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Thread: SMC Turner Interview - George Guadiane

  1. #1
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    SMC Turner Interview - George Guadiane

    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.
    Only the Blue Roads

  2. #2
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    What’s your favorite form someone else turns?
    Hollow forms

    What’s your favorite individual piece someone else has turned, and why?
    A segmented vase by Keith Tompkins, one of the first pieces to deeply inspire me to try turning, a goal to attain. Keith did a demo on his methods and process, I found it very available, yet challenging.

    What’s your favorite wood to work with and why?
    Right now, it’s Ebony. Turns like cutting hard wax.

    What brought you to SMC?

    Just nosing around the internet for places to show off and learn.

    What was your first post about? Or don’t you remember?
    I think I was offering a suggestion about a bowl depth gauge setup.

    Yup


    Do you recall the first thread you started?
    I think that was of a black locust burl hollow form that I have just refinished.

    Yer two fer two

    What’s your favorite old thread (started by someone else) on SMC?
    The “Warning! Do Not Attempt To Apply The Stinson!" I actually hurt myself laughing so hard.

    Have you met or hung out with any fellow Creekers?

    I am in the AWA with several Creekers and Jason Slutsky came over and turned with me one day.

    Ahem – No thread. What did you guys do? Visit via email?

    Got any nicknames? How'd you get them?
    Mr. Serendipity. My friend and fellow turner Ron Pesssolano calls me that because I keep running onto great deals on turning stuff and great wood at great prices.

    Now let's get a little deep... If you were a turning tool, what tool would you be and why?

    I think I’d be a Powermatic 3520B (I like the little door in the tailstock!) I like to be the thing that makes things happen, the center of attention.

    Let's get even deeper... If you were a beach ball, what beach would you be at and why?

    Could I be a surfboard instead? I’d be made by Ben Aipa and surfed at Haleiwa Ali'i Beach Park on the North Shore of Oahu Hawaii by one of the “Blue Tent Crew”. That way I could get in the water every day!

    If you won the Irish Sweepstakes what part of your life would change?
    I would move to Hawaii sooner and build Nancy’s dream house and my dream workshop. I have a deal with “The Big Guy” to give away half of any major winnings I get though, I have charities and worthy causes galore I would like to support.

    Thanks George. And here’s some more stuff you’ve done

    serendipity 06.jpg serendipity 07.jpg serendipity 08.jpg

    serendipity 09.jpg serendipity 10.jpg
    Last edited by Andy Hoyt; 11-11-2007 at 12:37 PM.
    Only the Blue Roads

  3. #3
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    Last edited by Andy Hoyt; 11-11-2007 at 12:40 PM.
    Only the Blue Roads

  4. #4
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    A nice interview George good to know more about you.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tom

    Turning comes easy to some folks .... wish I was one of them

    and only 958 miles SE of Steve Schlumpf

  5. #5
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    Very nice interview, George!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
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    Nice to know more about you George!
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  7. #7
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    Thanks for the interview George! Great to get to know you a little better!
    Steve

    “You never know what you got til it's gone!”
    Please don’t let that happen!
    Become a financial Contributor today!

  8. #8
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    Great interview George. Glad to get to know you better.
    Bernie

    Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

    To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.



  9. #9
    Good interview George. Nice to know you better.

  10. #10
    I need to make a correction/addition:
    I made the statement in this interview BEFORE my good friend and fellow Creeker Don Orr gave me a copy of an article by a man named Mike Morley, an English gentleman who, as it turns out had made triangle stave segmented blanks AT LEAST 6 or 7 years before I started turning. Another good friend and fellow Creeker Matt Clarke had let me know, some time before that that Jack Cox (also English and well known to Mr Morley) had written a book "Beyond Basic Turning," also a decade or more old... In the book, he talked about off axis triangles, but only in the context of platters, he didn't see much use for a taller version (Mike and I obviously disagree).

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy Hoyt View Post
    Name: George A (Albert) Guadiane

    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.
    So, I "discovered" triangle stave segmenting, independent of either of these fine gentlemen, and did NOT invent it as I had claimed.
    You will have a difficult time finding the work of either of the men I reference. I managed to find an email address for Mike Morley and have begun an email dialog with him, VERY nice guy!
    Change One Thing

  11. #11
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    Enjoyed the interview

    George,

    Great to know more 'bout you and to see your excellent turnin's.

    Roy

  12. #12
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    You haved produced some really great pieces George. Nice to meet the person behind them.

  13. #13
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    Hey George,

    Glad they got you give an interview, nice way to get to know more about you. Very nice that you got in touch with Mr. Morely.

    As a huge GLOAT, my wife and I now own the piece shown at the bottom of the first page of the interview!!!

    See ya soon George,
    Happy and Safe Turning, Don


    Woodturners make the world go ROUND!

  14. #14

    Thank You

    I would like to say thank you to Andy for taking the time to do the "interview thing" with us, I learn a lot when I read them (even about myself)... It seems that we all TEND to think along the same lines.
    I need to thank those who told/asked Andy to interview me.
    I would also like th thank everyone who took the time to read this "interview," I hope it was worth the time you spent on it. And a special thanks to every one who took the time to say hello.
    I hope all those who have not yet had the opportunity to "experience the humiliation" get a turn in the barrel... I would like to get to know all of you better!
    Change One Thing

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