Informal poll question...

[Russell Neyman]

...being stupid helped a lot....

Love that statement. I turned a piece of lacewood once, and later an "expert" informed me that lacewood wouldn't turn. Glad I didn't know, because it turned out wonderfully.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I'm 54, started on a Craftsman cheapo (not even as good as the mono tube) when I was 41. Turned a bunch of pens for gifts for my 41st birthday. Yakudoshi. Turned so many pens and smal things, I burned out the motor. Bought a Jet mini. OMG what a difference in quality. Taught me what a POS that old lathe was. No wonder I never ventured into anything other than small things and pens. Tried a bowl on the Cman, but couldn't do it, since it was a POS. But I had no idea, so the frustrations continued until I killed the old lathe and upgraded to the mini.

[Richard Jones]

..........., and I own about 80 percent of the turning DVDs on the market!

I'm there, as well.........

[Jamie Donaldson]

OK David, you're under sworn oath here!!!! Fess up!!!

[Alan Trout]

David Wrote:

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

All I have to say is that California sun has done some serious damage.

[curtis rosche]

19. i started in high school. i got my first lathe with a trade of wood. i still use it too

[Kenny Jacobson]

I'm 42. I'm been turning for 1 and a half years on a Jet Mini Lathe that my wife bought me for Christmas. Self-taught. I started off making bowls and lately started making pens. One more pen commission like my last one (10 pens) and I should be able to move on to the next lathe I'm saving for, a Nova 1624.

[Jon Nuckles]

I'm 50 and have been turning for a year or so. Started with a Grizzly 18/47, but it had problems that couldn't be fixed so I returned it. During the times that it operated, though, it set the hook deep in me so I upped my ante and bought a 3520B. I haven't taken classes or joined a club yet, but I've learned from a lot of mistakes and have read some books and LOTS of good advice from Sawmill Creek!

[John Keeton]

OK David, you're under sworn oath here!!!! Fess up!!!

David Wrote:

All I have to say is that California sun has done some serious damage.

I felt compelled to edit David's post in fairness to the truth!!

[Dennis Ford]

This is an interesting thread.
I am 54, turned a little in high school and built a home-made lathe then. A few years off for college and a few more while I lived in apartments before I built a slightly better lathe. My lathe went through a few evolutions before being replaced with the version that I have now (still home-made). I am mostly self-taught but have learned a lot from club demonstrations and the internet.

[Dick Wilson]

Man, I hope Michele and Wally attend the Ohio Symposium! At 67 if they don't I will be the long-in-the-tooth old fart at the event

I have been turning for 7 years. 30 years was wasted in flat board work. Only if I had started turning back then. I had putzed around turning with my Shopsmith. Not until I tried to turn a peppermill did I race into the vortex by immediately buying a Jet 1442. My one and only lathe. I had Lyle Jameison do a one-on-one instructional in my shop and my turning ability took off like a rocket and I have never looked back.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Now that Wally has checked in, at least I'm not the oldest turner around! Turned my first bowl in high school shop class in '59, and the next one in 1986 when I traded for a Crapsman monotube to go with other shop machines. Have studied with a bunch of known turners, attended 13 AAW Symposia, including 5 as demonstrator, many regional symposia, and just generally am a turning technique sponge. That includes collector of turnings and tools!

[Paul Williams]

I am 65. My first lathe was a Gilmor kit that I put together in the late '70s. I did mostly spindle work for table legs etc. About 20 years ago I bought a 6" craftsman metal lathe and every once in a while I would fool around with wood on it. Two years ago I got serious about wood turning and didn't use my metal lathe for much else. My wife gave me a Delta 46-460 for Christmas last year.

[David DeCristoforo]

Awrite... you guys are too smart for anyone to slip one by. Lawyers! They get you every time. OK... I confess. Here's the truth and nuttin but the truth so help me God...

I will turn 64 on the 25th of this month. I have been a "designer/maker" for most of my adult life (which really began, as best I can recall, around 2003). In 2005, I sustained a serious hand injury which ultimately led me to close my shop. I was pretty burned out on heavy casework anyway but I still felt the need for a creative outlet. I began turning in May of 2010 on a "vintage" Delta lathe I inherited from my father and found, in lathe work, the perfect way to satisfy the need to do "creative" work that also involved working with wood. I also discovered an unexpected, almost meditative quality to this kind of work. When you build a huge kitchen full of casework or a woodworked library, small flaws and blemishes simply disappear. It is rare that anyone would inspect that much woodwork as closely as turned work is examined. But turned pieces must be near perfect in every detail to stand up the the close scrutiny they are typically subjected to. So turning has also helped me to learn patience, something I have never been "known" for.

[Tim Thiebaut]

I am 51, spent 30 years as a Locksmith/Safe Tech. although I am now disabled from a spinal injury, I started turning last Dec...I credit turning with helping to cope with a lot of the issues I have had to deal with lately. Although my lathe and tools are being packed away for the winter, I will be back at it next spring once I relocate....T