when I needed new, and different, ballusters for a front porch. Started with a Delta 46-715 and then upgraded to the PM3520B a couple of years after that. I would consider myself mostly self taught but I have taken one class with Bill Grumbine which certainly reinforced everything I had learned from his first DVD.

p.s. - leave it to DD, or whatever your real name is.

[Steve Busey]

I'm 55 and got started when my dad passed away in 2007. It wasn't until 2008 that I actually turned anything besides splinters (got a Nick Cook 4-weekend January class for Christmas) and did my first pen. About a year later I felt competent enough to finish the bowl Dad had on his lathe when he died. It's a Craftsman "Professional" lathe (Dad worked for Sears for 33 years, so what else could he own?!) and is making "old age noises" so I'm accelerating deposits into the 3520B penny jar. Got a winged bowl in the chuck right now, and an NE on the shelf awaiting sanding & finish. And need to do a mess of pens before the craft shows crank up in the couple of next months (all proceeds go to my son's school for Asperger & autistic youth, not into my 3520 penny jar though...).

[Jason Silva]

I'm 39 and started turning about 5 years ago. I own a Rikon Mini and a Nova DVR XP. I use the lathe as a starting platform and then really enjoy carving on the turned pieces.

Am i gonna be the first one to call DeChristoforo out?

[Reed Gray]

I am closing in on 61. Started in concrete construction around 1970. "Hippy, you're too dang fussy to do concrete." Got into flat work in about 93. Needed a mushroom type drawer pull for a table, and cut the head off a screw, chucked it up in the drill press, used a wood block for a tool rest, and my bench chisels. Been down hill ever since. Mostly self taught, but the local club has been going for 11 years now. Huge help in learning. First lathe was a 4 speed Atlas. Then a PM 3520A, now an American Beauty. Best Christmas present I ever bought myself.

robo hippy

[David E Keller]

I'm 38, and I've been turning for about 4 years now. The first couple of years I did mostly pens and stoppers, but hollowforms have caught my interest recently. I started on a Rikon midi which I still use as a buffing station, but I use a PM3530B as my main lathe. I took a class with Clewes about 2 years ago which was really beneficial, and I own about 80 percent of the turning DVDs on the market!

[Michelle Rich]

I'm 70 and have a different experience than everyone here. i made my first lathe (springpole) and there were no videos, few books, and no classes, & no mentors. Self taught to the extreme. Being stupid helped a lot. i just bought a bowl gouge because it was called a bowl gouge.I had no idea how to use it. Spindle gouge the same thing. this is why today I use my tools in bizarre ways, i.e. a skew to hollow a bowl, etc. It also helped me think outside the box and come up with fresh new ideas. Today, you young folks have internet videos on youtube, books by the 100's, classes, help from forums, and tons of resources. Most should turn out to be excellent turners if you keep your noses to the grindstone and have fun