Name: George A (Albert) Guadiane

How young are you? 57 outside / 18 inside

Physical description:
Handsome (according to my wife) for a bearded overweight bald guy. 6 feet tall

SERENDIPITY 01.jpg

Where is home?
I am currently living in Austerlitz, NY near Great Barrington, MA. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, FL and lived there till about 15 years ago.

Family information:
Nancy (LOML/SWMBO) and I have been married for 7 years, together for 15. I have two sons, two and a 9th grandchildren. She has two sons, one still at home with us.

Do you have a website? If so, what’s the URL?
Yes - http://turnedbygeorge.com/

Vocation:
“Self Employed” Antiques Dealer / contract estate buyer. I have played in a rock and roll cover band, run a beachside fast food restaurant, built boats, made fine Victorian reproduction jewelry, among other things. I also sell turning blanks at local symposiums, on line and on eBay sometimes.

Shop Overview:
My actual working space is 14X12, cramped and crammed with too much stuff, part of my workstyle. I have often thought of myself as a Phoenix rising from the ashes of my self-made surroundings. I also have a 20 X 20 storage that has 7 Gorilla racks (6X6X2 feet) FULL of turning wood.

How many lathes do you own?
I have 2 lathes right now, a Delta midi with an extension and a 75 pound plate attached to the bottom, to increase the mass, and “Big Momma”, My Powermatic 3520A. I got the Delta because it was all the funds I could squeak out at the time. The Powermatic was my “dream lathe” after much research and consideration and a windfall gift from my mother (hence the name of my lathe). I am SO happy with this lathe, that I will probably spend any future monies on keeping it up.

serendipity 02.jpg

How many turning tools do you have? Store bought; home made; favorites?
TOO MANY!!! Most of my professionally made tools were bought second hand or traded. I use old carbon steel screwdrivers to make special cutting heads. If I like em, I use em, if not, I regrind them and try again. For hollowing, my absolute favorites are my Rolly Munro and Mini Rolly Munro hollowers. Then it’s my 3/8 Sorby regular grind bowl gouge, then my heavy scrapers, and then my home made detail tools.

How long have you been turning, and what got you started in the first place?
I started turning 4 years ago. I have always done work with my hands, and I had wanted to get back into that, so I started looking around. I had never turned anything before and had almost decided to make fancy wood boxes when I went to the 2003 Totally Turning Symposium in Albany, NY. I turned a pen (the only one I will probably ever turn) and I was HOOKED. I saw Alan Lacer and Keith Tompkins each do a demo. I believed I could do what they were doing, and some day, I will.

What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
B&J CaramelSutra

What do you enjoy most about turning?
Making the mess that comes with finding the form in the wood (making the cuts and watching the ribbons fly).

What do you enjoy the least about turning?
Cleaning up the mess I just made

Do you belong to a turning club?
The AWA --- Adirondack Woodturners Association in Balston Spa, NY and the AAW.

What was your first completed turned project? You get bonus points for a picture of it.
My wife calls it a napkin ring. I had found a little piece of spalted wood before I even had a lathe. I carried it around with me, including to that first symposium where I insisted it would be my “first bowl” I was doing really well, making a foot with a jamb chuck and everything, when I sanded through the bottom. I cut it in two and added in a piece of Koa that I had gotten from a friend in Hawaii. I turned through that too and it sits on my shelf as a reminder.

Bonus Point Award!!

serendipity 03.jpg

What’s your favorite individual piece that you have turned, and why?
Giggles is a walnut and cherry burl “OATS” (Off Axis Triangle Stave) segmented vase. I “invented” the concept of the off axis turning blank. I also “reinvented” the omelet. I was 8. My mother told me what it was, and that I wasn’t the first one to do it.

Giggles is my favorite for numerous reasons: My wife really likes it, she named it, “because it makes me giggle”. It won a first place ribbon at the 2006 NWA Showcase in Saratoga, NY last march. I used it as one of my images to get juried into shows. One of the shows selected it for their show reminder postcards, and now for their print ads and billboards! They also gave me a free both in exchange for the rights to use the image.

serendipity 04.jpg

What’s your favorite form that you turn?
Hollow form / vase.

What do you not turn now that you want to - or plan to - in the future?
Bigger OATS segmented pieces.

serendipity 05.jpg

Please Stand By. Do not adjust your monitor.