Dan Hintz
Member
For those of you who frequent The Creek, you'll no doubt recognize my name (I tend to follow all sub-forums there), and for those who don't, well, we'll see :tongue:
I've been a laserhead for a number of years, but mid to late last year someone introduced me to the turning vortex and it grabbed my feet (followed shortly thereafter by beating me about the head and neck mercilessly). Less than 6 months ago I had nothing more than my laser, but as you can see from my sig my recent spending spree has put a few more toys in the shop.
All I wanted to do was turn a few pens, so I settled on a midi metal lathe... big enough for fun stuff, but versatile enough to do wood and metal (with careful cleaning, of course). The more I thought about it, the more I realized hollow forms sound pretty cool (I always appreciate seeing a quality HF at an art festival), so that prompted the separate wood lathe. I knew these purchases were coming soon, so the bandsaw was the first in my shop, followed by the drill press, both of which are finally on mobile bases. The lathes are still in pieces on the floor, but I hope to have that remedied within a week or so, and my first turnings were done on a friend's yellow monster... bowls, not pens, but it helps with the tool technique either way. I'm waiting for another friend to have some free time to help me build a cabinet for the CNC router (can't work with that thing sitting on the floor!).
Anyway, I figure I can use the laser to good advantage on whatever I turn (wood or metal), and I'm already putting together a system for making my own pen blanks. I have some fun ideas to try, but they were often prompted by some of the great designs seen here. I can't wait to jump in
:bananen_smilies051:
I've been a laserhead for a number of years, but mid to late last year someone introduced me to the turning vortex and it grabbed my feet (followed shortly thereafter by beating me about the head and neck mercilessly). Less than 6 months ago I had nothing more than my laser, but as you can see from my sig my recent spending spree has put a few more toys in the shop.
All I wanted to do was turn a few pens, so I settled on a midi metal lathe... big enough for fun stuff, but versatile enough to do wood and metal (with careful cleaning, of course). The more I thought about it, the more I realized hollow forms sound pretty cool (I always appreciate seeing a quality HF at an art festival), so that prompted the separate wood lathe. I knew these purchases were coming soon, so the bandsaw was the first in my shop, followed by the drill press, both of which are finally on mobile bases. The lathes are still in pieces on the floor, but I hope to have that remedied within a week or so, and my first turnings were done on a friend's yellow monster... bowls, not pens, but it helps with the tool technique either way. I'm waiting for another friend to have some free time to help me build a cabinet for the CNC router (can't work with that thing sitting on the floor!).
Anyway, I figure I can use the laser to good advantage on whatever I turn (wood or metal), and I'm already putting together a system for making my own pen blanks. I have some fun ideas to try, but they were often prompted by some of the great designs seen here. I can't wait to jump in
:bananen_smilies051:
